Atlanta’s Talented Rapper Joye Marelyn

Atlanta’s talented rapper Joye Marelyn has dropped his newest single “Woodlands” this week along with its music video for fans to enjoy, and let me tell you this: this song is fire. I have never heard before about Marelyn’s music until today; I like rap and hip-hop music, but I’m not very aware of the latest releases of the genre. But is safe to say that I will be listening to Joye Marelyn since today because I am interested in his unique style.

If you don’t know who Joye Marelyn is, he is an Atlanta-based rapper and hip-hop artist known as Kevin Joiner. His interest in music started at an early age, watching his father play the guitar and piano. As he grew older, he discovered and perfected his songwriting skills. And thanks to that, he has been featured in Pigeons and Planes, Earmilk, Complex, and also in a Sprite commercial with the NBA superstar LeBron James.

Let’s start talking about the song, “Woodlands”; it is a rap song less than 2 minutes that says a lot despite its short duration. Showing a smooth melody with fast-paced, free-styled verses which Joye himself said that “the verses freely flowed out” after listening to the song’s beat. But hey, I know you are thinking that the song is too short, but don’t worry about it; Joye does a lot of things in that time. The song tells us about the nightlife, sex, drugs, and alcohol, and some other things about the rapper’s personality are present in every verse; Joye said: “I hope people get a tad glimpse into my life and some understanding of the things I experienced the way I experienced them”. There are some low, almost guttural backing vocals present in the chorus that add a dark and mysterious atmosphere to the song; this atmosphere is what I think is the best thing about the song. Nowadays, not every rapper can create something like that. Joye also shows us he is a skilled entertainer because of the animated, “in your face” deliveries throughout the song. Like I said before, this song is fire, period.

Now, the music video. The music video was written and directed by himself and co-directed by Patrick Rodgers. It was shot in an Atlanta museum, and it shows him rapping alone in some scenes and accompanied by other people in other scenes. The mysterious and cryptic atmosphere of the museum perfectly complements the song and vocal delivery, that is one of the reasons why I really liked “Woodlands”. Let’s hope that Joye will drop a sequel to this song and music video because a lot of people want to see more of this, including myself.

I listen a lot of rap but despite that, I am not a huge die-hard fan of rap and hip-hop music but I know when a song is good and this song is really good, and with this being the first Joye Marelyn’s song I ever listened to, it settled the bar very high. To be honest, I want to hear something this good from him again. He is not another Travis Scott, he is another Busta Rhymes, he is another Wiz Khalifa; he is Joye Marelyn, and let’s hope he is here to stay.