Mykki Blanco helped make rap a more exciting place with their debut 10 years ago — everything about them, from style to sound to presence forced hip-hop fans to reconfigure what truly rebellious art looked like, and whether or not they could handle it. It’s been five years since Mykki’s self-titled project, and 2020 saw the release of one song “You Will Find It” featuring FaltyDL and Devendra Banhart. This year is the start of Mykki season in earnest: we can expect two full-length projects released on Mykki’s new label Transgressive Records, and one of the new songs “Free Ride” drops today with a video directed by Hannah Rosselin. The gospel-tinged bop of the track, co-produced by FaltyDL and Hudson Mohawke, gets a corresponding video depicting some kind of baby-focussed celebration (christening? Baptism? Who knows, but the reception looks like a lot of fun) Blanco discussed the inspirations behind the song in a press statement: “Some of the most intimate moments and conversations I have ever shared were with my mother on long drives in the Southern countryside when I was a teenager. The music that soundtracked these memories on our daily journeys was the stuff of my mother’s generation. I would find myself daydreaming, reflecting, and envisioning the kind of life I would like to create for myself. These memories and the music of Luther Vandross were the first inspirations behind the creation of my new song “Free Ride”.Mykki Blanco shares new song/video “Free Ride”
