A Nanaimo hip-hop artist has challenged himself to explore new sounds on his latest album.
On Sept. 17 Darcy McBride, a.k.a. Details, unveils his new record Kingdom at a CD release show at the Queen’s. Also on the bill are local artists Sirreal, Zikia and Jonah O’Connor, as well as Victoria’s Valence. McBride will be joined by his accompanist DJ Stelo.
The album dips in multiple genres and features artists from the Island, across Canada and as a far as Europe.
“It’s not what I would call a ‘rap CD’ or a ‘rap album,’” McBride said. “The concept of the album was to make music that can be heard on different platforms and different playlists and still be Details.”
Among the songs on the album is a drum-heavy rock-rap mash up, a horn-heavy “Macklemore Thrift Shop-ish” track with classic samples and a “haunting” song featuring a beat reminiscent of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight by a Croatian producer.
McBride said expanding into multiple genres is a personal challenge. As an artist and musician, he said he doesn’t fit in the rapper “box.”
“The challenge for me to be able to write differently and to write on different topics and to also collaborate with artists that either cost me money or they cost me work in order to figure out how to blend our styles, to me that’s the most fun that I can have right now in music while chasing it as a career,” he said.
On the album, McBride covers autobiographical topics like living on the West Coast and lessons he’s learned. He also touches on the opiate crisis and overdose awareness.
“It takes a couple of turns and then I make some feel-good happy music too,” he said.
A fan of sports metaphors, McBride compares his versatility to that of a baseball pitcher or a fisher and said his aim to have material that appeals to a variety of listeners.
“You can’t just throw fastballs all day. You’ve got to have a slider and a curveball … In other words, something for somebody else to enjoy and then they can in turn go find the rest of your music,” he said. “So it’s like putting out a bunch of different lures on a boat trying to catch a bunch of different fish.”
WHAT’S ON … Details CD release show at the Queens, 34 Victoria Cres., on Sept 17 starting at 10 p.m. Tickets $30, includes copy of CD, available from McBride at hoodstockentertainment@gmail.com.
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