New Music – Maintaining Stride

One of the more promising acts to come from the New York underground is the work of Medhane who covers his own territory on his newest project Own Pace. Somehow managing to be consciously aware and hold a physically sleepy demeanor, Medhane orchestrates a dichotomy between his delivery and approach that is hypnotizing at the highest points.

In a sprawling environment, Own Pace comes with near 30-minutes of solid samples and vocal commentary over these lucid-esque beats. This production style has now stuck a mainstay vein and is able to be a middle ground between lo-fi and innovative peace. His opening track “Trauma & Grace” is a curtain being pulled back slowly with gentle piano that coincides within this simple, but almost distant percussion. Medhane is rock solid here as a narrator and his voice is confident even if his story is not. He describes, “Moving at my own pace, know the stakes, learn from all of my mistakes. In the yard full of snakes tryna take mine. Both the trauma and the grace mine.” Own Pace never relies on a hook-verse setup and instead adopts a spoken-word style that continues to push elements on the listener.

In one of the more energized tracks, “Bloody Knuckles” shoves some breathing room into the air that surrounds Own Pace. Medhane develops to fit the more nimble production, but he truly shines on the following piece “On Me” where he can be relaxed and keep his remote location. The production with “On Me” is simply gorgeous with these string ensembles and the connection that Medhane creates as he describes, “In the struggle chasing my bliss, in this game I play to win.” The instrumentation that Own Pace rides along with does wonders for the engagement with the vocalists as he features MIKE, Navy Blue, and maassai before the curtain closes.

“Stranger” with Navy Blue is a standout track for the record as they combine to form this tag-team event of reserved writing where the two are subtle and push the spotlight on each other rather than trying to steal it away. The instrumental of “Stanger” is almost minimalist when identifying the different components. And that goes for the ending of Own Pace as well as Medhane marches toward the everlasting end.

He does not raise hell instead holds hell internally and shuffles out of frame. Own Pace is highlighted for the way that it can showcase internal conflict and the world that surrounds it. Medhane does not lose sight of this ultimate goal, even if it is not exactly clear to the listener where precisely he is going.

Listen To Own Pace Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes