Space Discovery: Adub Nati
Welcome to our new Space Discovery!
Today songwriter and emcee from Cincinnati, Alrick L. J. Warner, aka Adub Nati, shows us how hip-hop can evolve, incorporate and turn fluid while staying the same and keeping it nostalgic in his 7-track latest EP Emerging. The old-school hip-hop vibe of this work isn’t contrasted but rather backed by lo-fi, rock, jazz and funk in a neo-soul masterwork.
The EP opens with Battling Time, and Adub Nati takes us straight into his battle against the devil, on a looping lo-fi guitar base. The EP is a profession of faith and strength against all spiritual challenges when pushing through adversity in God’s comfort.
The lo-fi beat present in almost all the songs is mellow and dreamy, as if representing that divine hand holding one up against the hard-hitting rap beat symbolising the harshness of life.
Each track on this EP has its own groove and is very distinct from the next one, and yet the whole album is perfectly cohesive. Adub Nati here played with different genres, and not one note in his work feels out of place, from the hooky chorus in the lo-fi jazzy Gotta Look Deeper, through the purer hip-hop Happenings Here and Get Me, to Waiting On A Word, characterised by a strong soul vibe, which makes it a hymn to faith, with its sparkling sounds and bells-like synths.
This EP is just too good and too catchy to be overlooked.
Black Flower Sun Star is almost an electronic music piece, with an unforgettable rhythm and hook that opens it up right from the start. This is probably my favourite, with reminiscences of garage, electronic and hip-hop. Probably the most representative song of this whole neo-soul EP.
Don’t Be Scared then comes like a surprise, with its rock chorus, taken from the initial verse of Oasis’ Stop Crying Your Heart Out, accompanied by a hard-hitting drum and rap verses. Adub Nati shows us spiritual and musical prowess, and he manages to pull together an amalgamation of great genres in Emerging, which yet fully reminds us of classic hip-hop.
The production on this work is just great, with a use of accurate and satisfying ear candies – it’s the little details about the sound of this album which make it so good.
I’d go as far as to say the music in this EP is cinematic, fit for a reflective urban drama, evocative through its darkness paired with elevation.
This EP has a sweetly nostalgic sound while being so refreshing and fluid, and not only is its production flawless, but the passionate rap bars delivered by Adub Nati in an impeccable flow make Emerging a true space discovery!
