Born in Florida, rapper BrandNew AkA Newie Vuitton, has been through the rough in his lifetime – pimping, prison, and hustling – living between the Bay area and Utah. Currently BrandNew has set his course on a more focused and determined path, with his partner in life and love expecting twin babies. On the music side, BrandNew has two singles doing the rounds – “She’s Gone” and “$ With My Plug”. Well produced, substance behind the lyrics, and a flow like a true heavy hitter BrandNew knocks these cuts out the park. The rapper’s rhyming is on point and his songs transition fluidly from bar to bar.
I ran through his catalog and it is fair to say that BrandNew is genuinely an artist who gets better with every listen, every performance and every release. After weaving through the motions of his latest efforts, the same rules and results apply.
BrandNew’s reflective nature comes to the fore on “She’s Gone” as he contemplates lost love. Unlike many of his contemporaries, BrandNew does not struggle to reveal his emotions or vulnerabilities: “Can’t get my mind clear, she’s all that I think of, so I sit alone in our home and just drink up. Seems I can’t stop myself from pushing her away. Now all I do is pray to God that there’s another way.” A few simple lines that quickly, yet deeply describe a man’s emotional state in a breakup situation – loss, drink, misjudgment and self-pity.
The lady in question is not without error though, which BrandNew makes clear in the following lines: “She crossed the line between love and hate. Now she’s out every night giving my love away.” But that he is still in love with her, and wants to rebuild the relationship, is made just as clear.
Especially because she is having his kids. BrandNew’s performance on the track comes across as heartfelt and honest, showing the wounds and scars of somebody who has fallen down pretty hard, but is willing to pick himself up and fight for the love, and the life, he feels he deserves.
One of BrandNew’s gifts is his knack of merging intimate and thought-provoking cuts with joints that would not be out of place as a street anthem. “$ With My Plug” takes another route lyrically, as BrandNew lays down a hustler’s motivational narrative for success.
Traces of the rapper’s intense and rapid-fire flow are laced throughout this cut. Dressed with a thumping beat, BrandNew’s pure vocal talents show off the trials and bliss one often experiences through the climb from the down. BrandNew’s motto is: “You lose money chasing bitches, you don’t lose bitches chasin’ money.”
Offering, among other things, a reflective look at his life, “She’s Gone” and “$ With My Plug” certainly represent the most confident music BrandNew has made yet. Mostly because in his lifetime, he has seen it all, and experienced it all, and he now sounds like a man who knows who he is and where he wants to go, and with that kind of ammunition in his step, it can only be a good thing.
OFFICIAL LINKS: SOUNDCLOUD – REVERBNATION – FACEBOOK – STREAM
