There are lots of things which are great about the music being made in the current climate. But beyond all of the technological innovations, the accessibility and distribution streams, the fact that music is now ubiquitous, in my opinion the best thing that has happened in recent years is that we have run out of genres. There was a time when things were squarely pigeon-holed, put into tribal boxes, easily labelled. Thankfully those days have gone. They must have, otherwise how else would you account for dream-rap!
I may have just made that genre up, that’s kind of my point, but it is essentially what GoldenB does on Cyclone. It has all the hallmarks of solo, low key, modern rap, the mellow vocal flow, the hypnotic beat, the squiggly electronica which meanders between the two, but it also exists in a hazy, dream-state. Rap, hip-hop, R&B had all got to a point where it was largely about drama and drive, of making a point in brash and bombastic ways, of getting in your face and making itself known. GoldenB takes the opposite path. His music cocoons around you, lulls and soothes, and makes its point, delivers its lyrics through suppleness and subtlety so that you almost take the song on board via osmosis rather than any real conscious effort. How clever is that? How cool is that?
