Since the internet is basically 2015’s version of a clubhouse, and this is where we hang out with friends now rather than actually doing things in real life, I’m going to just pretend we’re all sitting in a giant room and someone passed me the aux-cable to enlighten the entire gathering on an artist that I don’t think everyone in said giant room is hip to. What would you say to me if I told you that I’m predicting the next R&B (don’t pigeon-hole him) sensation is going to come out of Louisville, Kentucky? You’d probably be like, “you’re an idiot and all that comes out of Louisville is horse racing and baseball bats,” – in which case nine times out of ten I would be obliged to agree with you – but allow me to introduce you to Bryson Tiller. I am 100% convinced that he is the greatest thing to come from the ‘Ville since Cassius Clay. I first came across Bryson’s music back in March when I heard his freestyle over Drake‘s “How About Now?”, and since then I can’t think of any time in which he has disappointed me. What I think is the dopest thing about him is that he realizes, given his sound/genre, that he is going to get Drake comparisons. Rather than shoot them down or get offended, he embraces it. The way I see it – you’re doing something right if you’re drawing comparisons like that. He’s also gotten to this point without a major feature which is a tall task in itself. Bryson’s “hit” to this point would probably be the Ray-Allen’s-jumper-smooth Don’t in which he not only caught the ears of at least 16,000,000 people but he grabbed the attention of perhaps the most important ear in hip-hop right now:
The 6-God cosign is extremely important, but please don’t let all of that Drake talk fool you- this kid is incredible in his own right. In my own personal opinion, and please dear god don’t flame me for having an original one, I actually enjoy his fluctuation between singing and rapping more than I enjoy Drizzy’s. Break Bread, featuring King Vory, and Ease, featuring WunTayk Timmy, are the perfect highlight of Tiller’s above-average rapping ability, “I’m smoking on that Amster/ Tiller hit that rose like Amber”. What’s most enjoyable though is how this man can put you in your feelings with his sadder jams about losing love, like Been That Way, or completely inflate your ego when you’ve dropped a scrub, like Sorry Not Sorry (my personal favorite and what I brush my teeth to daily). He’s also extremely fun and charismatic which is clearly evident on Don’t Worry/Molly – the last half is a freestyle over Makonnen‘s wildly popular I Don’t Sell Molly No More, and another common denominator between Tiller and OVO (his latest single samples Drake’s Bria’s Interlude).
Louisville has curated some really cool things for being a city from Kentucky. No offense to the Louisville-nites, but all I see when I think of Kentucky is bluegrass and bourbon; which actually isn’t a bad thing but don’t get me started. I am 100% on the Bryson Tiller bandwagon. The kid has done nothing but prove that he has the voice and flow to carry him further than just the trending charts of SoundCloud.
Note to Bryson Tiller: if you read this, I’d love to interview you and ask you completely irrelevant questions.
[…] is setting himself up nicely to be a contender for a long time to come. Back in August, I wrote a column on the rise of Bryson and with today’s release of the music video Sorry Not Sorry, I […]
[…] dropping hints earlier this year. I covered a bit of what I found appealing about Bryson Tiller earlier this year before the album dropped, and I’m happy to report his first full body of work did […]