Stretching from the streets of Nottingham, UK, and having accumulated tens of thousands of fans through viral YouTube channels GRM Daily and Link Up TV, S5 dropped his highly-anticipated single, ‘My Year’ at the beginning of 2021.
Produced by Ran & Nash (Toosii, Lil Keed, NLE Choppa), the upbeat single S5 shares the new lifestyle he has created for himself after years of hard work in the studio.
“This my year, the fans are feeling me, the feeling so strong” is reminiscent of current Top-40 UK charting artists such as D-Block Europe and M Huncho – who identically rose to fame as S5 – through viral videos on GRM Daily and Link Up TV also.
It’s an absolute pleasure welcoming back B. EVEREADY on the blog. The Baltimore rapper was last featured back in 2018 with single, ‘Always Major.’
After lengthy spell away from the blog, he returns to discuss his upcoming album, ‘The Answer’ coming out tomorrow (26th February). Find out what events inspired him to produce the album – trust me, his reasons will truly resonate with you…have a read below...
NLM: Hey, thank you for taking part in an interview with NEW LEASE MUSIC. How is 2021 treating you so far?
BE: Pretty good so far. My family is dealing with some health challenges, we had some COVID scares, but everybody is well & on the road to recovery, so I can’t complain. We’re blessed.
NLM: You are about to drop your album ‘The Answer’, where you dropped singles ‘2BLACK2STRONG’ and The Answer (Intro) ahead of its release. What is the public perception on the singles so far?
BE: It’s been a good reception so far. The Answer (Intro) is a direct response to the book on the cover of the project – “The Negro A Beast or In the Image of God?” – and people are loving the truth I put in the track. 2BLACK2STRONG is a conscious turn up record that everybody has loved from day one. Hopefully it blows up the way I’m thinking it can.
NLM: What inspired you to produce the album?
BE: After dealing with the police-involved murders from last year & the protests, I felt like I had to have a project that was exclusively responding to that moment. Not to mention what was going on with the political scene. I felt like if I didn’t have something to say as a Black man, I wasn’t the artist that I thought I was. So I dug deep and came forth with these 7 tracks to speak to the times we’re living in. I feel like this expresses my point of view & thought process as a Black man in America in 2021.
NLM: What is/are your favourite single(s) from the album and why?
BE: I love the first two singles (The Answer (Intro) & 2BLACK2STRONG) definitely – they stand out for different reasons. The Intro is the mission statement of the project. It just speaks straight to the heart. 2BLACK2STRONG is a record that could spawn TikTok challenges, dances, and go up in a party while giving our people pride. Outside of those, I think it’s a tie between Ferguson & 3:57AM. Ferguson is a record that I definitely shed some tears to once I finished it. It talks about the riots, but also the 3 protest leaders that died under very suspicious circumstances. 3:57AM is a record that embodies the feelings you might be feeling at that time of the morning when you are being consumed by some of these thoughts. It partially feels like a dream, and then you think about what matters most to you as an individual.
NLM: So how would you describe the album’s sound to potential fans?
This is a project that is sample-heavy but embraces trap sounds. It sounds like Black Revolution & Black Liberation over a beat.
NLM: If you had to feature one mainstream artist on the album, who would it be and why?
BE: It’d probably be Kendrick Lamar, because I feel like this project is my version of To Pimp A Butterfly, and I’d love to hear him over 2BLACK2STRONG.
NLM: Did the Covid pandemic presented any drawbacks in the production of your album?
BE: It presented some challenges when it came to recording because my regular studio was shut down for a while. But we overcame that challenge pretty quickly, so outside of that, we’ve been able to keep it moving.
NLM: Do you have other project(s) for 2021?
BE: I definitely have a bunch more music coming for this year, and I can’t tell you everything that’s coming down the road, but I will tell you this: this will be my most prolific year of dropping music by far. Coming not too long after this project is the deluxe edition of my #GS2 EP, led by a single featuring MC Bravado & Kxng Crooked, so you know I’m serious with it out here.
NLM: How can potential fans find you?
BE: You can find me at my website BEvereadyRap.com, Twitter @BEveready, IG @b.eveready, or at my Bandcamp – Beveready.bandcamp.com.
NLM: Finally, any special shoutouts to those involved in the production of ‘The Answer’?
BE: Well, I definitely want to thank my wife who is a constant source of inspiration. The producers (Anno Domini, Synesthetic Nation, Baltimega, Alex Collins, Makaih Beats, Big Shot Beats), features (Jay Charles & Scholarman), and my studio & engineering folk (Lineup Room Studio, Brandon Lackey, MooseJaw, Beauvallis & Steel Tipped Dove). I appreciate what everyone brought to the table to make this project happen. And thanks to NEW LEASE MUSIC for allowing me to share this project with the world.
Western Canadian Music Award-nominated artist, ARLO MAVERICK shares his video/short film for the track, ‘Hashtag’, a song of protest about racial profiling and police brutality that will appear on his forthcoming EP, ‘Soul Merchant’, out in spring of 2021.
The video arrives amidst Black History Month to continue the conversation around the issues that Black people continue to face nearly a year after the global uprising in response to the murder of George Floyd.
Co-directed and co-edited by Maverick, the video’s concept draws from the real-life stories of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was fatally shot while jogging; Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Black boy who was playing with a toy gun and fatally shot; and others who were killed by police or while in police custody. In one lacerating verse, Maverick calls out the difference between how white men and minorities are treated by police.
With vocalist Riwo (of Melafrique) belting the song’s chorus, “I don’t want to be a hashtag one day,” and Black people being shown in everyday circumstances getting killed at random, Maverick suggests the prevalence of the bias-based policing that leads to violence. “When you see the chalk outlines of bodies and all of the hashtags come up at the end of the video, I wanted the viewer to be overwhelmed by the number of names on the screen. For them to think, ‘How many more Black lives need to be taken for changes to happen?’” said Maverick. “Since the video was filmed, more people have been killed. Before the end of the year, it’s going to happen again.”
The title, ‘Hashtag,’ is also a reference to fair-weather activism on social media and the use of hashtags to bring attention to the Black lives lost at the hands of police. “In using hashtags for something as serious as Black death you sort of make light of it,” said Maverick. “I think social media activism can be really powerful, but I also think it can desensitize. People get concerned, demand changes, these hashtags circulate, but without enough real action nothing will change. There’s still not enough accountability in the justice system.”
Check out Arlo Maverick’s video for his latest below…
Showing he’s unafraid to broach topics others fear to tread, Toronto’s trap-soul hip- hop artist MARCUS HARAN drops his new single, ‘Otherside.’
His latest offering explores the theme of addiction, abuse, and mental health, accompanied by Haran’s very real, very raw lyrical storytelling roots found throughout his breakthrough LP — ‘Marcus Haran: A True Story. a Soundscape to in-Difference. (2018)’. The 10-track conceptual album of jazzy, velvet vox was rife with truth-telling, touching on his life story being a Parisian-born Sri Lankan refugee, having vitiligo, and painful childhood memories of being used as a drug mule, and experiences with depression and abuse.
“This is a tragic love ballad,” he offers of “Otherside.” “It’s me telling the story of a fatal attraction between two people in love, but also the relationship between someone and the addiction that loves them. Making the music video for this was an emotional experience for everyone involved,” Haran shares. “Especially the actors portraying the two main characters: some reactions weren’t always an act…”
“Although addiction, abuse, and mental illness in general are topics addressed in ‘Otherside,’ I also wanted to highlight recovery through understanding that there are options. My hope for this video is, if someone recognizes the situation, they can get help — whether for someone they love, or for themselves.”
‘Otherside’ is available now on all DSPs. Watch the official music video for the hard-hitting single below…
If you’re massive fans of Still Woozy, Tyler the Creator (Igor + Flowerboy) and Dominic Fike, then you’ll definitely like this guy…
Making his debut on the radar, LA-based crooner MURKY WATERS dishes up his melodic string-laden/boom bap single, ‘Alone’, where the young artist paints a vivid picture of his struggle in regaining independence from a traumatic relationship.
Murky Waters on his debut single: “It captures the feeling of wanting someone so bad you drive yourself crazy, then losing them and falling apart, unable to shake the thought of them. When I was writing “Alone” the melody came to me naturally as Ford Jones, my producer, and I were working on the beat. At that point, the words ‘I’ve been lost all alone; You broke my heart and left me helpless’ seemed to follow fluently. From there the topic had sort of just established itself and I took my experiences and filled in the blanks.”
Stretching from the streets of Nottingham, UK, and having accumulated tens of thousands of fans through viral YouTube channels GRM Daily and Link Up TV, S5 dropped his highly-anticipated single, ‘My Year’ at the beginning of 2021.
New Lease Music 