STATIK SELEKTAH continues his red-hot momentum with a new visual for ‘The New Joe’ featuring NEMS off of his latest album, Round Trip. Directed by Frankie Fire, the video finds Statik and NEMS posted on the block while the ‘Bing Bong’ rapper affirms his status as the new Joey Crack (Fat Joe) of rap.
With hip hop turning 50 this year, Statik’s tenth studio album proves that the genre is alive and well. Round Trip, released in June via Mass Appeal, is a 20-song collab project with legendary acts, promising prospects, and up-and-coming artists who are pushing the culture forward on their own terms. Upon its release, the album racked up press praise from the likes of XXL, HipHopDX, The FADER, AllHipHop, Okayplayer, BET, and more.
Round Trip is a continuation of the boom-bap production style that made the mixtape maverick-turned-media-personality into a cultural mainstay. It’s the follow up to his collaborative project with Kota the Friend, To See a Sunset (Deluxe), and the relevance of the album is all too clear. When you begin to draw parallels between his popular releases of the early 2000s and the current state of his catalog in today’s market, you’ll see that Statik is very selektive about who he works with – and rightfully so.
DOWNTOWN KAYOTO, the project of Zimbabwe born, Hull UK based musician Chiko Chinyadza, has released his new EP ‘Learning in public’. Working with New York based producers Frankie Scoca (Dreamer Isioma, Nina Cobham) and Jack Laboz (María Isabel, Alice Longyu Gao) on its creation, the EP brazenly oscillates between bouncing house, trap and UK grime, dynamic indie-rock-flavoured hip-hop and agile UK-garage tinged R&B.
A voyage of self discovery and ultimately a project fuelled by the act of taking risks, across the six tracks on ‘Learning in public’, Chinyadza explores his own artistry and feelings of futility and listlessness on “Lite”, self improvement and personal growth on “Changed it” and “Run from you”, and examines his own relationships on “In2you” and “Poison”, with the latter going deeper into themes of self pity, accountability and empathy within those relationships. Check it out below…
After claiming the Blog’s Music Video of the Week title with visuals for ‘Get Up Dad’ on US Father’s’ Day, MIKE BODY bounces right back with another visual for infectious track, ‘Reach 4 The Stars’. Check it out below…
ODARIO (on the right) wanted to inject new sonic energy into ‘Do Nada’, a single about doing nothing, made in collaboration with Edmonton jazz band Good Information. ‘Do Nada (Chaix Remix)’ is an apathetic dance track Odario made with Chaix, a multi-genre artist and beat maker from Toronto. Chaix’s sound sits comfortably between hip-hop, house, and experimental electronic. Chaix didn’t want his reimagination to feel laidback and chill… but alive & infectious.
The video for‘Do Nada (Chaix Remix)’ goes on a three-minute journey, exploring the day in the life of a wanderer attempting to do nothing for the day. It’s a reminder that a day of doing nothing can easily lead to a whole lot of random something. Loosely inspired by the Coen brothers’ 1998 film The Big Lebowski, Odario’s character manages to get out of bed, but not out of that bathrobe. Check out the video below…
Earlier this year Sacramento very own rapper SHOWTIME RAMON made an impressive debut appearance on the blog with EP, ‘Venom Dripp’, which claimed the blog’s Album of the Month title last month. I caught up with the fiey wordsmith to discuss the EP and his plans for the rest of 2023.
NLM: Hey, thank you for taking part in an interview with NEW LEASE MUSIC. How is your summer going? Any gigs?
SR: Whatsup, it’s a pleasure thank you for having me. My summer honestly hasn’t been the best this year, I’ve been dealing with chronic migraines, I missed a few shows because of this but I’m back on my feet, no gigs until I get out more music.
NLM: You released your EP, ‘Venom Dripp’ back in May. What is the public perception on the project so far?
SR: My feedback has been positive, everyone has liked my beat selection. Every song from the EP has been mentioned to be, it surprises me how much people pay attention to the details within my music and wordplay.
NLM: How would you describe the EP’s sound to potential fans?
SR: I would say Venom Dripp is kind of gritty, gloomy sounds hard bass and dope lyricism. I like to bend the rules of hip-hop, I spit dope shit over dope ass beats.
NLM: What inspired you to produce the EP?
SR: I wouldn’t say anything really inspired me make the EP, I just always feel like I’m holding my music back because I really do, I barely release any of my music.
NLM: What is/are your favourite single(s)from the EP and why?
SR: Spin Cycle and Hyperspeed are the two that I listen to the most, Rip Hamilton is 3rd. Spin Cycle has that spooky sound and hard dirty drums that I like within the production, Its to the point and I said some dope bars. I think Hyperspeed is the best song on the EP though, I spit 32 bars for that track and its fast paced. The lyrics for Hyperspeed start out more personal than I usually am, I wanted my fans to feel me.
NLM: What message would you like the listeners to take away from your EP?
SR: I wanted to put together a small collection of different sounds and lyrical topics for my fans to relate too as well as show my progression as an artist. I’m only going up and those riding with me are on the same journey I am on.
NLM: If you had to feature one mainstream artist on the EP, who would it be and why?
SR: would get Rome Streetz on my EP because lyrically it would make me step my game up and I welcome any challenge. Rome is currently my favorite artist, he would sound dope on a track with Showtime Ramon.
NLM: So what plans do you have for the rest of 2023?
SR: I have a lot of music to work on along with new music videos. I have a lot of unreleased music that will be released before 2023 is over, I’m just excited for the world to hear the music I’ve been holding back. It’s my best music by far.
NLM: How can potential fans find you?
SR: Fans can find me on instagram @ShowtimeRamon . I always tell people to google Showtime Ramon because from there you can access my music however you prefer.
NLM: Finally, any special shoutouts to those involved in the production of ‘Venom Dripp’?
SR: Yes, Kieron Lee did the cover art for me his instagram is @chirondesigns . Hyperspeed was produced by Gadgett, Spin Cycle was produced by The Soul Monsters.
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