KJ! is making good on his promises and continuing to release new music every two weeks in 2024. His latest drop, “The Bar,” might just be the best yet.
The conscious hip-hop track enters with a subtle groove that only elevates with each verse. BoomBap influences shine through in KJ’s unique style. He drew inspiration from Kendrick Lamar and Andre 3000 when writing this song but blends structure and conversationality in a way entirely his own.
There’s a dichotomy between success and struggle: It’s about “the feeling of having a very internalized motivation that all of a sudden gets externalized and consequently dissipated, and so you feel very unmotivated and scrambled,” he said.
KJ!’s musical journey has been anything but linear. He thought he had hit his artistic peak at 19, but of course life isn’t so simple.
I was in a place where I was incredibly productive, happy, my creative workflow was exactly what I wanted it to be and I felt very in control of my art and creative growth and direction. Then, all at the same time because life is really just one big “I Love Lucy episode,” COVID hit, I got into an unhealthy and taxing relationship, and I overcommitted myself to non-musical things and burnt myself out.
~KJ!
Now, he’s growing past that phase of his life, and he divulged “The Bar” was written in a sort of “middle limbo period” in this process of rediscovering himself and his artistic growth.
According to KJ, he “fell out of love” with the song for awhile in production before reworking it until he was satisfied, infusing messages of identity and success.
One of the recurring dreams I have is that I’m a spy or a secret agent trapped behind enemy lines having to bring some sort of system or idea down. Personally I think that’s because I’m Black in a majority white space, and I think that’s really what being Black in that kind of space feels like. But I liked that I managed to get the recurring dream mentioned in the verse and more broadly add the sense of fantastical conspiracy/opposition to the song.
~KJ!
With album 801s Demos and EP Toxic on the books, what’s not to love about KJ? More backlogged singles and fresh work are on the way. We can’t wait for what’s next from this rising artist. Stay tuned for more drops like this. Connect with KJ! on his Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
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