“Whatever direction a song goes, my intention is to connect, whether I’m in love or angry, I try to transcribe that feeling with sound. When I really focus on the music, I see different shapes and colors; figures, people, even memories that become a bit distorted, almost like thinking back on a dream.”
19 year old Chicago producer, Noah Sims, begins to tell his story with the release of his compelling debut project, Testament, premiered via DJ Booth. “1741” is the introduction and only instrumental on Testament, it is a deeply meaningful track to Sims who made it by sampling a recording produced by his late grandfather, Geoffrey Fushi. “1741” centers around the violin playing of Noah’s friend, the two-time Grammy Award nominee, violin virtuoso Philippe Quint, who performed on one of the most prized violins in history for the recording – the “Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesu, made in Italy in 1741.
From the classically inspired beginning, Sims moves forward a few hundred years to Chicago and hip hop enlisting several of the city’s top and rising rappers. The lead single, “Godbody,” appropriately features an intense Roosevelt The Titan who is one of the first rappers Sims ever collaborated with. The next single takes us to “Hawaii” and was premiered by Fake Shore Drive. It is innovative and a standout song on the project, it’s Noah’s first collaboration with Beach Jesus – both with co-production by Jaro & Seer and excellent lyrics and vocals from Chando and Jommis. Carl and Supa Bwe of Hurt Everybody also contribute stirring, dynamic verses, “Hawaii” is a triumph in collaboration. MC Tree handles the third single, “She Gets The Best Of Us,” with masterful rap and finesse over Noah’s club ready beat, it premiered via Pigeons and Planes . Roosevelt The Titan, Reckless C and Ethos feature on the powerful and spiritual “King,” which seems to span time. We hear Moon & Ju on the smoky “My Way Home,” the two are currently pursuing solo endeavors and it’s good to listen to them together here, orgenA collaborated with Noah on the instrumental. Beautiful singer Kaina appears with sultry vocals for the airy “Again,” her performance and lyrics are rich. It is rare to hear Logan over production that isn’t by Flight, on “Nothin’ New (I Expected This),” Logan goes in, he is gritty and raw and it’s one of my favorite tracks by him. The project closes with the fresh, ethereal “Calm The Fuck Down,” where Roosevelt is joined by LA based musician orgenA – Rose absolutely kills the first verse, then orgenA comes in and takes it to a sunny and different place. Testament was recorded at Classick Studios and at Hurt Everybody studios. Chris Classick mastered it and handled most of the mixes. The front cover is by painter Aaron Kraten and the back cover is by musician/artist Abel Gray.
Noah Sims displays a broad range of styles from cloud rap to classical while passionately telling the first chapter of his story on Testament. I look forward to hearing more. Noah is performing alongside Banks The Genius, Roosevelt The Titan, SoloSam, Anak1n and Pat App on Dec. 2 at an event titled, 20 Below, the first show presented by Columbia Music Collective at Conway Center at 7:00 PM.
