Kenny Mason, an Atlanta-native, just dropped his debut solo project, Angelic Hoodrat. The influence of Atlanta is present throughout his music, however the overall sound is far from that. With Angelic Hoodrat, the 25-year-old artist was able to craft his very own sound. He is in a lane of his own, which is extremely tough to do, especially in an industry flooded with rising talent and experimental sounds. But Kenny Mason isn’t into that, he wants to create what he wants to create. Last year his single “Hit” blew up, and “G.O.A.T.” was featured in episode 1 of the Drake-produced HBO show, Euphoria.
After being introduced to Tupac and 80’s/90’s R&B at a young age, Kenny found himself obsessing over the music he found on tv, in movies, and in video games. His love of music lead to the creation of the House 9 collective, which he put together with the help of his friends. Their first music was ambitious creatively but was always authentic to them. The early experimentation and practice helped Kenny Mason shape Angelic Hoodrat, with a sound that is uniquely his own.
Angelic Hoodrat blends Mason’s influences into a curated project that will surely spark much-needed conversation about Atlanta rap. Mason bounces between rapid flow raps and alt-rock inspired production, but he never takes it somewhere that doesn’t feel true. The lo-fi production combined with the distorted autotune on “Lean” are followed up by some of the most impressive rapping you’ll ever hear on “Chevron”. The intricacies of these songs become even more impressive when you realize that he has production credits on both of these songs, as well as almost every other song on the album.
The project is 14 tracks long and clocks in at 42 minutes. In addition to production from Kenny Mason himself, Julian Cruz, Dvdz, Skufl, and Julien Earle are also credited producers throughout the album. It’s hard to pinpoint the influences because of how well the genres are meshed together in each song. There are boom-bap drums, hard 808’s, distorted guitar riffs, ridiculous flows, emotional lyrics, and much more. But what’s most dope, is that none of it sounds like a reach. Mason never sounds like he’s doing “too much”. Mason put together an incredible debut project, one that he is surely proud of, not because he expects it to do big numbers, but because he knows how genuine it is. Give the album a listen and share it with your friends. The inspiration that spews from the album is inevitable.
The project can best be described as mesmerizing. Any song you play will captivate you within 5 seconds, because you’ll realize that you are listening to someone special. It’s hard to describe Kenny without the cliché, “he is who he is”. He clearly has unique qualities and impressive vocal ability, but as well produced as the music is, it sounds carefully “unpolished”- intimate, if you will. It sounds how a home video would look. Does that make sense? It doesn’t have to, as long as it makes sense to Kenny Mason.
Listen to ‘Angelic Hoodrat”‘ below.