Before closing the door to his The Room EP, Edmonton hip-hop artist K-RIZ unveiled a new video for the potently blended jazz-rap track, ‘A Place Where Love Is.’ Elevated by the swinging coos of Calgary soul singer Yolanda Sargeant (of Sargeant X Comrade), the song is a declaration for choosing to love in a time of fear.
The video stars K-Riz, Yolanda Sargeant and fellow Alberta rapper Lyrique, and serves as a hopeful antidote to the bleakness of the past year. Filmed from Calgary’s Sunnyside neighbourhood and the city’s iconic Peace Bridge, the black and white video is punctuated by meaningful symbols. “Imagine life where colour doesn’t matter/Imagine peace where murder doesn’t happen…Under God’s blue sky, we all bleed the same you and I,” K-Riz spits, illuminating the possibility of a better world.
“This is the message that I wanted to close The Room out on,” said K-Riz. “I think this is a message that people need to hear right now—and over and over again. It’s time for people to open their hearts to peace and love.”
The Room EP was written by K-Riz while recovering from injuries sustained in a June 2020 car accident. The title signifies the room in which the album was conceived and the mental space and time he was given to reflect and create. The five-track collection is laced with smooth R&B grooves, jazz flourishes, lyrical atonements, and a near-death clarity, tracing the wrongs of past relationships (‘What a Shame’), faith (‘God First’), and a profound sense of gratitude for life (“A Place Where Love Is” feat. Yolanda Sargeant).
In the time since the EP’s release, K-Riz has been hailed by Complex for “quietly establishing himself as one of Alberta’s deftest lyricists; was named as a Black Canadian artist you need to know by Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe of CBC’s The Block; and was listed among the Canadian artists you need to hear by Exclaim in January of 2021. The EP follows his debut full-length album, Fresh Air (2016), which garnered the rapper a spot on Hip Hop Canada’s list of the Top 40 Canadian Hip Hop MCs.
The Room EP is now available on all streaming platforms. You can also look for K-Riz’s sophomore full-length, Peace & Love, set for release this summer. For now, check out the video for ‘Where Love Is’…
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