I was recently exploring new music and was immediately drawn by the young rapper out of Brooklyn known as Theophilus London. His EP, Lovers Holiday, was released on February 7, 2011. His debut album, Timez are Weird These Days, will be released on July 19th of this year. You can pre-order it on iTunes now. It was one of his songs, "Why Even Try" that first caught my attention. I also listened to his other songs, "I Stand Alone" and "Last Name London". I am by no means a rap aficionado and I normally don't listen to too much rap outside of Eminem and Jay-Z but there was just something about London that just pulled me in. "Why Even Try" almost felt like a throwback to the age of disco, like a disco rap?"I Stand Alone" had shades of a TV on the Radio song. Which is a very good thing for me. Plus, I read that London had worked with Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio. It really had me moving along.
And finally, for "Last Name London", it came out as close to mainstream rap as I can tell, but again, retained a retro feel from the late 1980s/early 1990s. It's very reminiscent of Afrika Bambaataa and again, that's a very good thing.
London is definitely very different. I wouldn't quite classify him with Eminem, Jay-Z or any other current hip-hop artist. I don't know if he'll receive any airplay on my local stations, 93.3 FLZ or Hot 101.5 but I hope that mainstream stations will consider playing his songs.
As for me, Theophilus London has won me over and I intend on purchasing his work on iTunes.
Until then, be sure to check out his website.
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