David Cash’s New Artist Spotlight: Theophilus London
Who?
Theophilus Musa London is a Trinidad-born American rapper, singer, and producer based in Brooklyn. He’s put out two albums with some major artists featured on them including Solange Knowles, Tegan and Sara, and Kanye West. He has a distinct style and a very artistic vibe which I personally quite enjoy. He’s big on fashion in a style similar to A$AP mob and Kanye, while also sticking to his island roots in his productions in an almost Rihanna-esque manner. Weather you’ve heard of him or not, this is definitely a new artist that I’d recommend checking out.
Listen to these 5 songs:
1. Water Me (ft. Leon Ware)
The song says it best in it’s first line: “vibes!” Major vibes in this track. The production is laid back and incorporates a calculating psychedelic pulsating volume that is totally unique. The distorted vocals create a really cool atmosphere and even though some of the lyrics are a bit existential for a laid back r&b song, (ie. “What’s there when we all die, reasons questions why.” ) the overall sexy production makes this my personal favourite track on the album. I also really like the incorporated sex, and dirty talk samples he brings in; as they’re a tad shocking, more intriguing, and ultimately dope. The layered vocals and effects make this a complex track and are a testament to London’s obvious skills as an artist.
2. Can’t Stop (ft. Kanye West)
This is definitely London’s most well known song, which I doubt comes to a surprise to anyone. The song on it’s own is quite catchy, but the real shining star in this track is Kanye’s verses. As a pretty big Kanye fan, this is some of his better flow.. honestly. Shoutout to the repeated line: “It aight but it aint ralph though.” Unreal. Also: “this party’s aint got hoes, my intro’s my outro.” Honestly too many to bring up in this short blurb. The light production in tandem with London’s now trademark trancey vocals and insturmentals makes this track most definitely worth a listen.
3. Heartbreaker
This track has a great vibe. The pulsating bass, and crunchy production is super infectious and a lot of fun. This very New York vogue-like rhythm is super cool, and the vocals are also quite catchy. Apart from the the production, the track is somewhat basic, but there are definitely enough cool breakdowns on a music level that make the song well worth a listen. I really like that he brought the “vibe” sample into this track as well as a few others as it’s a great little way to make the album super cohesive — which it does and does well.
4. I Stand Alone
This is one of his older tracks from back in 2011. The style is way different, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing — it’s just not that vibes production that I’m personally used to at this point. The track is overall catchy and might get stuck in your head in bits and pieces. The driving chorus keys and drums push the melody forward nicely, but it’s nothing amazing. This is a cool listen, but ultimately nothing to write home about.
5. Tribe (ft. Jesse Boykins III)
Another really fun turn up track with a kind of vogue-like driving rhythm. Some african influences at times, a few Caribbean refferences in lyrics that pay homage to his Trinidadian roots. I really like his flow on this track and definitely like the direction that he’s going in. You can clearly see the progression that he’s made as an artist from his early work to now and I’m very exited to see what’s next for this relatively new and very exciting young artist.
+Shoutout to: Do Girls, and then just listen to Water Me again
