So Brooklyn/Purchase, NY producer Lord RAJA just announced that he has signed to Ghostly International, alongside the likes of Gold Panda and Matthew Dear, and I can’t say I’m surprised at all. If you have been following RAJA at all over the past few years, you know that he has been ridiculously talented and the fact that he’s only getting signed now is what is surprising. RAJA has been periodically putting tracks up on his soundcloud page before taking them down soon after for the past year, and now with this announcement has finally graced us with a debut EP. Rubies is sure not to disappoint any of RAJA’s previous fans, and most likely gain a lot of new ones. It’s easy to compare his style on this EP to other producers around Soundcloud and on labels such as Brainfeeder, but this EP sounds much more thought out than most of that. Even though this will be a lot of people’s first introductions to his music, on Rubies, RAJA sounds completely comfortable and incredibly experienced, morphing aesthetics from too many genres to name into one cohesive sound that is completely his own. Stream one of my favorite songs off of the EP below, then link to download the whole thing under that, and then hit the jump to stream the whole thing- in that order.
-TC
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As if the stunning debut Mathematics wasn’t enough, Jalal Salaam has decided to put out a remixed version of the tape. Originally produced by Scanz, “Synergy” was an easy highlight on Mathematics with every line sounding like a statement of purpose from the SUNY Purchase based (yeah another SUNY student) rapper. Producing his own remix, Salaam gives his verse a little more space with more room to air out. The new beat is a gorgeous piece of boom-bap that doesn’t overstate Salaam’s intoxicating flows. Although it honestly sounds like a weird concept to remix a rap tape, I couldn’t be more excited for more Mathematics.
