Blaccout Garrison is a Minnesota based singer/songwriter and emcee, who has started to receive attention on this site and across the blogosphere for his Hungry Soulful EP, which has the Minnesotan artist collaboration with the likes of Jackson, WY-based emcee Abstract and Chicago-based R&B vocalist and singer/songwriter The Elle. Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few months, you may recall that I wrote about “Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert.” Produced by Dthr33, the song featured the use of a familiar and beloved sample to real hip-hop heads — the soulful and jazzy sample that comprises A Tribe Called Quest‘s “Bonita Applebum paired with The Elle’s soulful and seductive hook, as Garrison and Abstract trade old-school inspired verses about the women they love. And fittingly, much like the old school hip-hop sample, the emcees rhyme about their loves in charmingly old school terms as they describe how strong, stunning and smart their loves are, and how they both want to treat their loves as the queens and goddesses that the emcees know their ladies are.
Certainly, in an age in which contemporary mainstream artists have openly referred to women in disparaging and ugly terms, hearing such old-school sentiment is not just much-needed it’s refreshingly sweet.
Produced by P-Soul, Garrison’s latest single “Wishing On A Star” pairs a subtly chopped up old-timey, twinkling piano sample, boom-bap drum programming with The Elle’s effortlessly soulful vocals singing the song’s introductory verses and hook as Garrison rhymes about overcoming life’s frustrations and obstacles while being focused on one’s dreams. It’s positive, thoughtful and deeply soulful music — and in an age of soulless, cynically calculated, prepackaged music such thoughtful and earnest music is needed now more than ever before.
