An artist must always keep exploring the possibilities of their own unique sound. The best way is to just keep doing it. Write new songs as much as you can. With practice and experimentation comes perfectly original music. Our friend SmartBlackKid has kept the momentum going and is back with more music for us all.
The alter ego of Hakhi Alakhun is based in Brooklyn, NY. From a young age, he poured himself into music. Starting with teaching himself to play keyboards at age 9 and going on to become a multi-talented one man band, artist, and producer.
After picking up skills in a variety of local acts from the Jazz-Funk Copasetic to live Hip Hop band, The Lo Frequency he ventured off on his own and formed SmartBlackKid. Now with pure freedom, he was able to write more songs than he knew what to do with. A mission began. The result was 10 albums released in a matter of 2 years.
Never one to sit on his laurels SmartBlackKid is back with another greatest hits collection on The Best of SmartBlackKid Vol. 2. These 16 songs are set for release this Saturday, July 22nd on Apple Music, iTunes, GooglePlay, Amazon, Tidal, and more.
The question is asked right from the opener “Who’s Really Down With Me?”. SmartBlackKid is not here to please everyone and wants to know who will be his supporters in this innovative rock journey. The drum beat of “No Power Over Me” grabs you right away with its straight power. The raw guitar style adds that element of the punk rock streets as the vocals demand power over you. Amazing guitar solo here too.
On his ode to the neighborhood he grew up in “Brooklyn”, SmartBlackKid shares his love for the past and his not so sure feeling about the future of the borough. The lyrics demand a few listens to take them all in while the chorus will be reverberating in your head for quite a while. He tackles the borough of “Queens” with a more progressive and psychedelic sound. The sonic wall is full of sound that lets your mind go to another place altogether.
SmartBlackKid is not afraid to slow it down and share some emotion on “In A Vortex”. You can literally feel what he feels as you let yourself get sucked into the vortex of song. If SBK is your company you will be just fine.
The record closes with the under 2 minute “The Arrival Of Light”. This is an exotic take on sound with synth rises filling the speakers as a choppy drum beat crashes against the mood being set. The instrumental lets your mind go wherever it wants. The journey of this record is quite a diverse one and the development and growth of SmartBlackKid can be heard with a complete listen. I strongly advise an uninterrupted listening session from top to bottom to gain the full experience.
Follow @smartblackid on Instagram and Twitter for more of his journey
