It’s funny. Music discovery has to be very specific for me or it just feels weird. Going down random YouTube rabbit holes or buying a random CD at the record store and falling in love are my preferred methods, but sometimes (and this very rare) Spotify recommends me an artist or project and I immediately fall in love. That is how I became a fan of ERNESTO BIRMINGHAM. His track “WYBIE” off his latest project Junebug showed up in one of my “daylist” playlists and I was immediately grew in by the fast-paced tempo and how BIRMINGHAM slides in so smooth over the production. His flow and delivery coupled with the grooves makes it almost impossible to not bob your head and boogie. This made me keep listening, but also a thing I like to do is check newer artist’s bios because they can write their own. I wrote the bio for rarerashad and he basically let me write whatever I wanted. I check BIRMINGHAM’s and it’s very short but there were two parts that stuck out to me. 1. He’s 21 years old and 2. He’s self-produced. It immediately clicked why he sounds so at home over the production, no stone is left unturned because he’s catering to himself. I know 21 isn’t the youngest age, but to already have this sound at 21 is insane.
As I listened to the project over and over and over again (it’s only 8 minutes long) my favorite track became “O’REILLY” for a very specific reason. If you have read my reviews in the past, you’ll know I love moments. Those moments that don’t last the entire song, but just long enough that you want them to last forever. This track has two of them, the first is when BIRMINGHAM says “I should hear a pin drop,” and the sound of zills (finger cymbals, had to look that up) plays and my eyes turn red for two seconds every time it happens. It’s a welcomed break in the beat. The second moment is during the second verse for the first handful of bars, he drops the main instrumentation in the beat out and basically just raps over the drums, so you really hang on to every word he says. The beat for “WANNA BE ME” is the definition of infectious. The siren shriek is the backbone, coupled with the distorted guitar (?), you’re already in, right? It gets better, though. Around 0:29, the 808s come in and send the beat into outer space. It’s up there saying hello to Jupiter and ERNESTO is right on top of it flowing in multiple languages?! The hook is beyond catchy and reminds me of those super-confident late 2000’s Cudi tracks, but with a new age spin put on it.
ERNESTO is the future, I’m just one of the people trying to let you know a little bit early. Don’t be surprised when you start seeing him everywhere. You may or may not have heard it here first, but now you know. Go Eagles, btw.
Follow ERNESTO: @freediallo
Follow Deshaun*: @deshaunstar
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