Currently living in Boulder, Colorado, Jay Price is a Business major student, and an active skier and athlete. At 19 he is currently working on his first mixtape, while attending CU Boulder heading for his business degree. In the meantime Jay has released a single entitled, “Obsessed”, to whet the appetite of waiting fans.
What do you even call this music? It’s not hip-hop. It’s not pop or EDM either. It’s a unique blend of all three that just comes together so we’ll. I can’t get over how impressed I am with the simplicity of this track. No one is making music like this, in any genre. It flows on a cool, almost surf-rock rhythm, and Jay Price leans in on the track with a melodious sing-song rap style.
“Obsessed” is a reflection of one young man’s journey and pursuit to prove his love for his craft, without all the raw aggression, explicit language and negative misogyny themes. And he comes shining through, proving that you can be in this genre, while being level-headed, light-hearted and positive.
I think this is what many hip-hop fans have been waiting for. In an era shaped largely by puffed-chested emotional lamenting and intricate sociopolitical dioramas, Jay Price is finding another home for Hip-hop as he comes off as a motivational good-vibe teacher, which is still an undervalued skill in the rap game. He may be rapping about some personal problems, but he makes it sound like water flowing off a duck’s back.
The feel-good vibe coming through Jay’s voice was so addictive I missed listening to the lyrics…even after I had pressed replay for the fifth time. You can hear the inspiration in his music and the artists that he draws from. Now you can take those names, add a few more, then turn them all upside down on the heads and that’s how you get to Jay Price, and man has he done a great job on this recording.
The stunning thing is, he achieves this strong empathy with the listener, while bringing the bare minimum to the table. The production is crisp and solid, and catchy as hell, but it’s a straight hand-clapping beat without all the bells and whistles most are stuffing into their productions today.
Jay’s raps are perfectly paced without a single misstep, every single word being pronounced in its entirety, but it’s not transcendental, let’s say like a verse from Tech N9ne or Twister. Yet Jay Price hits home like few other rappers do.
He’s onto something, and I haven’t quite worked out exactly what it is. But whatever it is, it works, and makes “Obsessed” sound as though it should be riding high on the summer charts somewhere, anywhere…everywhere, if possible!
My eyes are set on the upcoming mixtape, just to see where Jay Price eventually takes this thing. By then I might have worked out his magic formula, in the meantime the track is blaring in my car with the hood down, and we’re just nodding our heads and singing along – “Why’d you run so far away, it’s the light in the dark, the darkness…”
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