Music is often a form of escape for both the listener and the Artist diffusing their fleshy vulnerabilities from paper to record. This is the precise vindication behind the Chattanooga-bred Rapper performing under the cognomen "Slendo." And over the past seven years, the young upcoming house-hold name in Hip-hop has been using his New-age sonics as a form of artistic articulation and existential escape from the turbulence-induced ride of life.
With only 23 years of age backing his existential experience, it's hard to fathom how this Artist with such high aspirations could sound so melancholic and introspective over his newest banger dropping this month, "Sunken Ave." But then again, that's exactly the vibe he was going for.
Here, on an inebriated sonic escapade through the mind of an artist struggling with self-indulgence and his own secluded introspections, Slendo comes off sounding like he's divulging heavy-hearted confessions from the cornering ends of the kaleidoscopic room he's rapping in, drenched in the vibes of his melancholy.
"I get high as shit, cause I don't like lows, I can do this shit with my eyes closed," he sings over the buzzing hook as his mystifying harmonic mantras dissolve into the void just as fast as they appeared; it's easy to lose track of time and space as you zigzag your head, back and forth, to the Trap-reminiscent cadence of Slendo's beat production. In the meaty portions of this mix, his vocal processing drips with subtle distortion and comes festooned with reflecting ad-libs that copulate the heavy-hearted anecdote behind his lyrics.
With a captivating texturized aesthetic, Slendo operates over the magnum opus of his most recent audible endeavors with a Veteran Emcee's wit and the Contemporary style that you'd expect from the new-age Rapper coming out of the East-coast Hip-hop game, and it's as awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping as ever.
Hello Slendo and welcome to BuzzMusic. Can you walk us through some of the emotions you had to channel into to get the performance you capture on "Sunken Ave?"
Really just had to let all the barriers down and open up about who I am and how I really feel. I had to become vulnerable to myself because the whole point of "Sunken Ave" is giving the listener a view into my world. "Sunken Ave" is literally my life in a sense.
Did you find it hard to express some of the more vulnerable aspects of this title's story, which clearly stems from your past experiences?
I wouldn't say it was hard really because that's what I really was going for with the song. I wanted to express myself as much as possible but still make it catchy.
Does Chattanooga hold significant influence in your development as a Hip-hop artist, or is there something else that inspires your aesthetic more deeply?
In a way, Chattanooga does. I guess that's because that's where a lot of these experiences and things I talk about on songs occur or have occurred. But also, I'm inspired and influenced by places I want to be in the future if that makes sense.
What are you most excited about in your Career for 2020? Are there any Milestones we can anticipate seeing you accomplish in the next few months to come?
Just to keep going and keep seeing where my journey takes me. Expect more vibes, more music, more content for everybody that's been rocking with me this far.
What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
It's a few things that have been keeping me inspired in this weird year. I would say really just looking at how far I've come over the past year, it kinda inspires me to keep going and see how much further I can go ya know? Listening to older music, and one of the biggest things for me has been learning when to take a break, not forcing the process.