Rhyme Report

Published on July 12th, 2022 | by MuzikScribe

MYKKI BLANCO Announces New Album & Releases “French Lessons” Ft Kelsey Lu ~ ‘Stay Close To The Music’ on Transgressive out Oct 14 ~ NYC, EU & UK Dates

MYKKI BLANCO

ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM: STAY CLOSE TO MUSIC LP OUT OCTOBER 14 VIA TRANSGRESSIVE

FEATURING ANOHNI, DEVENDRA BANHART, JONSI, MNEK, SAUL WILLIAMS & MORE

RELEASES LEAD SINGLE & VIDEO “FRENCH LESSONS” FEATURING KELSEY LU

REVEALS FIRST WAVE OF WORLD TOUR: NYC SEPT 17

Stay Close To Music, the forthcoming new album from Mykki Blanco, is unlike anything they have released before. Adventurous and expansive, it shatters any previously held assumptions about Mykki’s artistry, leaving them free to define their sound for themselves. The LP is being released on October 14, 2022 via Transgressive, to pre-order or save, go here.

Throughout their evolution, poet, artist, musician Mykki Blanco has continuously blurred genres – pulling rave, trap, grunge and punk influences into a swirling pool of experimental hip hop that celebrated queer and trans experiences.

Yet, Mykki admits that “at that point in my career, I didn’t know what my own music sounded like without any kind of direct, outside reference. That’s not a bad thing; that’s how the majority of music is made.”

Ultimately Mykki concluded they wanted to create their own sonic universe from scratch. To facilitate this, they collaborated with producer and multi-instrumentalist FaltyDL, who allowed them to envision new soundscapes built from lush, live instrumentation. “It just transported me,” they admit. “It enabled me to dream in a way that I had never dreamed with my own songwriting. All of a sudden, I felt like I had this template where I could make that sound my own.”

The songs spun together through numerous jam sessions, with writing taking place in Lisbon, Paris, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. By 2019, Mykki realized that they were working on two different records concurrently. The first became 2021’s lauded mini-album Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep and now Mykki readies the second collection of the sessions via Stay Close To Music.

“I wanted to see what it would be like to go back and be a musician from another time where you had to start every ingredient raw from scratch. That process, ideology and that way of making has not only changed me as a musician, it has creatively changed me as a person.”

Today Mykki shares the LP’s lead single, the Lou Reed-indebted “French Lessons”, which features Kelsey Lu (ANOHNI lends a feature on the album version). “The song is a reflection on the possibility of true love, on the notion that one truly can experience what we see in the Hollywood films,” Mykki reveals. “The song is also this ode in a way to Lou Reed. I’m not what I would consider a singer at all, I’m a talk-singer so I look to people in history who have that same style: Tom Petty, Jonathan Richmond of the Modern Lovers, Lou Reed – these are all AMAZING ‘talk singers’ and I feel comfortable in that style vocally. The song was originally composed by FaltyDL andit encapsulated so much sonically of what I was trying to articulate with my own music. FaltyDL has a way of touching on the spiritual subtleties of life. He is able somehow to create mystery out of banality, to create tranquility and fill a room with zen like vibrations, something unnameable and yet so familiar a feeling.”

Of the collaboration with Kelsey Lu, Mykki continues, “Kelsey Lu I’m sure will go on to become one of the legendary artists of my generation. A classically trained virtuoso with a voice that sounds ancient like a bell ringing for the first time, like something out of a Greek odyssey. I have been a long time super fan of Kelsey’s and collaborating with her on this song has been a very special moment for myself and FaltyDL.”

“French Lessons” comes alongside a striking video shot in Georgia (EU) and directed by Felix Kalmenson. He reveals, “The video concept was a reflection on the ongoing struggles for queer liberation in Georgia which is felt more than ever against the backdrop of violent reactionary protests to the queer movement in June/July of this year and many years prior. The video drew on the legacy of the bisexual Georgian/Armenian film director Sergei Parajanov and his contributions to the aesthetic landscape of Georgian contemporary culture. Together we constructed a timeless odyssey of two lovers seeking emancipation and acceptance in a world mired by conflict and violence.”

Leading to “French Lessons” Mykki has shared “Your Love Was a Gift” featuring Diana Gordon and “Family Ties” which features Michael Stipe. The tracks saw support from the likes of Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Fader, Stereogum, Spin, Flood, and more. In addition to Stipe, Stay Close To Music also has features from Saul Williams, ANOHNI, Diana Gordon, Devendra Banhart, MNEK, Jónsi and more.

Mykki Blanco is an artist revered for their fearless ability to evolve, placing their creative exploration at the forefront of their career. With Stay Close To Music, Mykki Blanco is leveling up. By stepping into unchartered territory untethered and free, they have fulfilled their ambitions and created a rich, complex and accomplished sound that belongs entirely to them and which only solidifies their status as one of the world’s most innovative musical pioneers.

Stay Close To Music Track Listing:

01 – Pink Diamond Bezel

02 – Steps (feat. Saul Williams and MNEK)

03 – French Lessons (feat. ANOHNI and Kelsey Lu)

04 – Ketamine (feat. Slug Christ)

05 – Your Love Was A Gift (feat. Diana Gordon)

06 – Family Ties (feat. Michael Stipe)

07 – Your Feminism Is Not My Feminism (feat. Ah-Mer-Ah-Su)

08 – Lucky

09 – Interlude

10 – Trust A Little Bit

11 – You Will Find It (feat. Devendra Banhart)

12 – Carry On (feat. Jónsi)

13 – French Lessons [Single Version] (feat. Kelsey Lu)

Praise For 2021’s Mini-Album Broken Heart and Beauty Sleep

“one of the most original, unpredictable artistic voices to emerge over the last decade” BILLBOARD

“Mykki Blanco helped make rap a more exciting place with their debut 10 years ago — everything about them, from style to sound to presence forced hip-hop fans to reconfigure what truly rebellious art looked like, and whether or not they could handle it.” FADER

“a prime contender for summer anthem 2k21.” Flood on “Summer Fling”

“A boisterous mix of soul, hip-hop, and pop sounds, the track features a celebratory hook inspired by Luther Vandross“ them. on “Free Ride”

“‘Free Ride’ is the Hit of Gospel-Disco Joy We Need Right Now” BLACKBOOK

“Apparently influenced by Luther Vandross, the rapper’s return is a joyous, tumbling Hudson Mohawke-co-produced pleasure” – The Guardian

“‘Free Ride’ sees Blanco once again broadening their musical horizons in fun and exciting ways.” PAPER

“an ebullient dance-rap jam” STEREOGUM on “Free Ride”

“a strong and innovative proclamation” EXCLAIM! 8/10

“The track combines elements of hip-hop and electronica into something atmospheric, upbeat, and fun.” CONSEQUENCE on “Love Me”

“The song and the video share a contemporary take on a ’70s, free love vibe. Equal parts Saturday Night Fever and Hair. It’s glorious fun, and a much needed slice of something “free” when we’re all feeling constrained.” LA WEEKLY on “Free Ride”

Mykki Blanco – Live Dates:

Jul 19: Boomtown – Ghent, BE

Aug 13: Fuchsbau Festival – Hannover, DE

Aug 19: The Roofs Festival @ Olympiapark – Munich, DE

Aug 20: Opera Festival, Milo, Sicily, IT

Aug 26: Capital Pride Festival – Ontario, CA

Sept 17: The Big Climate Thing Festival at Forest Hills – New York, NY

Oct 25: Petit Bain – Paris, FR

Oct 26: Atelier 210 – Brussels, BE

Oct 27: Bitterzoet – Amsterdam, NL

Oct 29: Kampnage – Hamburg, DEl

Nov 1: Loppen – Copenhagen, DK

Nov 2: Gretchen – Berlin, DE

Nov 6: Meet Factory – Prague

Nov 7: Heidelberg Karlstobahnhof

Nov 8: Rote Fabrik – Zurich

Nov 9: Queersicht Festival at Bee-Flat – Bern

Nov 12: Mousonturm – Frankfurt

Nov 14: CBE – Cologne, DE

Nov 21: La Nau – Barcelona, ES

Nov 22: La Casa Encendida – Madrid, ES

Nov 23: Music Box – Lisbon, PT

Nov 29: Heaven – London, UK

Dec 02: Trinity – Bristol, UK

Dec 03: Mother @ Lost Lane – Dublin, Ireland

Dec 04: G2 – Glasgow, Scotland

Dec 05: The Cluny – Newcastle, UK

Dec 06: YES – Manchester, UK

More to come…

About Mykki Blanco:

It’s been just over a decade since the moniker ‘Mykki Blanco’ was created — first as a video art project portraying a teenage female character posting vlogs and raps on social media, but it inevitably evolved into a vehicle of self-discovery in the artist’s journey of forming their personal self-identity. Mykki has pushed hip-hop to some of its most untethered bounds, melding noise and experimental elements with club and trap sounds, whilst also forging a uniquely subversive path within a genre historically entangled in a problematic ideological web of misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia. And while Blanco has been widely recognized as leading the charge as a pioneering trailblazer in the so-called ‘queer rap’ sub-genre, the music being creating in this new chapter of their career represents such significant musical evolution toward eradicating the confines of genre categories and mashing the previous perception of the ceiling of their potential reach.

Find Mykki Blanco:

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