Back in January, we reported that recurring Crossfade character Black Bobby was going to take a break from hip-hop.
Yeah, we didn't think that would last either. Cutting an MC from a mic is like, well, cutting the average human being off from oxygen.
Luckily, you can find much better similes than the one in that previous sentence on two of Black Bobby's brand-new singles, "Black Superhero" and "Like Me."
Just last week, he released them as free downloads via the official Black Bobby Bandcamp page in advance of what may be his biggest show yet, a slot this Saturday at Bardot opening for Pusha T of the Clipse and Kanye-guest-starring fame. Fellow D.C.-area-to-Miami transplant DJ D-Up also rounds out the bill.
"DJ D-Up and our friend James actually booked this show. We work as a team trying to work our way into the scene so D-Up had made inroads at Bardot -- he spun there recently -- and passed on his mix of [my album] Presidential Shit to them," says Bobby. "I guess they liked what they heard and booked us."
Though he's planning to perform a medley of material from all three of his recent mixtapes, Bobby's likely to highlight these newest songs. The first, "Black Superhero," continues the extended leadership metaphors explored on earlier tracks, part of a narrative thread in which he's cast himself as a fictional community savior. This time, Bobby imagines himself as a series of cultural icons: "I think I'm Malcom Little/I think I'm Dubois/Think I'm Kurt Vonnegut/I'm the new Floyd.... Goddamn, I'm a black superhero!"
Those are big shoes to fill. But the crescendoing backing track by D.C.-based production team Best Kept Secret, full of soulful, stomping brass, can't help but inspire megalomaniacal ambitions. "Lately I've been obsessing over beats that I call Black Superhero Music," Bobby says. "I started marching around the apartment to the beat and pretty much knew where to go from there."
The beat for the (virtual) flip side of the single, "You Like Me," also comes from Best Kept Secret. But it tackles less (or more?) serious subject matter -- women. "That beat also hit me immediately. I could feel the energy and stated dancing around my apartment like a fool. So, I wrote a story about a few girls I've dealt with," he says. "I wanted to keep the material light but still have dope lyrics. I hope people like the songs."
Download both for free below and decide for yourself. If you do like them (or if you're just a serious halo-of-Kanye fanboy/girl), check out Bobby this Saturday at Bardot.
Download: Black Bobby's "Black Superhero" and "You Like Me"
Black Bobby, with DJ D-Up, Contra, Marc Adam, and Pusha T. 9 p.m. Saturday, April 9. Bardot, 3456 N. Miami Ave., Miami. Tickets cost $15; age 21 and up. 305-576-5570; bardotmiami.com
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