Connecticut: beautiful countryside, original home of the dinosaurs before the asteroid hit, hella foliage – it’s not really home to a musical scene persay, more a place where unconnected artists like John Mayer, Thurston Moore and Moby have risen to fame on their own accord. It’s close enough to New York City that you can drive there in the time it takes to sink a few beers (two hours, although the drinking is obviously only an option if you’re slouching in the passenger seat) yet also far enough away that the two places stand alone. And it’s here, in this New England state, that up-and-coming 20 year-old rapper Kevin George has spent all his life.
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Perhaps you’ve heard of him already, maybe via his debut video “High Like This,” released this January. Or maybe you’ve seen the follow-ups, “My Crew” and “Over”, all of which sit somewhere in the vicinity of House of Balloons era The Weeknd, if The Weeknd had more to him than laying morose on a couch and crooning in a high-pitched voice about having too much sex. Those tracks are from George’s debut EP Loveland, released today, and portions of that first video “High Like This” were shot in his apartment complex, where he’s speaking from over the phone today.“There are no windows. I got my Prince poster,” George says, of his relatively bare-sounding surroundings. Somewhere in his immediate reach is a battered Casio keyboard, a broken guitar and a working one. This is (as some #heads might call it) his lab. It’s also his spot. Friends come over every night, smoke some weed. His mum doesn’t mind. Things like that are chill in the George household. It’s a nice image and one that sits at a contrast to George’s earlier (read: almost past) life, back when he was entertaining aspirations of becoming a professional American footballer.
See, unlike those kids who may have been couched in music since before they first emerged, slick with amniotic birthing fluid, George was in the other camp – where the sports children live. From a young age he played football, and for a while it was both his future and ticket to college. Then his coach – who had promised him a varsity spot – got fired. From that moment on in brief: George’s new coach didn’t like him, his family life became messy, he started “being alone, feeling sad and creating vibes” AKA finding his feet in music. This was almost five years ago – now you’re seeing the finished product.George describes Loveland as part Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon, part Kanye West’s Graduation and part The Weeknd’s House Of Balloons. These are touchstones, he says, because those records take you to a very specific place, build their own worlds and can make you feel positive (hiya Graduation). Centred around a theme of love, the record weaves its way from low-lit drunken scenes in club back rooms (“Drink or D’usse”), the demise of a relationship (“Over”) and then toward what sounds like a look into the future on the lightly-funked up closing track “Loving Come Easy”.That concluding track in particular gives a good insight into what to expect from George later down the line, too. While he recorded, produced and wrote the EP himself, “Loving Come Easy” is the one track where he brought in extra hands – 15 people in fact – who helped carve out the track’s soulful, bubbling tone. It speaks to his future aspirations, which are to collaborate, to have the best idea win. “Loving Come Easy” also acts as the end-credits to the EP, coming after the relationship has already fallen apart, offering a window of respite. As a book-end to the record, its expansive sound also offers room for George to maneuver into his next chapter. John Mayer and Chris Webby better move over, Connecticut is gonna have another name on its tongue.You can find Ryan on Twitter.