Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Musician, music director, producer, and songwriter David Caldwell Jr. wants to take his goal of motivating pure love through his music label to the world.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Caldwell started playing piano at 6-years-old, leading to becoming the organist for his father’s church. At 13, the musician was experimenting with music production at home and using keyboard samples to create some of his earliest tracks.
14 years later, Caldwell is still recording and with his family involved, taking on everything from arranging, writing, singing and producing–including 2018’s Caldwell Family Christmas album, featuring his wife and two children, and launching his record label Pure Love Music alongside the release of his latest single “Love Is In the Air.”
“I feel like we've been reduced by the major record labels to ‘sex sells' so that's what we're singing about.’ There's not a lot of music that is multi-generational for the young and the old,” expresses Caldwell. “There's not a lot of that left, which is a whole other story. So what I wanted to do instead of complaining about it, is provide a solution as a musician or producer and create a label that will give inspiration and love back to the world.”
Caldwell’s goal with Pure Love Music is to make music for everyone across genres, while keeping it G rated, or as the musician describes it as, “E for Everyone.”
"Pure Love Music Aims to Create, excellent, integral music while keeping it pure. To concentrate on creativity, musicianship and tastefulness.”
On “Love Is In the Air” he describes the song as writing in the perspective of someone newly in love and the indescribable feeling when you find that person. An upbeat track with a smooth groove, Caldwell attempts to emulate the excitement, and the nervousness, of meeting the right person.
“A lot of the lyrics in the song portray the feeling of falling in love, if you will, or the feeling of deciding if you want to have a relationship. "There's no real quantifiable. It's one of those things where it's spiritual because you can't explain it, it's just right 'cause it's right,” explains Caldwell, who says he can see "Love Is In the Air" performed at future wedding receptions. “It's endless when you create something fun. And that's what I try to do: make it fun, explosive, loving. We can't just say love, but I want it to feel like love.”
While Caldwell also celebrates his Christianity, the singer sees “Love Is In the Air” as a universal track being performed almost anywhere that will resonate with many people.
“If they call me to perform, I'm not going to turn it down. Because it's still pure. There's going to be 8-year-old's listening to this, there's going to be 25-year-olds that are going to be listening to this, and there’s going to be 80-year-olds listening to this. And I won't have to feel embarrassed. That's the image that I want to promote to people […] that's why it's called Pure Love Music. Because as long as it's pure, it's good water. And that's what my motto is.”
“Love Is In the Air” is out February 13th.
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Dead Hendrix, Levi Zadoff, and AAnarchy collaborate on “DEAD,” a new single that fuses pop-punk and hip-hop, and offers them each an outlet to confront their hardships and own their unique relationships with death. Each artist brings their own interpretation and musical expression of “DEAD,” sewing their individual parts of the song—and their lives—into a powerfully raw narrative.
But first, some backstory. Levi shares that for as long as he can remember he’s been an artist. From drawing anime, to composing his own music, or painting the inside of his mind, he shares that music is just another extension of his muses. Influenced by cross-genre and generational music from '70s funk, '80s rock, 90s rap, and 2000s pop-punk, Levi's latest evolution nestles hip-hop within pop-punk. Meanwhile, Dead Hendrix, a Canadian-American punk-rap artist, says that music was always an art form he kept coming back to. He’s a talented writer and lyricist and resonates with music’s ability to draw out creation, self expression, and introspection. He uses writing as a way to confront and release traumas from substance abuse, heartbreak, and suppression. The two artists met each other a few years back when Dead Hendrix was releasing a track that sparked Levi’s interest. After exchanging work with one another, they discovered they shared similar music styles and tastes. With Levi’s background in hip-hop and the alternative scene, and Dead Hendrix’s punk-rock meets rap vibe; before long, they wrote and produced an EP “Dead Summer,” which covers the sh** storm of the COVID pandemic.
Similar to the metaphors within “Dead Summer,” their newest single “DEAD,” backpacks onto themes of loss and destructive coping mechanisms, which sets the stage for their upcoming EP “Out The Grave.” At the start of creating “DEAD,” AAnarchy, formerly known as Son of Arc, originated the track with a jarring hook. He brought the initial version to Levi Zadoff and Dead Hendrix, which kicked off their recent introduction into working together. Both Levi and Hendrix share that AAnarchy is a very talented and diverse artist, and he truly elevates the projects that they work on, whether through composing, producing, or vocals.
Setting the pace for the track, AAnarchy sings, “Was it something that I said, ‘cause this girl wants me dead,” a powerful line that opens the floor for questioning. Agonizing over being stuck in his head, and not understanding why he’s reaping such hatred, AAnarchy, Levi Zadoff, and Dead Hendrix, all add their own interpretation to what “DEAD,” means, in terms of surviving in their own lives.
After the hook draws us in, Dead Hendrix lays a verse that joins hip-hop and hard rock rhythms, totally flipping the track on its axis. Levi calls it the power play within the track, as Hendrix’s verse takes full ownership of his pain. “I’m the King of the Dead,” lyrics that reflect his journey through the toxicity of relationships, battling trauma, or succumbing to and overcoming addiction. Despite being alienated, Hendrix declares, “I've been on my shit, I’m different.”
Following this section Levi Zadoff counters with a bridge, in the lyrics, “I’m a dead man walking,” he owns his own trials of darkness, suffering from physical and mental health challenges. So much of the track has you wondering, what if there’s no coming out the other side? Or what if there is, but no one expected you to…
“Now I’m in the back of the club, top of the stage, bet they all see me when I’m up, I’m the DeadHead General,” lyrics that posture their resilience, because as they noted, too many people didn’t expect them to overcome their hardships. Levi shares one of his favorite quotes from Tech9, “Winners are not people who never fail but are people who never quit,” because it represents perseverance. Each of these artists, in their own ways, have been the underdog and have still persevered. All it takes is not quitting, which he shares he hopes will resonate with fans in their own way too.
Stay tuned on social media for updates about “Out The Grave” EP release, and Levi Zadoff’s upcoming single “Zombie”
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