3.29.2024
BKTHERULA SHARES “CODE,” THE LATEST VIDEO FROM NEW ALBUM LVL5 P2
WATCH HERE | LISTEN HERE
The 21-Year-Old Artist Performs In Close-Up in the Intense New Video For the Opening Track From Her New Project, LVL5 P2
Featuring a New Guest Appearance from JID and Acclaimed Singles “TATTI,” “CRAYON,” and “THE WAY,” LVL5 P2 Takes Bk’s Ferocious Rhyming and Ethereal Melodies to a New Level
Critical Praise:
Praise for LVL5 P2
“P2 ups the ante by nudging Bk further toward popular sounds without diluting her live-wire spark. For every romantically wounded interstellar croon session like ‘Just Make Sure’ or ‘The Way,’ there are prickly digital slappers like opener ‘Code’ or ‘Tatti,’ where the boasts are outlandish (‘We don’t ride with the stick, we are the stick, we livin’ scarecrow’) and no one’s girl is immune from Bk’s FaceTime call.” – Pitchfork
“The genre-bending rapper and singer-songwriter is competing in her own lane — perhaps even in her own dimension.” – Alternative Press
“Out now, the sequel marks a significant evolution in her artistic and spiritual journey. Demonstrating remarkable growth, she crafts a distinctive sound blending distorted and chaotic elements with celestial melodies and bold flows through tracks like ‘TATTI’ and ‘The Way.’” – BET
“At its best, the synthesis of P2 yields superfun songs that could climb into your most played overnight” – The FADER
“Bktherula Shows Her Versatility on New Album ‘LVL5 P2‘” – HYPEBEAST
“Brooklyn Candida Rodriguez is among the younger voices you’ll hear in rap today, but her talent and perspective feel more akin to five lifetimes. As Bktherula, she mixes hard-hitting rap bangers with alternative psychedelic leanings, aggressive bravado with spiritual yearning, lifelong training as a singer with lifelong instinct as a lyricist and performer, and youthful vibrance with sobering meditation.” – HotNewHipHop
More praise for Bktherula:
“BKTHERULA Reaches New Dimensions on LVL5” – Office Mag
“Atlanta’s Bktherula is letting go and levelling up…Fusing R&B, punk and alternative stylings, the 20-year-old rapper forms an unpredictable, meditative sound of her own” – NME
“Bktherula is boundless, at times traversing – or at least trying to – the metaphysical. The destructive, menacing synths of ‘TAN’ see the rapper open her project with a brash brand of rap as she brags about walking in on some “money shit”, whereas moments later on “BELIEVE”, she’s crooning across undulating, moody soundscapes.” – Office Mag
The Announcement:
April 1, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA) – Bktherula shares the intense new video for “CODE,” the opening song from her recent album LVL5 P2. Listen to LVL5 P2 HERE and watch “CODE” HERE via Warner Records.
Produced by azure, “CODE” is a bracing introduction to the world of LVL5 P2, buzzing with frantic percussion, speaker-shattering 808s, and dissonant synths. Bk rhymes in quick, declarative bursts, making very clear that she’s operating on a level that very few can reach: “She trying it, said she LVL5, but I ain’t buying it/Denying it, that is not your door because you prying it,” she spits. Directed by Bktherula herself, the video finds Bk performing the song in tight close-up, as she delivers LVL5 energy and bounces amidst shaking camera movements and flashing visual effects.
The 21-year-old Bktherula always follows her inner muse and makes music without emotional inhibitions or artificial creative boundaries. On her new album, LVL5 P2, Bk takes her hybrid sound into new territory. The album features the buzzing singles “CRAYON,” which has earned over three million streams, and “SHAKIN IT,” a collaboration with Cash Cobain.
Deepening a style she explored with her acclaimed 2023 album LVL5 P1, the new album deposits the listener directly into Bk’s sonic realm, crafted by Bk with assistance from producers like azure, Simmyauto, among others. Songs like recent single “THE WAY” and new highlight “RACKS UP” add dollops of clean electric guitar to her room-enveloping sound, while songs like “WISHUWASDACREW” and “INSANE” borrow elements from chiptune and her beloved video game soundtracks. Bktherula always sounds perfectly at home, whether she’s yearning for her love on a ballad like “JUST MAKE SURE,” collaborating with JID on “WOMAN,” or tearing through chaotic rage beats on songs like the ferocious single “TATTI.” The new album earned praise in Pitchfork (“The Atlanta rapper’s latest imagines a higher dimension where outré flexes and endless love affairs are enveloped by waves of metallic crunch and mind-expanding guitar”), Alternative Press (“The genre-bending rapper and singer-songwriter is competing in her own lane — perhaps even in her own dimension”), HYPEBEAST (“Bktherula Shows Her Versatility on New Album ‘LVL5 P2‘”), The FADER (“Bktherula expands her consciousness on LVL 5 P2“), and many other publications.
Bk began her preparation for LVL5 P2 last year, sharing a string of successful singles, including “It Wasn’t Me (Freestyle)” via On The Radar and “CRAZY GIRL 2” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again — a remix of “CRAZY GIRL” from last year’s Pitchfork-acclaimed LVL5 P1. Prior to LVL5 P1, she released her EP Love Nirvana (Acoustic), featuring original and newly stripped-down versions of beloved tracks, including “UH HUH,” “Tweakin’ Together” and “Summer.”
Bk’s new album will receive a warm welcome when Bk joins PinkPantheress on her “Capable of Love Tour,” which takes the U.S. this April. Click HERE to buy tickets and see tour dates.
Recently named to Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30 list, Bk has built a devoted following by releasing tracks that showcase her raw emotions. Now, with LVL5 P2, she’s done it again — delivering a singular statement that could never have come from anybody else.
LVL5 P2 Tracklist:
- CODE
- NUN
- TATTI
- BOI
- SHAKIN IT (feat. Cash Cobain)
- JUST MAKE SURE
- WISHUWASDACREW
- INSANE
- CRAYON
- WOMAN (feat. J.I.D.)
- FEATHERS
- THE WAY
- RACKS UP
PINKPANTHERESS – CAPABLE OF LOVE TOUR 2024 NORTH AMERICA DATES:
Sat Apr 06 – Detroit, MI– Saint Andrew’s Hall ^
Sun Apr 07 – Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall ^
Wed Apr 10 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield ^
Fri Apr 12 – Boston, MA – Royale ^
Sun Apr 14 – New York, NY – Brooklyn Paramount ^
Wed Apr 17 – Chicago, IL – Metro * ^
Sat Apr 20 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl Nashville +
Mon Apr 22 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues Dallas +
Wed Apr 24 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall +
Thu Apr 25 – Austin, TX – Emo’s Austin +
Sun Apr 28 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park +
Tue Apr 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium +
^ With Bktherula
+ With Kanii
Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine
CONTACT:
For more information on Bktherula, please contact
Michelle McDevitt, Audible Treats
Kerry Harrison, Audible Treats
Destiny Riley, Audible Treats
Aishah White, Warner Records
The Background:
Blending dystopian soundscapes with jumpy flows and ethereal melodies, Bktherula makes a new kind of rap psychedelia. Since breaking out with “Left Right” in 2019, she’s oscillated between raucous cloud rap and gentle R&B, fusing impressionistic songwriting with complex musicality to create affecting anthems that feel futuristic and universal. The 21-year-old has been rewarded with a growing legion of fans and a slot, in many critics’ estimations, as Atlanta’s next up. She’s planted more seeds with “Forever, Part 2 (Jezebel),” a celestial offering from LVL5 P1, her new EP on Warner Records. Bk is looking to continue her level up with major international music festival performances and NYFW and London Fashion Week runway shows. American headline tour. She is also committed to embracing herself like never before. Battling doubts and the occasional spurt of negativity is a type of spiritual warfare that’s led Bk to increased self-acceptance, a journey that empowers herself and her fans.
Links:
twitter | youtube | instagram | spotify | tiktok
“CODE”: https://youtu.be/oz7dJxQ6ZWs
LVL5 P2: https://bktherula.lnk.to/LVL5P2
“Shakin It” ft. Cash Cobain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs3Zhm175UU
“THE WAY”: https://bktherula.lnk.to/theway / https://bktherula.lnk.to/thewayvideo
“Crayon”: https://bktherula.lnk.to/CRAYON / https://bktherula.lnk.to/CRAYONvideo
“It Wasn’t Me” (Freestyle): https://bktherula.lnk.to/ItWasntMe
“It Wasn’t Me (Freestyle) on On The Radar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKXhDMhRolo
“TATTI”: https://bktherula.lnk.to/TATTI
LVL5 P1: https://bktherula.lnk.to/lvl5p1