If you’re a rapper based in the Big Apple, there’s a lot of responsibility to remain true to the city’s historical core, combining the boom-bap beats with conscious lyrics. Having met in the teeth of the New York City rap scene as Fat Beats employees, Koncept & J57 have an acute awareness of how to remain true to themselves, while reflecting the city’s deep rap roots. The duo’s The Fuel EP showcases Koncept’s conscious lyrics with J57’s — who counts the legendary DJ Premier as a mentor — production, proving that the duo can build on their early underground success and reach a wider audience. This is best demonstrated on the song we’re premiering today, “Crazy is Beautiful.”
“I was in Portland for a little while, and this was actually the first song I recorded while in the city,” Koncept explains of the song. “I was going through a lot of changes — relationship, leaving the place I’d lived in for six years and called home, the music and our business structure while working on the records, financial stuff, etc. I know some people saw my life as a little crazy, but I saw it as beautiful. What people might have seen as chaos or disorder with these changes I was making, I knew it was what I needed to make me better and, to me, everyday felt more beautiful and amazing than the last.
“The first vocals that I wrote and recorded for the song was the bridge, ‘chaos is beautiful.’ Not everything is easy, or so crystal clear, but that’s what’s attractive to me. I find when things are a little more difficult, and then you overcome them, that’s when you can see and feel the true beauty in it.” LISTEN HERE…
