3.28.2025

Boldy James and Detroit Producer Antt Beatz Connect for Hommage, A Cinematic New Project Out Now via EMPIRE

Produced in Full by Antt Beatz (42 Dugg, Tee Grizzley), Hommage Inspires Boldy James to Tap Into the Sounds of His Hometown’s Street Scene, Adding a Widescreen Sheen to His Nuanced Narratives and Diamond-Cut Boasts

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 lives and breathes rap music, feeding the streets with quality albums at an astonishing pace. Today, the acclaimed Detroit wordsmith connects with accomplished producer Antt Beatz to release Hommage, their new collaborative project, and Boldy’s fifth new album of 2025. Hommage is available on all platforms via EMPIRE.

A fixture in Detroit’s underground for nearly two decades, Boldy James often forged his own path through the music industry, collaborating with national figures and linking up with East Coast behemoths like Westside Gunn and The Alchemist. With Hommage, Boldy steeps himself in the sounds of his hometown, trying his hand at the booming Detroit sound that has taken over rap music this decade. He finds the perfect production partner in Antt Beatz, who has been a favorite for Detroit artists since his work with Team Eastside in the early 2010s, and has since crafted hits for artists like Lil Baby, Tee Grizzley, 42 Dugg, and Icewear Vezzo. With occasional assistance from co-producers like Helluva on “Tetris” and “Super Mario,” Antt provides Boldy with a widescreen take on the 313 sound, crafting instrumentals with creeping pianos, subsonic bass, and atmospheric synth pads, perfectly suited to nighttime drives and illicit activities.

Boldy uses the cinematic backdrop to elevate his street narratives, adding a visceral oomph that gives the album the brooding thrills of a Michael Mann film. On “Himothy McVeigh,” Boldy takes flight atop a repeating two-chord motif straight out of a spy movie, taking shots at social media gangsters (“F*ck all those verified socials/Those n****s couldn’t see me with a pair of bifocals”), while recent single “Street Cred” further beefs up his filmic bonafides with references to Steven Spielberg and Action Jackson. Fellow Detroiters Baby Money and Bandgang Lonnie Bands appear to offer contrasting perspectives–Boldy and Lonnie trade boasts about their ice over dramatic pianos on “Met Me,” while Baby Money makes a seismic impact on “Off The Richter.” Closing track “Dead Flowers” serves as the album’s end credits, as he shouts out his longtime associates and stacks flexes with flair: “Burning high-grade, finna drop a five in the limeade/Tides paid, walkin’ out with pints at the Rite-Aid,” he spits.

A new gem that shines even among his ever-growing catalog, Hommage is Boldy James’ and Antt Beatz’s love letter to Detroit, presenting a pristine version of a sound that took over the game. Stay tuned for much more music from Boldy James in the near future.

Please contact Michelle or Scott/Erin/Kierra if interested in talking with Artist Name.

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:

official site | twitter | instagram | youtube | soundcloud

Hommage: https://music.empi.re/hommage

“Street Cred”: https://music.empi.re/streetcred / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLlHyZNZCwQ

“Super Mario”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1L5E_SJBuw

“Dead Flowers”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oowe_yoRGNM