Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hailing from Bronx, NY, HULKSICKO! is an artist that you’ll surely become familiar with in the next couple of years. The independent artist describes his name as being derived from a childhood nickname for always lifting weights after basketball practice. He added the exclamation point for emphasis, so that people could “feel him.” Anyone who listens to his music will certainly feel his distinct uptempo and melodic style along with meaningful lyrics that reflect the trials and tribulations of growing up in the Bronx. Having lived in Section 2 in the Co-op City of Bronx until age 14, HULKSICKO! would find trouble often. His mother, who immigrated from Liberia,found it best to move their family upstate so that her children could focus on staying on the right path.
A music career wasn’t always on the artist’ radar. HULKSICKO! was a star athlete, having received two Division One college basketball offers after his freshman year, but after a traumatizing hip injury, he ultimately decided to retire the jersey and pivot his energy toward the studio. He reminisces and says, “I found myself recording more. My sound started to get better and I saw myself transitioning from athlete to artist.”
Like any skilled musician, HULKSICKO! had the natural ability to connect with his fans. His potential in music didn’t become clear until he received a DM (Direct Message) on Instagram from someone in Germany saying they cried to his song on the night of their mother’s funeral. He realized that if he could provide an emotional experience from a random overseas fan, there’s no telling where his music could take him.
The Bronx native started to gain international recognition when he ventured to China to further grow his music career, something uncommon for new artists. If you follow him on Instagram, you’ll see the Chinese characters as captions for all of his highlight reels.He adds. “The fact that I speak Chinese influences some of the harmonies that I think of while making music.” He visited twice and went to 10 different cities while there and lived there for a whole month at one point. He even had planned to move to Shenzhen, the “Miami of China”, according to HULKSICKO!.
HULKSICKO! joins a grip of artists who recently moved West for his music. He is currently living in Los Angeles using the COVID Pandemic downtime to adjust to a whole different coast, work on video content and edit his unreleased music. “After I created a routine [in LA] and I had the right energy around me, I knew it was going to be a better fit than New York for what I wanted to accomplish. There’s a lot of temptation in New York, when you’ve got time on your hands you could get yourself into something you might not want to.”
What does the future hold for HULKSICKO!? He’s been listening to alot of UK artists, so a collaboration is up his sleeve. One of his goals is to have a platinum record. After music he says he sees himself expanding his artistic vision toward architecture, perhaps investing into real estate.
You can check out HULKSICKO!’s music on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and all the major platforms!
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Paul McCartney has reflected on the unforgettable day The Beatles met Elvis Presley, calling it one of those surreal “pinch yourself” moments.
McCartney and the rest of The Beatles famously crossed paths with Presley just once in 1965, when they visited his Los Angeles home during a meeting arranged by NME writer Chris Hutchins.
Now, during a new appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years, McCartney looked back on the legendary encounter and shared his memories of the late rock and roll icon.
“He was really great. He was a very handsome guy, but we kind of knew that. We were fans.
“We just followed everything he did, and we looked at any photo we could get. He wasn’t a disappointment at all,” McCartney said.
He went on to explain that over the years he and his former bandmates, including Ringo Starr, have often discussed the meeting, although everyone seems to remember parts of it differently.
“I say that we rang the doorbell and Elvis came to the door and said, ‘come in guys’,” he recalled. “He invited us in and we sat around and he had a jukebox, and played ‘Mohair Sam’, the record.
“Ringo says he didn’t come to the door, we went in and he was sitting there. So who’s right? I am,” he joked.
McCartney described the evening as a special experience and remembered Presley casually picking up a bass guitar during the visit.
“He had a bass there and he was talking about the bass so we could talk, sort of, bass talk. He was great, very personable, very nice.
“He had a bunch of his minders with him, and you read stuff later, and I think they were mainly his cousins, his gang.”
The Beatles legend also remembered meeting Priscilla Presley, describing that part of the night as another standout memory.
“You’re inviting four guys into your home, probably the last thing you need is them to be all over your wife.
“It was great, she was great, Elvis was great,” he continued, before adding: “You pinch yourself. I met, I actually sat with, like I’m sitting with you, Elvis.”
McCartney has previously named Presley as one of the major inspirations behind The Beatles’ landmark album ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.
In other news, McCartney is preparing to release his new album ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ on May 29. The project has already been previewed with tracks including ‘Days We Left Behind’ and ‘Home To Us’, which marks his first official duet with Ringo Starr.
Ahead of the release, McCartney was also interviewed by actor Paul Mescal, who is set to portray him in the upcoming Beatles biopic series.
Currently titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, the movies have been written by Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan and Jack Thorne. The cast includes Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. The films are currently scheduled for release in April 2028.
McCartney later joked about Mescal taking on the role during his recent appearance on the final episode of The Late Show. After performing ‘Hello, Goodbye’ with host Stephen Colbert before symbolically turning off the lights inside the Ed Sullivan Theatre, he was asked which of them was more attractive.
McCartney smiled, pointed to himself and answered: “Me.”
After the audience reacted with applause and laughter, he quickly clarified that he was joking, adding: “No, he’s very cute, he’s very cute.”
Elsewhere, McCartney has also recently spoken about struggling to understand what songs Bob Dylan was playing during a concert, why he dislikes taking selfies, and why he still finds much of influencer culture confusing.
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