This release “Zone” from ATLANTA GA, based artist NAIJA KYNG is a beautifully mesmerizing piece of music and songwriting. Beginning with the distant echo of a simple ascending soundscape, this immediately hypnotic ambiance emerges and surrounds you with its blissful, thoughtful creativity. The leading artist’s voice appears quite unexpectedly, bringing into the mix a touch of humanity, and authenticity – an edge of hip-hop songwriting perhaps, with a deeply reflective and poetic nature to it. Soon enough, both elements – the delicacy of hip-hop and the weight and attitude of rap – explode into life, cascading and crashing all around you, creating this truly compelling and complex piece of music and immensely emotional lyricism.
The movement of this track is superb, the flow lays on top of the rhythm in a flawless and captivating way – you find yourself as moved by the progression of the lyricism as you do the gradually developing soundscape. The stop and start nature of the mix adds to the creativity, that minimal yet crucial element of structure works wonders for the long-term enjoyment of the piece. The switch to the melodic hook furthers this effect, and in between all of this you hang on to the emotional truth and loving dedication of the song’s sentiment in a way that seems so authentic and deeply human.
From a songwriting perspective alone there’s so much here that clutches at your very humanity, your compassion, even your inner demons. From a creative perspective, and indeed that of a producer, there’s a whole world of beauty to appreciate. The structure of Zone in itself offers an intense and memorable journey that doesn’t notably compare with anything else available right now. There’s professionalism at every moment, but there’s also so much that is distinctly personal, honest, open – there’s a sincere level of character and identity to it all; to the style, to the tone of voice, to the chosen words of expression. The single stands out for all of these reasons and more. It’s a huge pleasure to listen to, several times over. Well worth exploring.
