North Carolina’s GRAMMY-nominated artist, Rapsody and Houston born rapper, KenTheMan have dropped their new collaborative track and music video “Love Answers All” directed by Timmy Shawley and Aaron Wink. The record is the latest release to arrive from Roc Nation’s 2023 mixtape, Humble Soles.
The track’s slow rhythmic pattern of booming 808s and snares are woven together seamlessly with an electric daze of synth-like strings that compel its listeners into a meditative trance. Rapsody cuts through the soft, dizzying beat with her booming verse as she candidly shares the “world-shattering” pain felt in the face of her cousin’s death and questions a world that values money over humanity. Told intricately over gritty film shots of her studio sessions and fleeting glimpses into her success touring on the road, Rapsody details her powerful journey overcoming as she “sat in [her] fire and came out the ash” to restore her light.
KenTheMan arrives soon after on the scene in a vibrant, tricked out chrome orange car which pulls into Houston’s prolific Screwed Up Records & Tapes store as an homage to her southern heritage. Cut with hazy footage rolling through her old neighborhood and shots of her early come-up days, KenTheMan emblazons the track with her quick, sharp bars touting the success she paved for herself without ever compromising her values. As she raps, “telling me I wouldn’t make it if I ain’t do this and I ain’t do that for some likes, look how they look at me now, I made it, I ain’t even sleeping around, went from apartment to two story house, I know them bitches is hating me now,” the Texas emcee fiercely stands in the blessings she’s earned.
“Love Answers All” arrives from the Humble Soles mixtape, the first-of-its-kind project curated to commemorate 2023’s 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop
The tape which taps legacy artist DJ Clue – who made an iconic resurgence for the project – is a pillar of Roc Nation’s overarching Mixtape initiative. The Mixtape campaign also saw a partnership with global sports company, PUMA to build a 360 ecosystem of digital content, sneaker and apparel drops, and a nationwide rotation of immersive pop-up events and cypher competitions to honor hip hop and streetwear culture. The Mixtape series enlisted the support of celebrity shoe designer Alexander John, Roc Nation’s Head of Lifestyle and Paper Planes co-founder, Emory Jones, Jim Jones, Wayne “Wayno” Clark, Lenny “Lenny S.” Santiago and more.
ABOUT RAPSODY:
In the saturated market of music and entertainment, consumers live with a constant craving for outliers and one-of-ones. In the sphere of hip hop, Rapsody is that outlier. The Snow Hill, North Carolina native has more than held her own alongside greats like Kendrick Lamar, Black Thought, and the late Mac Miller (in 2011, she toured with Miller on his Incredibly Dope Tour.) She has been broadcasted and hailed by media giants – from NPR to TIME Magazine, from BET (2020 Hip Hop Awards’ Lyricist of the Year) to NBC (The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon). In 2020 she was awarded Lyricist of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards, in 2021 she was recognized as a part of EBONY’S Power 100, and XXL named her one of the 20 Greatest Female Rappers of All Time. Dr. Dre even crowned her his “favorite female emcee.” 2017’s Laila’s Wisdom, named after her grandmother, featured a constellation of guests (Kendrick Lamar, Anderson Paak, Busta Rhymes, Musiq Soulchild, etc), and launched two Grammy nominations – one for Best Rap Album and the other for Best Rap Song. The groundwork laid prior to Laila’s Wisdom included her outstanding verse on Paak’s 9th Wonder-produced “Without U” (off of his beloved major label debut, Malibu) and her first GRAMMY nomination for her exceptional performance on Kendrick’s sophomore standout To Pimp A Butterfly. Rapsody would later earn an invitation from President Barack Obama and Herbie Hancock to perform at the International Jazz Fest with Aretha Franklin, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, and Terri Lyne Carrington in honor of the late, great Prince. Her latest offering, EVE, is a celebration of black female culture, with each song titled after a phenomenal black woman.
