3.21.2025
Boldy James Announces Hommage, a Collab Album with Detroit Producer Antt Beatz, Continuing His Run of Quality 2025 Projects
The Acclaimed Rapper Stops Being Humble on “Street Cred,” a New Song and Video From the Project
Hommage Arrives on March 28th via EMPIRE
Produced in Full by Detroit’s Own Antt Beatz, Known for His Work with 42 Dugg, Tee Grizzley, and Team Eastside, Hommage Finds Boldy Tapping Into the Sounds of His Hometown Street Scene While Keeping the Vivid Narratives and Visceral Bars For Which He Is Known
Hommage is the Astoundingly Prolific Rapper’s Fifth Project of 2025, Each Created in Collaboration With a Different Producer
Critical Praise:
“Boldy James had one of the best years of his career” – Billboard
“Boldy’s forte is methodically fusing multis and end rhymes to construct his capers. And it’s not just the potency of his pen but its prolificness. Since a seven-year career gap from 2013 to 2020, he’s dropped 14 albums, 2 EPs, and one mixtape. Even a serious car accident he suffered in January 2023 couldn’t stop his run.” – Rolling Stone
“Boldy’s level of evocative detail is extraordinary, constructing sprawling worlds from his memories of Detroit in a matter of seconds. Specificities bubble to the forefront of Boldy’s mind like intrusive thoughts: linking with affiliates on street whose names you could only recall if you’d had your own feet planted in them, needing to be convinced not to eliminate a rival on his way to the top, seeing visceral images of bullets going through backs and out of stomachs, and sensing a lie when he hears minute changes in vocal pitches through a phone.” – Pitchfork
“How does he do it? How is it even possible? Detroit underground rap fixture Boldy James has been a bafflingly prolific force for years. He has a way of doing things — teaming up with individual producers to record full collaborative albums and then releasing those albums the way that some people change their socks. And they’re all good!” – Stereogum
“After slowing down in 2023 to recover from a life-threatening car crash, it’s clear that he’s back to full strength” – Consequence’s 20 Best Rap Albums of 2024
The Announcement:
Boldy James creates rap music like he breathes air, turning out projects with an astonishing frequency without ever sacrificing the refined quality his fans have come to expect. Keeping his incredible run going, the insanely prolific veteran announces Hommage, his next album, created in collaboration with Antt Beatz. The upcoming album is steeped in the styles of his hometown of Detroit, with production from sound architect Antt Beatz, a veteran in Detroit’s scene who has defined the city’s sound since his work with Team Eastside, and has more recently produced hits for Lil Baby, 42 Dugg, Tee Grizzley, and Icewear Vezzo. The album sticks close to home with its guest appearances as well, welcoming Detroit lyricists Baby Money and Bandgang Lonnie Bands.
Along with the announcement of Hommage, Boldy shares “Street Cred,” one of its highlight tracks. Blessed with a glistening Antt Beatz instrumental that would sound right at home in a Michael Mann heist film, “Street Cred” inspires Boldy to get into his filmmaking bag, as he tries to separate the real soldiers from the pretenders: “All these ogres and these extras/Ghetto Steven Spielberg cut another edit/Stunt double comin’ up on the exit/Behind the scenes on this movie clip, don’t make me roll the credit,” he spits. Ideal for night driving and effortlessly inspiring rap hands, Boldy’s latest is a testament to his unshakeable work ethic and bottomless bars. In the video, Boldy and Antt spend a neon-lit night in the D, pushing their foreign whips and laying down tracks in the studio.
Home to 2024 singles “Super Mario” and “Dead Flowers,” plus nine more new tracks, Hommage arrives on March 28th via EMPIRE.
Pre-save Hommage: https://music.empi.re/hommage
Watch “Street Cred”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLlHyZNZCwQ
Stream “Street Cred”: https://music.empi.re/streetcred
Hommage tracklist:
*all songs produced by Antt Beatz
- Back On Top
- Off The Richter ft. Baby Money
- Brick James
- Tetris
- Concrete Connie
- Met Me ft. Bandgang Lonnie Bands
- Super Mario
- Himothy McVeigh
- Street Cred
- Talk Nice
- Dead Flowers
The Background:
About Boldy James
Operating at an extremely high level as his rap career progresses into its third decade, Boldy James is a national treasure. After making his name in the Detroit street scene, the rapper earned a new audience in 2020 when he tapped in with Griselda, and recorded For The Price Of Tea In China with his longtime collaborator The Alchemist. Boldy prefers to lock in with a single producer for each album, entering a creative mind-meld and delivering a project with a distinctive mood–examples include 2020’s The Versace Tape, with Jay Versace, and 2021’s Bo Jackson and Super Tecmo Bo, also with The Alchemist.
In 2023, Boldy’s career resurgence almost met an untimely end when he was involved in a serious car accident, breaking multiple vertebrae and being confined to a wheelchair for multiple months. Already known for his prolific output, Boldy has kicked into a new gear since his recovery, releasing several projects in 2024, including Across The Tracks with GRAMMY-nominated producer Conductor Williams, The Bricktionary with the legendary Harry Fraud, Penalty of Leadership with Montreal beatmaker Nicholas Craven, and Hidden In Plain Sight, with Detroit underground producer whothehelliscarlo.
Boldy has kept the train running into 2025, releasing an astonishing four full-length albums in the year’s first two months. In January, Boldy James and Rich Gains shared the cinematic Murder During Drug Traffic, shining a light on some lesser-known names in the Detroit underground, and Permanent Ink, which embraced a more soulful sound, with help from Roger Goodman of Royal House. Last month, Boldy connected with Pro Era producer Chuck Strangers for Token of Appreciation, an album dedicated to the fans who have stuck with him through his ups and downs. Providing a hint of scarcity into his abundance-friendly strategy, Boldy’s THE EXORCISM, a collaboration with Virginia producer The Flaurist, is available only on Bandcamp for the price of $888.80.
With his endless stream of quality music and a new lease on life, Boldy James is just getting started. Stay tuned for much more from the hardest working rapper in the game.
About Antt Beatz
As a 10-plus-year veteran producer and artist, Anthony Mathis is a proven leader in giving Detroit its sonic identity. He’s made hit songs for Lil Baby, 42 Dugg, Tee Grizzley, Icewear Vezzo, and Eminem, among others. Now, as artists worldwide seek Detroit’s signature basslines and uptempo tracks, Antt Beatz supplies the sound he helped cultivate. He started his career in the early 2010s, becoming a go-to sound architect for Team Eastside, the legendary street collective, founded by Peezy and featuring local heroes Babyface Ray and Icewear Vezzo. The veteran producer produced 42 Dugg’s “Crippin,” which helped introduce the Detroit rapper to his eventual label boss Yo Gotti and frequent collaborator Lil Baby, and his regular collaborations with Icewear Vezzo have brought the likes of Future and Kodak Black to his sound. Still evolving even as he continues to define his city’s sound, Antt Beatz is ready to make a name for himself, and earn some recognition for his crucial role in one of hip-hop’s hottest scenes.
Stay tuned for Boldy James & Antt Beatz’s Hommage, coming March 28th via EMPIRE.
Boldy James & Antt Beatz
Please contact Michelle or Kevin for more info.
Links:
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“Street Cred”: https://music.empi.re/streetcred / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLlHyZNZCwQ
Pre-save Hommage: https://music.empi.re/hommage
“Super Mario”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1L5E_SJBuw
“Dead Flowers”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oowe_yoRGNM