In a world that is divided, unpredictable, and violent – Mereba believes that the only thing left living for is love. The act of giving and receiving love, that Bonnie and Clyde type of ride or die is the only thing that seems to spark a sense of fire and excitement in Mereba these days. 

She sings in the chorus, “Oh, but you light my fire. I wanna be your rider, your rider. I wanna satisfy you.”

Sonically this track is a big departure from Mereba’s usual folk and rap influences that can be found in her first album, The Jungle Is the Only Way Out. This single sounds like nothing I have ever heard from Mereba before. Instead of this track eliciting a sense of collective reflection and contemplation – it makes you want to dance. 

The single’s instrumentation and Mereba’s vocals give this song a sense of levitation away from the burdens of reality. She sings, “The world feels like a weight,  enemy of the state.”

If the world feels like a weight on her shoulders, then Mereba is transforming herself and this single into a bird –  taking flight and relinquishing herself from the heaviness that keeps tying up her wings. 

The Jungle Is The Only Way Out also carried the same theme of having to run, to ride away from the world’s hidden intentions, lurking up behind you like a ruthless Jaguar. 

Mereba often references running, not only as a form of escapism, but mainly as one’s will to survive. For African Americans, running was not a choice, but their only option to seek some form of liberation. Mereba recognizes this theme of running not just that exists for her community now but that of her ancestors as well. 

Those who were enslaved and ran were considered “runaways” – their faces plastered on flyers and their life sold for the exchange of money. In the more literal sense, Harriet Tubman comes to mind as well. Her underground railroad assisted thousands of slaves in their ride to freedom. 

Mereba recognizes that the urgency to run is still here. Running as a survival tactic is materialized in her community as well today. Whether that be African Americans being forced to run from the cops, poverty, or dancing bullets – Mereba desires love to be something that she can always rely on as a form of security. 

She wants to offer her unconditional love to those who also help replenish her spirit as well. Stream “Rider” by Mereba, it is the perfect song to kick off your summer!

The post Mereba Releases New Single, “Rider” appeared first on Red Roll.

Spilligion is showcasing how 2020 is not some misfortunate, random encounter. Spillage Village is drawing our attention to what our country has for far too long ignored, neglected, and tried to bury away. These are black lives, black voices, black beauty, black joy that are being unearthed under all that frigid ice our country is adorned in. 

Spillage Village is calling upon spiritual wisdom and enlightenment in order to collectively instill healing so that re-birth and revolutionary change can replace the dismantling of our country’s racist foundation. Although Spilligion is directly addressing the demolition and destruction that is plaguing our country right now – this album is anything but dark. 

Spilligion is honest and raw, never turning a blind eye to the amounting presence of injustice, death, and illness that our world is consumed in – but it keeps its eye on the prize. The prize being that justice will one day be restored; the prize being protecting their energy and power.

Spillage Village is seeking out healing through remaining on their spiritual path, returning to the ideology that freedom and equality are divine rights that should never be surrendered or stolen – and when they are, Spillage Village calls upon the strength of the community to fight. 

Track titles like, “Baptize,” “Mecca,” and “Oshun” speak on healing waters, powerful deities, and sanctuaries as being the ultimate tools for battle. This a returning to faith, as Spillage Village demands our country repent for its racist sins. Acknowledgment of the past and consistent action must be brought forth in order for healing and rebuilding to ensue. 

Spilligion sonically highlights the wide range of different genres, thematic tones, and instrumentation that Spillage Village has to offer. The track “Baptize” is a straight hip hop track, as members JID and Earthgang play a game of ping-pong with the exchange of bars and flows. 

Tracks like “PsalmSing,” “Hapi,” and “Jupiter” are doused in folk and gospel influences –  piano keys and rich, soul vocals galore. Other tracks like “Shiva” and “Oshun” act as R&B ballads. Spillage Village’s versatility, authenticity, and poetic lyrics are what make Spilligion a true masterpiece. 

“Hapi” is a song that stands out tremendously on the album. “Hapi” is appreciating the safety and security that is found amongst the woods which Mereba and Johnny Venus address directly in the chorus.

They sing, “I met a man playin in the woods. His piano was off-key. He sang to me softly. I bet he wouldn’t change it if he could. Gunshots ringin’ in my hood. They sound so off-beat. I’m prayin’ they don’t off me. I promise I’d change it if I could.”

These lyrics are directed towards America’s inability to change – no reparations, no justice, no peace can come from a man who is unwilling to listen to the songs of others, and adjust his tune accordingly. No justice or peace can come from those who are unable to silence their own tune and amplify those who need it the most.

Mereba spits about a desire to hide away amongst the woods, craving detachment and numbness from the trauma that lingers in the cracks of city sidewalks. Her desire to enter a fable, a daydream is broken by the responsibility she feels to provide aid, support, and healing to her community. 

Johnny Venus breaks out into a riff of stunning vocals – the magnitude behind his voice isn’t based on technical skill, but rather the profound level of emotion he is able to express. Rapper Benji closes the song out with one of the most beautiful and vulnerable verses I have ever heard to date. He raps, “All my life, I had to fight. All my life, passin by. All my life, I had to write, all my life I had to die. All I had to sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears pays the price.”

Spillage Village’s desire to not only use their artistic gifts to heal and soothe the collective, but also keep us focused on the goal ahead just drives home how dedicated they are to honoring their autonomy. Spilligion is what I imagine a fable to sound like, a retreat back to community, peace, and love after a seemingly endless journey.

The last track off the album, “Jupiter,” is a true campfire song, teetering on finding acceptance and bliss through uncertainty and change. In the chorus they sing, “So hold my hands and dance with me tonight. You know, they say we’re all about to die. And maybe it is love we are all tryna find. Who knows what lies, it’s only by design.”

Spilligion is the album of the year to me, analyzing the various layers of 2020 and throwing it in the time capsule. The ending of the track, “Hapi,” features a voice-over from Big Rube that completely captures the essence and message behind Spilligion.

“Your freedom is beyond anyone outside of yourself controllin. It can’t be bought, and sold, given away, or even stolen. It’s a divine entitlement, vital to the nourishment of the soul. Encouragin’ spiritual growth to channel the ethereal flow, creation’s river across the cosmos. This blessed osmosis, triggerin consciousness to focus. And the paradigm ascension, transcendin’ beyond all space and time dimensions. Not to mention my penchant for benediction.

Been addicted minds, been consistent in my grind, of usin’ every pen and pencil I can find. To elevate the state of decline, that’s draggin my people down so deep that the climb could never be done in a single lifetime. So I write life’s lines, correction my lines write life. Correction my life lines right up. When serving my purpose to write and recite what touches and sights ignite that unite us. So we can finally stop runnin’ from freedom.”

The post Spillage Village’s New Album “Spilligion” Calls Upon Spiritual Wisdom To Heal the Collective appeared first on Red Roll.

Spillage Village has not dropped any new music since 2016 with their last album, “Bears Like This Too Much.” The thing is, all of the members of Spillage Village are fountains of wisdom that they induce with the power of the pen. The words that they spit and spill are almost always centered around truth, revolutionary power – with a focus on illuminating systematic racism and injustice. All of them harness the drive to use their voice and platform to speak on the cold veracity that plagues our humanity and our shared world. 

To put it simply, the world has never needed new music from Spillage Village more than we need it now. That sense of desperation seems to be intuitive, which is being spoken to the members of Spillage Village as they rally and collaborate together to uncover all of the desolation and chaos that has been buried in our country for far too long. 

“End of Daze” borders and blurs between many different sounds, sonically shifting from a blues-inspired chorus to an eruption of harsh drums. The flow these rappers possess holds the same magnitude and power of a gushing waterfall – forceful yet incredibly scenic with the picture they are painting in the narrative of this track. 

The track foreshadows an instinctive knowledge that the end of the world is here – bearing its teeth and exposing the grim reaper’s axe that is digging itself deeper and deeper into desolation. This track is doused in apocalyptic energy, yet simultaneously maintains a sense of gratitude as the notion of heaven brings restoration. 

Doctur Dot, JID, Mereba, and Johnny Venus all sing together on the chorus, “It’s the end of days, end of times. Up in a blaze, you can’t hide. God packed his bags and said bye-bye. God packed her bags and said bye-bye. Why, why, why?”

Doctur Dot kicks off the first verse of the song, spitting about all the ways he will choose to soak up his last few days on earth through indulgence and spreading love. JID comes through with the second verse, all fantastical, weaving an image of heaven’s gate being opened, corpse walking over the doom of fate. 

He raps, “Let the smoke rise, take the bodies to the crypts, and when the poor people run out of food; they can eat the rich.” 

Mereba sweeps and completely bodies the third verse as she uses her natural poetic nature to breathe life into words that speak on the death that surrounds them. 

She raps, “It’s been like apocalypse since I was on the teat. Reagan worked for Satan, how he prayed upon the meek. Ask too many questions, Do you work for the police?” 

Jordan Bryant speaks on the contemplation and possibility of a cycle of rebirth that seems almost impossible at this point – the karma of our country amounting to ruins. 

Hollywood JB finishes the last verse with what he feels like could very well be his last words in this lifetime. He raps, “And if I’m gone before the end of the song, just tell my mom I ain’t get rich yet, but I tried to. Shit,  I need a new planet to fly to.” 

Johnny Venus closes out the song with his soaring high notes, the vulnerability bleeds through his voice. In the music video, the last shot is him laying on a tree trunk that has fallen, strumming his guitar while singing to the heavens in the sky. 

He sings, “Please forgive me babe, I’m nervous. Scared to go to sleep. All that life throws our ways, a love that will endure.”

“End of Daze” is a wake-up call, a realistic opening of the eyes, an awakening to the past trauma that our country carries with it now and forever. Yet, “End of Daze” ends on the notion that love surpasses death, love will always triumph over evil and iniquity. 

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