St. Louis, the ‘Mound City’ — is sweltering with punchlines. Sure, the 630-foot (192 meters) Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the St. Louis Art Museum, the St. Louis Zoo, as well as Bellefontaine cemetery and Arboretum — mushrooming the effigy of the largest metropolitan area in Missouri — are complex in inimitably turning heads. Hugged by a path paved, tested to ensure adherence in the assurance, emerging from the twilight of the immortal. With the latter, reputable for endearing plaudits; chronicled here and now is — a ‘new meaning’ to the life of the city ensured as having the second largest metropolitan area in Illinois: Mikahl Anthony, in the flesh!
The multidisciplinary artist’s pregnant mosaics, like a vast array of inimitable generational grand surges in the navel adoring world of music; have protracted a “better never rests” ingenuity competitive edge. The guiding light of his imminent masterful full-length debut album ‘MUSE’ is well-lit. Fattening up flesh-and-bone moments, carved to ardently answer the ring from the more contingent lilt partisans steadfastly dialed feverish call; Mikahl — who creates soulful Hip-Hop, Funk and Afro Pop — recently premiered a single known as ‘La Flare’.
The sonic to the berceuse oeuvre is accompanied by a spick-and-span — on the nose — means of expressive exposing through cinematography. Foaled via Belgium’s R&S Records; it follows the introductory soft release of the precursor donut (Space Blue / Deep Ain’t It).
Marvin Gaye a singer and songwriter, who helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s earning him the nicknames “Prince of Motown” and “Prince of Soul”, as well as Rhythm & Blues, Soul, and Hip-Hop influenced vocalist and composer Erykah Badu — dubbed “Queen of Neo Soul”; impact the chanted gem composition created by Mikahl.
The latter also draws inspiration from rapper, singer and songwriter Lil Wayne, who in 2012 became the first male artist to surpass singer and actor Elvis Presley (regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century) — with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100: a croon along staggering 109 anthems under his tutelage!
A unique creator, filmmaker, ballad maker and musician from the ‘Gateway to the West’ — with a cast of noteworthy Chicago quislings on his roaster like rapper, singer-songwriter and hit producer Chance The Rapper, as well as Hip-Hop knockers Mick Jenkins, Joey Purp, and Smino; Mikahl is exerting influence. A tap on Top Dawg Entertainment progeny singer, rapper, and beats producer — Lance SKiiwalker’s undertaking of ditty, and a collaboration with Via Rosa (of the soulful electro duo Drama) on The Great Depression EP (extended play); sums up Mikahl’s redbrick chord Terpsichore.
When he storms the recording studio, he ‘kills it’; convoyed by several gorgeous, autonomous motion picture pieces — ‘MUSE’ — is a work of lullabies with storytelling at its core. Interspersed with annotation from a range of sources telling their stories to Mikahl, at the same time as in unison analysing their own experiences; it voices a candid and unswerving narrative, which buttresses the heartfelt lyrics within. With the venture’s title affixed around a dual meaning acronym: ‘Ms. Using sensual energy’ and ‘Making use of seclusion every day’.
The jam offering is an audio version of docu-film, that ingeniously construes the inkling of self-therapy. An inner / interpersonal echo of life experiences that serendipitously tie to Mikahl’s personal romantic affairs. That carrot on the menu remains real, catapulting diligence that primarily licenses him to strappingly elucidate: “I wanted to use a unique style of songwriting, arrangement and filming with the intention of sound tracking my self-development / maturation process.”
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A co-founding member, Curator, and Art Director of Chicago’s ‘THEMpeople’; his euphony and mantra shine the limelight on the importance of self-love and discovery, with storytelling lyrics that are expressive and relatable. Ripened and hands-on as he is gifted; Mikahl avows the canon Sculpt lifelong impression on the listener.
“The exploration of inner truth and vulnerability is key to the future of good music. I want this project to act as symbolism that highlights the mantra that honest approaches and authenticity still has the most value. I also want people to see how important the use of community is when you can connect them to your subject matter...I’d like my audience to observe and engage in their own self-reflections, approaches by way of listening or interacting with the story,” Mikahl said.
Drifting to a levitated state of consciousness, ‘MUSE’ is an intensely intoxicating and spellbinding listening experience from front to back. From the sliding, kaleidoscopic shadows of introductory opus ‘La Flare’, via the trepidation-laced atmosphere of the birdcall ‘Polyamorous’ as well as the murky, reverb drenched saxophone notes of LP (long play) closer — ‘Eddie Kane’; Mikahl conduits jiffies of contentment and agony, pervaded with spirit enriching instrumentation as well as gritty textures.
Living in a reality that is incubated in ‘Rome of the West’; visual stimuli play a vivacious role within Mikahl’s tonal pattern. His tunes epitomise transparency and openness dipped in funk. Layers of soft velvety vocals transpire from jazz harmonies, trap rhythms, and social commentary sourced from voice overs / excerpts. His formations are the melodic depiction of documentary flicks. His art is imagery incarnated!
“Every song that I’ve made has been crafted from a film perspective — more so than the traditional way of vocally performing a record. My arrangements are more like scores than typical songs and when it comes to formatting, I took a classical music approach. Meaning, the songs are arranged in movements / sections. Despite the avant-garde methods, I take into account the science of listening and how people hear music today. There are enough consistent elements that allow the listener to catch on to the song, but more effort was put into trying to get them addicted to the feeling, vocal texture, and storyline,” Mikahl said.
“Audio-documentation is my lane and I’d someday like to evolve into making a full-on audio-book that sounds like an audio musical. The perfect blend of dialogue and music while using my film perspective to unfold the visual aspects. I think it’s unique that I’ve created this sound from purely thinking in a film framework while in the recording studio. I brought this element to my production team (‘THEMpeople’) and now in my solo effort I’m fully expounding on this approach.”
- Grant Moyo is a prolific writer, innovative media personality, entrepreneur and a creative artist who is passionate about using his creative mind for the betterment of society. Follow him on X: @TotemGrant
