Nothing is quite as inspirational as a collective pain can be, and in the case of the civil rights movement as it stood both sixty years ago and today, it’s brought forth some of the most moving music in the history of American pop culture. Tyson onBEATS brilliantly contributes his own take on a modern revolution in the new single “BLVK Mirror” and its incredible music video, and while it’s stylized as a fusion of hip-hop and alternative trap music, it’s a release that I would tell anyone in our country to take a close look at.
The music video for “BLVK Mirror” literally puts us in the passenger seat for a drive through both historical imagery and the urban landscape with Tyson onBEATS, whose rapping provides us a linguistic gateway into the past while keeping his story firmly grounded in the merciless events of 2020. The instrumentation seems to swell with the violent shots here, as if to imply a smothering feeling that comes with experiencing something utterly traumatizing beyond words. We’re not given a choice but to feel something from this release; there’s simply too much vulnerability, and more specifically, too much heart in the narrative to be unaffected.
Tyson onBEATS undisputedly submits a can’t-miss addition to his discography in “BLVK Mirror” this summer that I would rank as easily being among the most emotionally jarring tracks of the year to date. Whether we’re watching the music video or just listening to the song, there is no escape from the crushing passion in the narrative and the call for justice it leaves us with at the conclusion.
I’ve been quite impressed with the hip-hop underground this season, but if you ask me, this is absolutely some of the most provocative material you’re going to find from an independent source right now.
