Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly - an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.
𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙙 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙑𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖’𝙚 𝙉𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚) - 𝙊𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙧𝙭𝙨𝙨
Tentatively, Charles opens up.
My corner. My messy little corner strewn with toys, glitter, hats and sweets. I live it. YOU know it; you come here every week! But do you REALLY know it…? I mean, many of you may feel you know me quite well through my weekly musings and my odd appearance elsewhere, not to mention my own music. But is this it? Is there perhaps more to this singular chap than meets the eye? I am always more than happy to speak about what I have done, observed and created, but do I ever speak about the future? My future? What I am working on, for example? No. Never. I am a private soul who doesn’t like to show or tell until something is complete and ready for the general public (apologies for generalising - with a bit of luck, you all simultaneously took offence). You may be familiar with at least some of my music, but you are never to know what is coming next. I never divulge. Partly because I might not know myself, but also because I simply don’t want to. So! People may have decided they know my style of music, both in taste and in creation - there’s pop, indie, maybe a bit of orchestral thrown in. People seem to note the happy, upbeat style through my music. I have personally never seen it that way. People also know I am never going to come out with a hip-hop track in collaboration with another artist. People have maybe seen the lack of hip-hop and rap in my reviews - “he obviously just doesn’t like hip-hop and rap, and doesn’t do collaborations”. When examining this seemingly innocent little corner of mine, there seems to be a small hidden door. It says 'PUSH' - doesn’t open. Pulling, however seems to have done the trick (sneaky chap, this Connolly). Oh Christ, we’re in his mind. MY mind. The ‘TO DO’ pile is hitting the roof. The ‘DONE’ pile is thin and dusty. Ah, here we are: ‘WORK IN PROGRESS’. That’s pretty damned tall too! Bugger, and now it’s all over the floor. Wait, what’s this? A hip-hop track? Rap? Collaboration?? “But he… But it… No, but he can’t…” - Ah, but I CAN, you see, and so I will.
Who says I don’t like hip-hop and rap?!
And so, from this mood of writing and thinking and doing and “whatnot”, I got bored and listened to a few new releases. Some very good, some decent, some not so decent. And then I saw the face of a man I “know” from Detroit. This might be a good one. Wait, an entire album?? Oh MY! Origin Crxss has sneakily released a full album of unreleased tracks - that means ALL NEW and unheard before. Due to my recent and current hip-hopian (roughly rhyming with Dystopian) interests and dabblings, I was in a bit of a rush to play this one. When it comes to albums, I am always respectful. I will never just play the first few tracks, then leave it and switch to something else. Neither will I skip through as though impatient for the noise to stop. And so, I make a point of setting aside time to listen, uninterrupted, in full. Sunday morning was my time for this work by Origin Crxss. It turned out to be most of my Sunday, as I re-listened and played several of my favourites again. It didn’t take me long to realise that this was to be my next review. And so here we are.
Cold (feat. Vicha’e Nance) is probably my favourite track on the album - with many close contenders (Working Harder, No Fear etc.). The reason this track particularly got me, was because it was my favourite kind of rap song - rapped verses, sung chorus. Rap by Origin, singing by Vicha’e Nance (don’t ask me how to pronounce that). We start with Vicha’e lulling us into a false sense of security (as they say), before Origin takes to the stage, with phat beat in hand. He has passionate power and forthright delivery without ever even a hint of shouting - he keeps his cool. The thing about rap is that it is all about the words, tone and rhythm, for we have not to bother with notes. The notes are in “the beat” (as the instrumental seems to be called these days). His choice of phrasing is impeccable, his tone is soft yet punchy - emphasised by the supoyb mixing skills of TayJaccobs. There is exquisite subtlety in the way that Origin Crxss writes. His pauses add suspense. His softer tones add dynamics and contrast for when he cranks up the aggression. And just as his cadence comes to completion, Vicha’e Nance takes over for the chorus. It’s like a choreographed tag team, or even a modern day ballet, where everything just pleasingly fits into place. The words simply put you in first person view - we are in the mind of Origin. Each section adds new ideas in verse and phrasing - which is important with rap as there is no melody to retain one’s attention. The actual structure of the song is simple, but this works well by putting the focus on Origin while still allowing us to drift easily into the “hook” of lushness in that dreamy chorus.
The whole album is a sum of collaboration done the right way. Different featured vocalists on different tracks to suit each individual vibe. The production is treated with such style throughout, thanks to Fox and BeatzByLuc for being the lead producers involved in the project.
One thing I have noticed about the modern day is that people seem to have an obsession with what’s next, rarely to focus on what is current. As if current is somehow already old. I hope that people don’t ask Origin Crxss what he has next up his sleeve, and that people can simply enjoy what he has just released to the world, and has spent months in getting it all together. The day 5G was released, the internet was full of rumours about 6G. The day Apple released the iPhone 13, the internet was obsessed with rumours around the iPhone 14. Please, people! Understand what goes into creating new things, and maybe ask yourself what you’re actually getting “excited” about if you don’t honestly care when it’s released…! As to Origin Crxss’s brand new album, ‘Faith Over Fear’, I am sure he need not worry, as he has a wonderfully dedicated fanbase champing at the bit, no doubt already rapping along to his glorious wise words.
I hope you appreciate that I managed this entire piece without a single ‘origin’ pun.
As to my corner, I feel cold and naked having let you in. Ah… Best put on some clothes.
Listen to 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙙 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙑𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖’𝙚 𝙉𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Spotify playlist HERE!
Listen to 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙙 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝙑𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖’𝙚 𝙉𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚) on the 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 Apple Music playlist HERE!
Listen to the full album 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧 on Spotify HERE!
Listen to the full album 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙚𝙖𝙧 on Apple Music HERE!
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