For listeners looking to skip the drive-thru, Eat Out Culture, Vol. 1 from rapper Nick Sanville and guitarist-turned-producer Timo Massa (Stella Luce, VIVIAN) reminds us of the value of a home-cooked meal.
This 4-track EP (out December, 2020) covers sonic landscapes seldom heard from contemporary Hip-Hop artists. Sanville pushes his own creative envelope, combining his penchant for intricately woven punchlines with masterfully crafted moody atmospheres by Massa.
Together the duo moves seamlessly from lush guitar backdrops to distorted alternative rock, to uptempo indie licks. All the while, Sanville seems just as at home paired with organic instrumentation as he does flowing over more expected Hip-Hop sounds.
Eat Out Culture, Vol. 1 covers a spectrum of emotions. Take for example “Thrall”, which sounds like the Paid Dues stage at Ozzfest (or vice-versa). Sanville delivers jolting bars over Massa’s industrial power chords, creating a nostalgic late 90’s sound, anchored by a critique of the disposable tropes of modern Hip-Hop.
In contrast “Composition of Heaven” paints a much more playful picture, as Sanville and Massa skillfully weave indie rock sounds with witty lines and crooning vocals.
Critical favorite “Liar” takes a reflective look inward, touching on how one can be in a crowded room yet still feel alone. Melancholy melodies create a bed of emotion from which Sanville calls out those who lie, both to themselves, as well as to others.
The EP title is fitting for a project that aims not to redefine Hip-Hop, but to simply push the needle forward. Eat Out Culture, the idea that something is easily created and then just as easily consumed (whether that’s music, relationships, food, etc), touches on something we all look for in our present-day lives: something more real.
Stream Eat Out Culture, Vol 1 on Spotify and head to facebook.com/NickSanvilleRaps for more.
