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New Music Friday — May 1, 2020

May 1, 2020

Christian, Hip hop/rap; Menace Movement – STREAM / BUY album

Datin, core member of the Menace Movement collective, is one of the most sought after artists on the Christian hip hop scene today. His 2016 debut LP The Roar garnered Top 20 Billboard chart positions and he’s never looked back since. In his first LP release of 2020, Datin collaboratorates with a who’s-who of CHH mainstays such as 1K Phew, Marty (Social Club Misfits), Eshon Burgundy, Ruslan, Wande, Da T.R.U.T.H., Bizzle, StefanOtto, S.O., Unlce Reece & the ‘Godfather’ Michael Peace.

Datin, Christian hip hop, Menace Movement, Syntax Creative - image

BECKY BULLER | “More Heart, Less Attack”

Bluegrass; Dark Shadow Recording — STREAM / BUY single

Becky Buller is a 2-time GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter, 8-time IBMA Award Winner, and 2020 SPBGMA Fiddle Player of the Year Award-nominee. She made bluegrass music history in 2016 by becoming the first artist ever to win in both instrumental and vocal categories, as well as the first female to win Fiddle Player of the Year by the IBMA. This latest single is a cover of a recent NEEDTOBREATHE hit.

Becky Buller, bluegrass, Dark Shadow Recording, Syntax Creative - image

OZAY MOORE & DSTL | “Backaddit”

Hip hop/rap; Illect Recordings — STREAM / BUY album

Over the last 20 years, Ozay Moore (fka Othello) has proven himself to be an exceptional storyteller time and time again. Whether as a member of the classic hip hop trio, Lightheaded, or as a solo artist, Moore’s flow has always moved crowds. Aided by soulful production and a deep knowledge of hip hop culture, Moore’s music is highly relatable because he blends personal experience with larger themes that cross cultural lines.

Ozay Moore, Illect Recordings, Syntax Creative - image

THOMM JUTZ | “The Flood of 2010”

Bluegrass; Mountain Home Music Company — STREAM / BUY single

It’s sometimes said that if history doesn’t repeat itself, it rhymes, and so it’s no surprise that the new single from Mountain Home Music Company recording artist Thomm Jutz—a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and instrumentalist known for his immersion in the history of the American South—looks back at one event seared into Music City’s memory to find a measure of hope and inspiration, not just for Nashville, but for us all.

Originally written in anticipation of the 10th anniversary, “The Flood of 2010” recalls the devastation that ensued when the city endured a “thousand year flood” at the beginning of May.

Released simultaneously in two forms—one, a quintessentially bluegrass version featuring Mike Compton, Mark Fain, Justin Moses and Tammy Rogers, the other an intimate rendition by Jutz alone—“The Flood of 2010” is the first offering from his forthcoming autumn release, To Live In Two Worlds, Volume 2.

Thomm Jutz, Mountain Home Music Company, bluegrass, Syntax Creative - image

As Jutz recalls, “I was playing guitar for Nanci Griffith in 2010. We were stuck in an airport hotel in Oakland when the flood ravaged Music City—no flights were going in or out of Nashville. I was anxiously watching the news from my hotel room given that our house is less than two miles from Percy Priest Lake, but luckily our home was spared. My old friend and co-writer, Charley Stefl, picked me up a couple of days after I finally made it back home and we went to the West Side of town to help some people knock out rotted drywall. It was the right thing to do. The streets were lined with debris, thousands of people showed up and helped complete strangers—we’d never seen anything like it.”

“People used to get news and preserve history through song,” he notes. “To me, that era has never ended; it’s more real to me than anything on TV. In that tradition, Charley, Jon Weisberger and I wanted to write about the flood—from the book of Genesis to the Mississippi flood of 1927 to the Nashville flood of 2010.”

“One day there’ll be songs about the plague that is upon us now,” Jutz continues. “One that doesn’t just affect Nashville, Middle Tennessee or America but the whole world. This time the best we can do is to not show up, to stay at home and wait for Noah’s dove to come back again one day—as surely it will.”

PHILIP WHITE | “I Trust You”

Christian/CCM, Gospel; Whitehill Music — STREAM / BUY single

Providing BGVs for the likes of Carrie Underwood, Debbie Winans, Kem, Judith McCallister and Lisa McClendon, singer-songwriter Philip White is also an up-and-coming solo artist in the ever evolving sound of Gospel and Christian Music. In addition to extensive European and States-side touring, White has also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (100th episode), and the legendary Dorinda Clark Cole‘s TCT Network set.