Raury is the new Beck?

October 8, 2015 5:45 PM

Hip Hop is evolving, take a look at Raury he's 18 and his work so far draws on on Gospel, Hip Hop, alt folk, Rap and Freakfolk Raury is a free-spirited singer, rapper, guitarist, songwriter, and producer who was raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, roughly 20 miles outside Atlanta. He mixes alternative folk, rap, and electronic music while counting the diverse likes of Chance the Rapper, King Krule, and Lorde as contemporaries. He's a trippy kid who has sort of a "new age poor swamp people" optimistic view on life. It's sort of contagious. Check out this companion track to Devil's Whisper, God's Whisper. it's Beck, The Flaming Lips, Violent Femmes, Kanye, and a little bit Rocky Horror Picture Show! How does it translate to live performance? Check him out on Late Night With Colbert and check out the fun and weird bit on Sway In The Morning as Raury freestyles over Outkast's "Elevators" He's also made some straight out of the 80's stealing from the 70's feel good pop with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine
posted by bobdow (22 comments total)

and an album out next week may be another reason for the media coverage right now...
posted by andrewcooke at 5:54 PM on October 8, 2015

I hope this isn't too much of a derail: what accounts for the disproportionate amount of notable people out of Stone Mountain? Off the top of my head Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino and that kid with the Nae Nae song are both from there, and it's a town of 5,802. Is it its proximity to Atlanta? Weird city limits? Is it the place you say you're from if you're actually from a nearby no-name town?
posted by JauntyFedora at 5:55 PM on October 8, 2015

Devil's Whisper is one of the few things I've heard discussed on NPR that I actually remembered to look up when I got home. Hell of a song. But then I just sort of... forgot again. Thanks for the reminder!
posted by obfuscation at 5:59 PM on October 8, 2015

These are great!

And they took me all the way back Me Phi Me's acoustic stuff from 1992 which it reminds me of (a little), e.g.: Revival!
posted by Hairy Lobster at 6:05 PM on October 8, 2015

I always appreciate a quality music recommendation - this is great! Thanks!
posted by dylanjames at 6:36 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I hope this isn't too much of a derail: what accounts for the disproportionate amount of notable people out of Stone Mountain?

Don't forget Kenneth Ellen Parcell. (I know, that's because of Don Glover, but still.)

Anyway, this Raury guy seems like he's precisely my eclectic cup of tea. Thanks for spreading the word!
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:02 PM on October 8, 2015

I can't quite make out what I think of this yet. I admire his talent but is it too on the nose, somehow? (Note I might not think so myself, just unsure at the moment...)
posted by neuromodulator at 7:05 PM on October 8, 2015

Although I should add that it's certainly interesting and thanks for sharing!
posted by neuromodulator at 7:06 PM on October 8, 2015

After listening a bit further, I will admit that I'm not really sure what to make thematically of the "God's Whisper" video. Musically it's on point, but I really hope Raury isn't actually serious about that "Indigo Child" stuff. I've dealt with people who were believers (i.e. they were convinced they were Indigos and/or that their kids were), and it's always struck me as a really irritating form of New Age elitism combined with a ready-made justification for everyday sociopathic behavior. Going back to the post title: Beck might be a Scientologist, but at least he doesn't sing about it.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:36 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

what accounts for the disproportionate amount of notable people out of Stone Mountain?

It's nowhere near as remote as it might sound (or be portrayed). I live in Atlanta and can, and do, ride my bike out to Stone Mountain and it is not a difficult ride. While it may technically be "20 miles outside Atlanta," it is more properly described as "right next to Decatur" which is Atlanta's sister city which it blends into as move East. Basically, describing Stone Mtn as distant from Atlanta and not mentioning Decatur is like describing Queens as distant from Manhattan without mentioning Brooklyn.

Basically, Stone Mountain is a bedroom community for Atlanta, and especially for Decatur, not some distant hick town (this is, in fact, part of the 30 Rock joke). DeKalb in general is also a comfortably middle-class, minority-majority area which probably helps account for an above average number of rappers who have the opportunity to pursue music.

Also, finding musicians from the East ATL/Decatur/DeKalb area is not exactly new. OutKast and Goodie Mob, for example, are no strangers to the area. "Elevators" actually contains the line "Had my pencil, and plus my paper/We caught the 86 Lithonia headed to Decatur" and they literally wrote a song titled "Decatur Psalm." And, of course, there's the petition to add OutKast to the Stone Mountain carvings.
posted by Panjandrum at 7:40 PM on October 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

The music has the sophisticatedly uncomplicated sense that great production beings, but there's something about the music video that reminds me of the music videos for two other up and comers in a different genre. All these videos display an aspirational lifestyle, albeit centered around a different American subculture. Why when I watch these do I feel like I am watching a commercial for a type of life.
posted by johnnydummkopf at 7:45 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Indigo Child" stuff

Weirdly, B.o.B. (from Decatur!) also has at least one reference to indigo children on a mixtape. And then there's Willow Smith's "Wit A Indigo," which fits with your assessment of the true believers and my own experience with the... self-indulgent behavior associated with people who think they had/were indigos.
posted by Panjandrum at 7:50 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I mean, it's not like hip-hop has ever NOT had a bunch of streams of new age bullshit running through it. They're just dropping science, G.
posted by Panjandrum at 7:53 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Reaaaaaally couldn't get in to Devil's Whisper, but enjoyed God's Whisper well enough.
posted by Theta States at 8:21 PM on October 8, 2015

Going back to the post title: Beck might be a Scientologist, but at least he doesn't sing about it.

well what the hell's he singing about then? I always just assumed ...
posted by philip-random at 9:06 PM on October 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

but enjoyed God's Whisper well enough.

Love the song on a quick listen except toward the end ...

"I am the savior.
I hear God's whisper."

I'm not hearing a tongue in that cheek.
posted by philip-random at 9:14 PM on October 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Chance the Rapper, King Krule, and Lorde"

Nope.

kids got talent, sure, but i seriously felt like i was watching a met life commercial and listening to the soundtrack to Civ 5 or a micheloeb radio spot.

This reminds me of mefi threads saying Kitty Pryde was like a top 10 evar and had an amazing flow.

I'm sure he's a triple threat, but the singing component now also means rapping. plus, am i the only one who thinks he sounds like he's got an Australian/South African accent?

but hey, Drake and Troy from community have big fan bases so what the fuck do i know?
posted by lkc at 10:39 PM on October 8, 2015

I mean, it's not like hip-hop has ever NOT had a bunch of streams of new age bullshit running through it. They're just dropping science, G.

Yeah, holy shit, have you listened to the underachievers?
They are freaking masters of that.
posted by lkc at 1:10 AM on October 9, 2015

Too NPR.
posted by markkraft at 9:22 AM on October 9, 2015

Ain't nothing wrong with NPR.
posted by djeo at 9:46 AM on October 9, 2015

Well I like the Oakland/Hiero sound of the Underachievers at least. The flow isn't too bad, either.

If we're talking neo-pagan/5%/spiritual hip-hop, you can't leave out Lost Children of Babylon for your New Age Hip Hop crap...
posted by symbioid at 9:55 AM on October 9, 2015

symbioid: i love the underachievers. that one sounds especially hiero since it's the same source as 93 til.
posted by lkc at 6:34 PM on October 11, 2015