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HULKSICKO! is an upcoming HipHop artist already making international waves

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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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  • Radio Free Alice Share Reflective New Single ‘Big Ideas’ Featuring Rachel Brown

Radio Free Alice Share Reflective New Single ‘Big Ideas’ Featuring Rachel Brown

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Radio Free Alice have shared a new single featuring Water From Your Eyes‘ Rachel Brown – listen to ‘Big Ideas’ below.

The collaborative song is the latest preview of the Australian band and NME 100 alumni‘s debut studio album, ‘What’s In Between’, which is released on October 30 via Atlantic.¥

“From early on, we felt that a second vocal would work well with the song, a kind of call and response,” explained frontman Noah Learmonth of the team-up.

“We’ve loved Water From Your Eyes for years, and had gone to their show when they came to Melbourne. We felt like Rachel would be perfect; they have such an interesting, distinctive voice.”

In the contemplative track’s first verse, Learmonth sings: “Try not to go too berserk/ But she’s been sleeping with the guy from work/ At what point do you admit your life’s not going to plan one bit.”

Later, he tells the listener he’d “rather be stuck in hell than stuck in Melbourne with reports to sell” before Brown joins in and trades vocals: “Honey won’t you rescue me/ I got a barb in my eye/ I got a thorn in my side/ Don’t get any big ideas (Pick it up and pack it in)/ She only let you in to get your things/ (Pick it up and pack it in)...”

‘Big Ideas’ is accompanied by a ’90s-looking official music video, directed and edited by Owen Schatz. The song follows previous singles ‘Kick In The Shins’ and ‘Crying For You’.

Speaking to NME at Reading Festival this summer, Radio Free Alice discussed what to expect from their debut LP. “Looking back, I’ve always been a sucker for anything ‘coming of age’,” said Learmonth of the LP’s lyrics. “A lot of my favourite movies growing up were that. There is a theme of ‘dispossessed young person’, amongst others.”

Elsewhere in the chat, they recalled opening for Geese in Australia. “It was crazy to see Geese in person,” Learmonth told NME. “Cameron Winter and Geese have been on my phone incessantly, so to see him in person and be talking to him backstage was so strange, so topical. That was sick. It was amazing to share a stage with the most talked-about band in the world.”

Radio Free Alice are set to embark on a UK and European headline tour next month – find any remaining tickets here. See the full schedule below.

NOVEMBER
04 — Copenhagen, DK — Ideal Bar at Vega
06 — Berlin, DE — Frannz Club
07 — Hamburg, DE — Turmzimmer
08 — Cologne, DE — Helios37
10 — Amsterdam, NL — Tolhuistuin
11 — Brussels, BE — Botanique Rotonde
12 — Paris, FR — Point Ephémère
14 — Bristol, UK — Thekla
15 — Birmingham, UK — O2 Institute2
17 — London, UK — Electric Ballroom
18 — Leeds, UK — Brudenell Social Club
20 — Manchester, UK — Academy 2
21 — Glasgow, UK — Art School
22 — Belfast, UK — Ulster Sports Club
24 — Dublin, IE — Button Factory
27 – Barcelona, ES — Sidecar 
29 – Paris, FR — Point Ephémère

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