Romeo + Juliet
The same way Martin Scorsese paints a vivid picture with every scene in his iconic film Raging Bull, Romeo + Juliet does the same in his album named after the influential film.
When one thinks about a raging bull, what comes to mind is the angst, foreboding, and chilling feelings that may be associated with the impending doom of a bull on the loose. You also get into the mind of the bull. The aggression, anger, and hunger for more. There is certain poetry associated with the feelings on both sides, and Romeo + Juliet manages to capture these feelings as he meanders through each song. His voice manages to convey emotions that have all but been lost in contemporary music. The lyrics of this project are a testament to an artist who has studied and is deeply read in topics ranging from religion to pop culture.
"Why do you think that King David killed Uriah in cold blood? He did it for the love" are the lines in King David. This is an explicit reference to the biblical story in 2 Samuel. The story talks about how King David saw a woman bathing on her rooftop. They proceed to have an affair and she gets pregnant. After her being pregnant, King David orchestrates the killing of her husband Uriah so that the scandal isn't discovered. Nuggets like these are what may require multiple listens of the album to fully digest some of the layered messages.
This project was created with the pandemic as the backdrop. When the world stopped, we couldn't do very much. Romeo + Juliet created a soundtrack that illustrated the broad range of emotions that were experienced during that time. The lyrics, production, and harmonic arrangements give you a sneak peek into the mind of a master at work.
When we asked what made this project different he said "the sounds, the words, the vocals, the vibes, everything really. And I credit it to taking my time with it. It took me almost 2 years to put it together so I find it incumbent that everyone on planet earth listens!"
The beat changes illustrate the level of uncertainty that we can all identify with feeling during Spring/Summer 2020. Sometimes the song titles tip us off at a potential midsong change in direction, like in Motherland/3 AM, and sometimes we just have to wait and enjoy the ride like in Parade or Peaches and Cream.
The arrangements of the songs made us interested to know who Romeo + Juliet would want to collaborate with. He mentioned Pharell, Tyler The Creator, Kaytranada, and Calvin Harris. The grooviness is what he plans on tapping into. Of course working with Beyonce is without question one of his goals, and Drake doing a remix for Dive Bar is something he's currently manifesting.
Along with arrangements, Romeo + Juliet uses his lyrics as a paintbrush and his music as a canvas to create a relatable piece of art with this project Raging Bull. In Dive Bar, he expresses "Ten dollars cash usually gets me where I need to be. I speed right past the toll that you put on me mentally." His ability to effortlessly go between lyrics about love and loss, to lyrics about the police or life is magic. His unapologetic expressions of his blackness and vulnerability as a black male are aspects of this album that we thoroughly enjoyed.
The use of words, as well as moments of silence, is a key that up-and-coming musicians can take note of. Sometimes you just have to let the music breathe and let the listener insert their thoughts. With influences like Jamie Foxx, Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, and Marvin Gaye, it’s clear he’s destined for greater things.
"God only knows what the next move is. I’m just trying to do my part in sending the music to hundreds of people a day. From Grnwood to Beyoncé to Barack Obama. I’ve said it." It looks like the plan for what's next is clear and direct.
We're excited for whatever Romeo + Juliet has coming next and we've linked the project below so you can listen on Apple Music and Spotify!