7FIFTY7 has been releasing a plethora of Hip-hop music that leans on the bordering edges of R&B and Trap since day one.
In 2019, he dripped onto the scene with the smooth, laid-back incantation, "Highway," which left fans salivating for more of the magnetized aesthetics he naturally diffused from his presence on the mic. The following year, fans would get a manifold of interlocked singles, which were all interjoined by the Newport-bred Rapper's trademark Hip-hop warbles, like "Bad Girl," the trap-reminiscent "Corona," and a robust R&B-festooned "Gilligan's Island."
Those were impactful singles that captured new-listeners' attention. When he showed up on Instagram that year to promote his next musical endeavors, you can only imagine the excitement from fans that followed.
This month, with the release of his latest single, "Tunnel Vision," it feels like 7FIFTY7 has his sights set on a new artistic formality, a reimagining of his R&B-reflective, smooth-talking aesthetics in favor of something more hard-pressed and determined.
Fading-in with a symphonically mystifying diffusion of the now Los Angeles-based Rapper's quavering voice, "Tunnel Vision" arrives with a nonchalant bent at making sure everyone from east to west knows he's not playing around.
With a steadfast cadence and a sub driven back-beat that slips into the background like a malevolent silhouette, 7FIFTY7 takes dominion over center stage, rumbling and decrying over his competition's ill-informed, sensitive, and inattentive mind-sets: "they in they feelings, be bangin' red like they period drippin', and I been focused, they tryna block, I got tunnel vision, I'm strapped up like Rambo, and I'm on a mission." It's a testament to the emcee variation of the name he has fought hard to put on the map. With this latest single, lacking a hook and never wavering from the militarian approach of his rifling bars, 7FIFTY7 sounds more potent than ever.
"Tunnel Vision" departure from his previous works is welcomed. And what's most impactful about this new alternative of the budding Rapper is his fervency, the belligerence behind his character, and the underlining mastery behind his bar-dispensing inner-nature. It's almost impossible not to feel like 7FIFTY7 is the next conquerer to show up at cipher near you—and you can be assured he'll be walking away with the winning prize.
Can you walk us through what inspired you to take a different approach to your style and bar dispensing on "Tunnel Vision" compared to the previous singles from this year?
Well previously I had been doing a lot more R&B music and I wanted to make sure I stood out as more than that. I'm an “Artist” first. I’ve always been doing both so I wanted to make this a statement.
When you think back to "Tunnel Vision," what stands out as the primary influence and inspiration for how the single turned out?
For this single, I pretty much approached how I do with any other song, and that's with emotion. I start with how am I feeling at the time, how does the beat make me feel, etc. So with this production, I felt it was saying make a statement. Make my point known that IM HERE.
What sorts of emotion were you channeling into for your performance on "Tunnel Vision"? Is this something that you think is now more common-place in your creative process than ever?
As I said before it's emotional, and during this time I had lost one of my older brothers who was a HUGE fan of my music. He always told me to just drop my music. I'm a perfectionist, so being that I am independent with everything, I hold off a lot. So it was definitely energized by that emotion of loss along with just the confidence that my music was good.
If you could prefix the intent and experience you've tried to highlight for your fans on "Tunnel Vision," what would you feel the need to say, and why?
The intent of Tunnel Vision was to show people that I'm in a place where I'm blocking out outside noise and influence from people. Thinking I have to wait for friends, labels, or blogs to cosign my music before I believe it's that good. My brother believed in my music that much and I know I do so that's where my focus is. I'm moving independent and that's how it's going to stay until I say otherwise.
What can listeners anticipate to hear next from you? Do you have any releases planned to release by the end of the year?
Expect to hear A LOT more music in 2021. More variety and more visuals! I have few collab projects coming out in the next 2 months along with my own project Scorpio Season II which will be released Nov 17th! Stay Tuned!