I get a lot of music thrown my way by friends and old industry heads I used to work with. I can’t lie, I kinda hate evaluating new/rising artists because I don’t have patience for wackness. Some come to me because of that very fact, others learn the hard way and get their lil’ feelings hurt. But I figure if you ain’t in it to win it then why do it at all. On the other hand I do respect the fact that its a process for certain artists to get where they need to be. So I tend to look for one of three things before my apathy sets in: raw lyrical talent, distinct vocals or a style all their own.
When my right hand man D. Bills first put me on to Brian Ennals, the immmortal words of Dame Dash came to mind, “Oh shit it’s not even wack. I ain’t gonna front, it’s kinda hot.” I thought to myself, there’s something just plain different about his sound and that always piques my interest. Hailing from a small town named Severn right outside of Baltimore, mostly known as the birthplace of the milf-tastic Ms. Toni Braxton, his style speaks to the juxtaposition of having such a hellacious city within arm’s reach. Street aware but conscious in a Kendrick Lamar “Good kid, madd city” kind of way, but again, unique. His new single Newport Music is a glimpse into the mind of the self-described “couch potato, snark enthusiast, music connoisseur, sociologist, [and] former experimental drug sampler.” The meandering verses he spits over the “jazzy, horn infused track” can at times get lost in the ambience of it all. But if you can pull yourself out of the daze long enough, you’ll find that the brotha has something to say – albeit in a seemingly esoteric way. At the end of the day, its a nice intro to his forthcoming LP, Candy Cigarettes. Give it some burn and let me know what yall think…