Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
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The lyrical delivery is rap, and so is the beat, a lot of the settings, the urban themes and scenes, some explicit lyrics here and there, and the action.
It is, no mistake, rap.
But the rap bass line is acoustic guitar, the flow is slower, the lines between the rhymes are longer, and the melodies, Zelgin Jackson’s smooth, mellow baritone voice, all combine to make it totally, awesomely country.
No mistake about it.
Zelgin, from Richmond, Virginia, is a social media influencer with a following of 2 million and is a rising star in hip-hop and R&B, but his new album, despite a title from the Beatles, All You Need Is Love, is country.
“In the past I’ve worked on mostly rap and R&B projects,” he said, “and this is my first time entering the country lane, but there definitely will be more projects after it.”
“And, yeah,” he said. “I had fun with it. Yep.”
And, yeah, no mistake about it, the 12 tracks are great listening, the kind that can make you laugh out loud when you recognize familiar elements from different universes that combine to make something new, something delightful.
“I grew up listening to country music, but I’ve never tried to make my own country songs,” he said.
Until, about a year and a half ago, he was writing music and going through beats when he discovered a BeatStars page for Beats in the Backyard, where he found the beat that became “16 Minutes,” the lead song on the album.
“That’s one of the first country songs I ever wrote. I just clicked on the beat, liked it and started to write,” he said. “It was fairly easy to write over the beat. It’s similar to writing a normal rap song, just with a bridge, and the chorus is more repetitive. But it was fairly easy for me to adapt.”
Did a doubleshift day for the pay
So I’m getting’ off late gettin’ off late
It’s been a minute since I seen your pretty face
So I’m speedin’ to your place speedin’ to your place
…
16 minutes on the freeway baby 16 minutes till you with me baby
The song, and the video on his YouTube channel are as enjoyable as a country breeze.
Before beginning his visit to country, he was listening to music by Zack Bryan, Morgan Wallen and other contemporary country artists and, “I was inspired.”
“It was only going to be a few songs, but I kept writing more and more and then I had enough for an album, so that’s what I put out.”
The Beatle reference in the title song, “All You Need Is Love,” is deliberate. One of his favorite elementary school teachers was a Beatles fan, and “she used to play that song in my elementary school class.”
“So, it was a play off that. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge Beatles fan, but I like some of their melodies.”
The chorus in the song even takes the Beatles melodic line for an iteration of “all you need is love.”
As for the name of the album, he originally wanted to name it “Virginia Is For Lovers,” but there were obstacles.
“That’s pretty heavily trademarked, and I already had the song named, so we decided to go with All You Need Is Love, and it worked.”
He will stay in the country lane for a little while longer.
“My next two new singles — I’ll probably drop this summer — will definitely be country songs.”
Although his social media career has taken off, music is his heart.
“Music is my passion. Right now, I’m pretty big on social media, TikTok especially, so I make content. But music is what I have the most fun doing. I’m always working on music. Every day.”
He put out many tracks during 2023. For about half of it, he said, he was dropping a song almost every other week. He doesn’t plan on releasing at that pace in 2024, but he has already produced the 12 tracks of “All You Need Is Love.”
He also plans on more videos, more than he did in 2023.
“Be on the lookout for new music,” he said, “because I’m always ready to drop more music and more videos. So, stay tuned.”
Stay tuned. Connect to Zelgin Jackson on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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Pro Yodeler, as the name says, yodels, but not the polite, tame versions from the European Alps or in American country music. It is, instead, the techno and yodeling of his newest featured single, “Club 310.”
“My music is meant for clubbing,” said Pro Yodeler, whose real name is Alex Palmgren. “My yodeling is meant for people to go and enjoy and party and drink.”
Pro Yodeler started yodeling at age 7. “When I started, I thought, ‘This is so cool!’”
He has worked ever since to become the world’s fastest yodeler. In 2023, at the world championships in Munich, he achieved that goal.
“Now,” he said, “I want to bring yodeling into a whole new generation.”
To that end, he has fused techno and yodeling.
“I am the only one in the world who is bringing techno and yodeling to the world, and I am doing it for this generation, and it is time for the world to know who I am and what I'm all about.”
He said “Club 310” and its mix of yodeling and techno is a new thing, a thing like no other.
“Techno and yodeling is one of the most unique things in the world, and nobody besides me specializes in it.”
He began entering competitions soon after he started and has been competing since, for more than 15 years now.
“As I started getting into competitions, I failed, but I always brought myself back up and said, ‘No, I’m going to be one of the best yodelers in the whole world.’”
He continued, “I take pride in my yodeling. It is very fascinating to me, and human vocals can be used in very artistic ways, especially in yodeling.”
His vocal speed is just one aspect of the artistry in yodeling, as it is in another musical genre, rap.
“There are rappers who are very good at that, but my thing is yodeling,” he said.
And, he declares, his main purpose is bringing yodeling to an audience that doesn’t know it.
“There are many techniques to yodeling. Most people only focus on one type when they yodel, but it’s very important to learn all different techniques,” he said, demonstrating a couple of them in a phone interview.
He identifies 12 different types of yodeling and says that to develop speed, a yodeler needs to learn all 12.
“A lot of people focus on one type, maybe two, possibly three, and they can put those into a song. But in techno and yodeling, I can put all 12 versions into one song.”
He developed his techno and yodel specialty because, “I wanted to be known to do something that nobody else does, or nobody else has ever done. So, I came up with techno and yodeling.”
“I’ve been faster than a lot of people before, but with everything I’ve been doing, I’m finally ready to put it all out and have the world know that Pro Yodeler, Alex Palmgren, is now the world’s top upcoming and fastest yodeler.”
He has performed live, and his music is playing in clubs.
“People are dancing to it,” he said.
And that is why he makes music, so that people can party to it.
“I want to go out and perform and get into the world and let people know that there is a new generation in yodeling. I want to get it in with club music and get people partying to it.”
The heart of his music, he said, is “the beauty of the vocalism.”
“And I want to put that in with techno and just yodel.”
Stay connected to Pro Yodeler on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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