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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Johnny Marr has released his latest song, ‘It’s Time’, which finds the musician confronting “assholes with dodgy views”. Listen to it below.
The single provides another preview of Marr’s forthcoming fifth solo record, ‘The Age Of Everything’, which arrives on October 2. He has already introduced the project through ‘Spin’ and ‘Ophelia’.
On ‘It’s Time’, Marr addresses corruption and cynicism while holding on to a sense of hope. Discussing its meaning, he said: “‘It’s Time’ is my way of singing about some worldly issues but finding defiance in idealism.”
“I wanted a lyric that matched the exuberance of the music but is actually about resisting cynicism and corruption: ‘Everybody ain’t making it, change the weather and breaking it. Mobilise to know the truth. Open eyes to know the truth.’ I guess it’s about the assholes with dodgy views,” he added.
The accompanying video was captured earlier this year during the largest headline concert of Marr’s solo career. Filming took place at his sold out homecoming performance at Castlefield Bowl in Manchester. Watch it below.
‘The Age Of Everything’ follows Marr’s 2022 release ‘Fever Dreams Pts 1–4’. In its four star review, NME described that project as “a soulful record fuelled by fresh ideas”.
Marr also issued a concert album titled ‘Look Out Live!’ last year. The 22 song collection was recorded at London’s Eventim Apollo during his 2024 ‘Spirit Power’ tour.
More recently, Marr appeared on Gorillaz album ‘The Mountain’ and joined the group onstage in London last September. He also participated in the celebrity filled ‘Help(2)’ benefit album for War Child. In 2023, Marr put out a career spanning compilation, which included the previously unreleased song ‘Somewhere’.
Elsewhere, Morrissey and Marr recently contributed to a rare new seven inch pressing by The Smiths for an upcoming Rough Trade collection.
The famous independent London label will issue the second instalment of its newly manufactured classic singles series, ‘Rough Trade 45s: Volume 2’, on October 30. The collection will contain music from The Fall, Aztec Camera, Mazzy Star, Scritti Politti, Robert Wyatt and additional artists. Only 1,000 copies will be available when it arrives on October 30. Place an advance order here.
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