Cerebral Soldier

posted in: Artist Features • Urban

Panhandle rapper/singer-songwriter Royce Lovett peddles something he calls cerebral-soul. Meaning, he doesn’t spit mindless lyrics about being big and bad, and he doesn’t use synthetic beats to beef up his music. What you get with Lovett is a straight shot to the head and heart, via his acoustic guitar and an organic sense of melody and rhythm. Think of him as a folksier version of Andre 3000. In Miss Hip-Hop lapping guitars and dabs of piano set the neo-soul mood, allowing Lovett to showcase his sizeable singing chops. On the theatrical Outfitted, he proves he’s got a canny flow as well. I’m a sheep in wolf’s clothes and I like my outfit,” he chants, sinister and sly. The hook on Eyes is gossamer R&B, but the verses pack a searing hip hop punch. Lovett takes modern-day rappers to task, saying, There’s a thin line between love and hate and y’all stepped over that in ’88. Now, he says, The game is fake. Now this game I hate. Anyone else out there who’s tired of the status quo should hop aboard Lovett’s cerebral-soul train. He’s full steam ahead.