“Sprung” is the first single release from the upcoming Ep “The Flying High” by Nigerian-born, London (UK) based emcee, Caestro aka Replay. With one eye fixed on the States, and the other on his home country, you never get the sense of an artist subjugating his own personality to succeed abroad. It’s not just that the lyrics throughout his tracks are dexterous and sharp, although they are. It’s that even his most virulent lines are underscored by a very winning, very British kind of idealization. On his new single, Caestro more or less takes a back seat, allowing the lead singer to carry the song with her melody, and then deciding break into the track towards the end.
Caestro drops a verse that carries his usual insightful and inspiring messages, only this time they have a spiritual twist added to them. This is a love song, but it is about universal love, and more precisely, God’s love.
The featured songstress lays down the basic foundation: “He can be the one I’ve been looking for. Every time he touches me I’m sprung. Nothing but love that is from above. And his love is for everyone.” Then Caestro gives us the confirmation of his conviction: “I ain’t a Christian that talks fiction. I say things that will in your minds cause friction.”
As mentioned previously, Caestro keeps his appearance short and sweet, with just a couple of sharp and focused bars to bring his message home. It’s an unusual gambit for an emcee, in a genre that usually does it the other way around – plenty of spoken bars, with the singer dropping an 8 bar hook.
In the midst of toxic concoctions of industry bullshit coming out every week, it’s pretty much impossible to not feel inspired by Caestro’s back to basics approach that summon the raw energy of the genre’s formative years. Here he plays the big brother role, handing out sound advice – that is also a warning – with a simple but dexterous verse.
There’s a wide music-listening public out there, one within in which Caestro will definitely win some hearts, with the release of “Sprung”. As here he is playing to both the melodic pop and rap fans. Considering his previous releases, this single feels like Caestro has matured and evolved as an artist.
His flow is metered, deeper-sounding, with his voice clearer, yet more edgy, allowing the lyrics to really hit you. All-round, there’s a depth of sound that wasn’t present before, and everything feels cleaner.
departure from the hectic, often overcrowded instrumentals leaves more room for vocals, and Caestro’ meaningful bars. It seems likely that this development will help prepare the London-based emcee for any newfound global success.
OFFICIAL LINKS: FACEBOOK – SOUNDCLOUD