CLARK D “A DREAM FOR A DOLLAR”

Clark D dropped “A DREAM FOR A DOLLAR” album mid summer, alongside announcing his first national Tour with Token & DJ Lucas! The MattaPark native has been teasing us with ballads such as “Mr. Label Man” red, white and blue visuals and his take on being “Superman” – all while growing up with immigrant parents in America. Navigating the music industry (and the world) is never easy for artist of color. Nevertheless, his lyrics display those moments of pain and realization felt throughout that journey. Clark’s dreams are “All The Way Big” as he puts it by the way he retells his life stories of sweet sorrows, materialistic things he longs for and the anguish that comes from bad business deals.

As a young Grammy nominated revolutionary Clark D does not want to be boxed in as a typical rap star because that he is not. This 15 track album is laced with genre bending sounds and a deep poetic nostalgia—not only the typical head bouncing hip hop that labels and society expects to hear from a black man. His dreams mean much more to him then selling his soul for an image that he doesn’t stand for. The true theme and underlying message we get from this album is that money is the motive for most in the industry, until you realize how quickly you can end up losing yourself. No dollar amount is worth that and these lyrics tell you to keep your guard up before its too late.

Clark D is known for bringing the community together with packed out local shows full of familiar faces and love. Paul Willis, Kei, Sadiq, Enjoy The Thrill and Matty Owens – to name a few. As an engineer and producer, sharing the spotlight with his musically inclined friends was never out of the question. He throughly embraces collaborations, and his work makes that very clear. If you missed out on the first show don’t worry! Clark D will be back in the beginning of September for another local intimate show at Sonia’s Middle East. Following that show will be the start of tour kicking off on October 11th in NYC with Token & DJ Lucas where Clark D can continue to share his huge dreams with the world.

Skillibeng Boston Concert – Poetic Pattie

When I got the opportunity to attend the concert for Skillibeng and MOLIY with my media team—I knew that night would be something to happen for the international stars sooner rather than later. For the last couple of years we watched MOLIY rise to fame with her song Shake It To The Max leading to her success of touring all around the world. Gracing the stage here at Big Night Live in Boston as a Ghanaian-American is a huge deal and something that many African American stars work hard to achieve. Watching MOLIY go from Tik-Tok videos to taking over the stage is a reminder to all of that you never know where your talents can take you if you don’t give up. Likewise for Skillibeng the Jamaican star that I ran into backstage—literally. I was going back and forth between stage and VIP in between songs and security reached his hand out to confirm he was coming out and there was no need for me to go back but, another security guard said “Let her.” When they opened the door there was Skillibeng—lighter and spliff in hand, headset in his ear and I could hear stage production yelling for him to come out. We said hello and he asked me what I do for work. “Journalism.” “So you’re gonna write about this?” I nodded my head yes and security rushed him on stage. I was left speechless for a moment but, only because 6 years ago during Covid while we were all under lockdown in our homes his music video for ‘Brik Pan Brik’ dropped and it left the whole world asking “Who is Skillibeng? Where did this international superstar come from?” his rise and fame felt so sudden almost as if it happened overnight and had everyones eyes on Kingston, Jamaica. Years later he’s reaching millions of views on his music videos and collaborating with stars such as Vybz Kartel, Tyla and Jada Kingdom—now the world no longer has to wonder.

Bell Biv Barclay – ET & Haasan Barclay

Bell Biv Barclay the EP is a cross blend of hip hop and dance-pop from producer Haasan Barclay & ET from the Van Buren Records super group. This eclectic project comes as no surprise being that the duo have been working together behind the scenes for the last few years now. Originally the pair worked on other projects that eventually fell on hiatus. Within the last year the creatives started picking each others brains and agreed on doing something with a New Jack Swing influence. For production Haasan likes to make a safe space in his studio for artist to truly create at their best potential with good chemistry. His production style comes from a psychedelic influence full of chopping samples & distorting sounds experimentally. Making songs that get stuck in your head is something this producer looks forward to when collaborating with others as well as working with people who actually contribute to the culture. ET Continues to break through the ceiling with his stand out flow with bars full of playful double entendres and cultural nods to Haitians and Africans. “Yearner University” is a play on todays generation and the lack of desire we continually face from each other. The seamless blend into “Brandy’ will have you itching to dance—which Haasan says was the main intention behind Bell Biv Barclay. People are scared to get up and dance nowadays from fear of what others may think of them. But this project was fully meant to make you get up and dance from start to finish. In the future we can expect an EP from Haasan Barclay but should also be on the lookout for a couple surprise projects.

All Money Ain’t Good – 4FIVE6 NICE

Instantly upon first listen of a couple instrumentals Nice pulled out his phone to rattle off some bars and with no delay everyones head in the room nodded in sync. Before we knew it Nice was getting in the booth to record and claim his territory over elusive StoopKid beats. Stories of growing up in the hood and making more money than most around him, Nice hustled to keep his pockets full while also keeping his loved ones happy. Haters can say what they want but Nice is up now and already ahead of the game working with local heavy hitters like Chef Bogey & DeevoDaGenius. Nice has a lyrical flow that bounces around on the track with a rhapsodic cadence pulling the listener in closer. His narratives account for the right and wrong ways to move in the game by skipping out on shortcuts and putting in all the hard working hours for real success. With go getter tracks like “Silly”, “MC Hammer” and “How To Move” this debut album is sure to play for you with no skips—only replays. All Money Aint Good may be his first & only project out on platforms but this Grove Hall native already has plans to perform back to back nights in Spain & Italy making it very clearly that his rise to success was no overnight venture. In the wise words of Nice the title of this album stands for integrity more than anything, selling your soul has never been the way to go and that message can be overlooked nowadays. Nice is pushing a positive agenda to the world and choosing to work and invest in himself above all else. With plenty more drops expected this summer from hats to clothing—make sure to be on the lookout for the latest from Nice and play All Money Ain’t Good.