Oakland Rap-n-B Hybrid ymtk Announces 9Song.Wav, His Funky and Ethereal Upcoming Project
Beloved by His Bay Area Peers, the Singer/Rapper Shares Some Island Vibes with the 808-Heavy “Confetti,” Premiered by VIBE
8.31.2017
Critical Praise:
“He is definitely one of the most consistent artists out right now.” – Earmilk
“[‘No Job’ is a] capering, island-influenced jam by East Oakland’s ymtk (which stands for “Young Murph the Kid”) sounds like PARTYNEXTDOOR, but if he was on uppers. It’s a tropical, fun dance track that is sure to get you moving, and it’s like nothing else we’ve heard come out of the Bay Area this year. Now that’s saying something.” – SF Weekly
“Keeping true to his Bay Area roots, ymtk has a steady and strong formula to the narrative of love.” – VIBE
The Announcement:
Specializing in breezy rap-n-b tracks about romance and the high life, Oakland’s ymtk is one of the most unique voices in the Bay Area music scene. Conducting a veritable orchestra of ethereal vibes and deeply felt sung bars, ymtk announces his return with 9Song.Wav, his upcoming project. A diverse slice of ear candy, 9Song.Wav is an ideal record for your Summer BBQ, speckled with harmonious guitar scratches, booming 808s, and drenched in reverb. The follow-up to last year’s All The Right Places, 9Song.Wav is a loose narrative about different stages of love, each song using different metaphors and double entendres to interpret complex emotions and situations. Featuring appearances from P-Lo and Ye Ali and boasting the previously released jam “Undivided“, 9Song.Wav will extend your internal summer far past Labor Day, with ymtk’s silken voice as your constant companion through the darker months.
One of the more quietly prolific and influential artists in the modern Bay Area music scene, ymtk (short for “Young Murph The Kidd”) has collaborated with everybody from Nef The Pharaoh to Iamsu! to Too $hort. Born and raised in Oakland, ymtk started making music in the heyday of the hyphy music. Though he loved the music of the movement, the music that he created did not quite fit with the regional style, so he relocated to Los Angeles to make the smooth hybrid of rap and R&B that he is known for today. Last year, ymtk released the eccentric All The Right Places, which featured appearances from Marc E. Bassy, Choice, Rexx Life Raj, Iamsu!, and Too $hort, and garnered a major sync when his song “Hella Super High” appeared in the Lionsgate film Kicks. Most recently, ymtk collaborated with Rexx Life Raj for the Emoji Goats EP, a short and winsomely eccentric EP with appearances from P-Lo and Caleborate. Featuring production from Ekzakt, 9Song.Wav releases on September 29th.
To accompany the announcement of the upcoming project, ymtk shares “Confetti,” a celebratory poolside anthem for the end of the Summer. Rising above chicken-scratch guitar, feather-light keys, and slapping 808s, ymtk reflects on life and love in the new single, expounding upon the work and the luck that goes into making a relationship successful. Premiered by VIBE and produced by Ekzakt, “Confetti” is an ideal window into the world of 9Song.Wav–it’s an energetic, smooth, and invigorating track, with eclectic instrumentation and clever musings from ymtk himself: “I can pick a winner when I play/baby finna lead me to the finals/7 & 11 when I roll/I hit it like the lotto every day.”
“Confetti’ was actually written and recorded last year around the time me and Ekzakt were finishing up All The Right Places,” explains ymtk. “It’s an extremely vibey and celebratory song that has the island bounce mixed with a poppy guitar riff and heavy 808’s. All these different elements somehow compliment each other and we were dummy juiced off it from the very beginning. Lyrically this song is about love being a game or gamble. Most of us learn over time that often the biggest risk can amount to the most satisfying reward. When you fall in love and truly believe you’re with THE ONE, you get the feeling that you’ve won. I associate winning with confetti, champagne, etc. Falling in love can feel like winning life’s championship. No championship ever comes easy. All of the greatest champions have struggled on the road to victory. The hook is filled with entendre between dancing and the rigorous battle that finding true love can be. Winding and dropping down to the floor and grinding to an extremely island bassline and drum pattern parallels the actual ‘grind’ of getting good at something, heating up like when you finally get in your zone during the game and how you can ‘wind’ up being the happiest at the end of the game because you feel like you’ve earned it. You won. Making those parallels were important to me because love is NOT a game but it is something you have to work for it order for it to be worthwhile and I don’t think that gets addressed enough.”
Pre-order 9Song.Wav: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/9song-wav/id1275726801?ls=1&app=itunes
Listen to “Confetti”: https://soundcloud.com/i_am_ymtk/confetti/
Check out the VIBE premiere: https://www.vibe.com/2017/08/premiere-ymtk-confetti/
Please contact Michelle or Isabel for more info.
Links:
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Pre-order 9Song.Wav: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/9song-wav/id1275726801?ls=1&app=itunes
“Confetti”: https://soundcloud.com/i_am_ymtk/confetti/
All The Right Places: https://open.spotify.com/user/samleefe/playlist/4XC1zhKC2jMphxhJmkOrNw // https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-the-right-places/id1135643284
Emoji Goats EP with Rexx Life Raj: https://soundcloud.com/i_am_ymtk/sets/emoji-goats