Track for Track: Crimdella – Bury Me In Gold Vol. 1

For this new series, we take a look at a few choice, critically acclaimed music projects from some New York-area artists. Rather than traditional ‘album reviews’ — which some have called a bit of an obsolete practice — we thought it would be interesting to have the artists themselves provide the ‘breakdown’ for those who might be interested in the thought process and artistic mindset of these talented creatives.

Of course, we always urge music fans to listen to music with an open mind, extracting your own thoughts, vibes and meanings, without needing to be told what to think or feel, but aside from your own process of discovery, there is nothing better than to hear directly from the creator, his or her perspective.

We begin with Crimdella’s Bury Me In Gold, Vol. 1, a 7-song EP that made it to our Essential New York Hip-Hop – 2016 Year End Edition thanks to its “smart, biting flow, enjoyable production, thoughtful work, strong features.”

Now, the breakdown, from Crimdella himself.

“On Me” featuring Dale Novella

The entire project was produced by MNDCFT. This particular song is interesting because it originally had a hook on it. When I sent it to the producer, we recorded the hook with Dale and we sent it back to me it took the hook off. I said to myself, “this is kinda cool because it allows you to hear what the song is about.” The song is about moving forward and learning how to leave certain people back. Some people won’t move with you, and will move in different directions. You want to surround yourself with people of similar goals and positive energy. I feel like that’s a good place to start the record.

“Ambi” featuring Ladymoon & J Dvbbs

Ambi is a double entendre. It’s the name of the young lady that I’ve been dealing with, but it’s also ambition. “Ambition is my lady, she be yelling when I hit it.” I’m equating ambition to a lady and how I spend more time dealing with my ambition then dealing with her. There’s a lot of dealing with growing up in Harlem as well, dealing with home schooling and the difficulties maneuvering with other kids when I got to school. I wanted to involve some Doo Wop in there… Some people heard Kanye influence with the sample break in the middle. This one feels like a special song for sure.

“Electric” featuring Izaiah

I love this song. I had to go extra hard to make sure it was done right. When the first mix came back I had to go and re-record my vocals with Paco who recorded half the project. This was one of the first songs I wrote for the project and when I got the beat it just came out of me. And that’s the idea. You don’t even know what’s flowing through your body but when it’s flowing it’s real and it’s energy. It’s also symbolic of moving through New York and how a lot of the difficulties we deal with here can be unconscious.

“Militant Milk X Gold” featuring Merc the Big Body Benz & Brittany Campbell

I always wanted to do two records in one. “Militant Milk” is about my mother. My father has a place in it too, but this record is about the fact that my parents raised me to speak up, and to defend myself. The song ends with “Momma said push back if they try you, if you don’t fight them, I’ma fight you.” Touches on that Hood/Harlem vibe of coming up. We have Merc the Big Body Benz on the record which was dope not just because she’s one of my favorite rappers in the city but because she’s a new mother, which she addresses on the track. The second half is “Gold” which is more like a title track featuring Brittany Campbell. As I discuss the album more, the theme is really about trying to make things happen for you but still kind of struggling.

“Welcome to the World” featuring Monotone, Kita P. & Paco The G Train Bandit

I heard this beat and I just started singing the hook. “Welcome to the world motherfucker….” I wanted to write a song where I was speaking to a child. I don’t know who I am in this instance, maybe God, maybe not. As a black man I’m speaking to the black child so I wanted Paco, a white dude, to rap from his perspective. I didn’t tell him that, I just thought it was a good contrast. It’s a spiritual thing where I’m leading people out of their old life into a new one. It also features Rashim Ade, a member of Black God Pantheon, who recently rebranded himself Monotone. It also features Kita P, another member of my squad, Black God Pantheon.

“Extra”

The first two beats I got were “Extra” and “Electric.” “Extra” is probably the most stripped down beat, nothing too extravagant. “Extra” is a militant song, a protest anthem. At the time when I was writing, all this shit was happening. Then it died down a bit, then when it picked up again I was about to release the video so it was like yeah I gotta drop this video. I like to cut into myself when I make records, so a lot of these records have personal things inside of them. It needs to be open within the music. My favorite thing about “Extra” is the way it starts, feels like the perfect line. “Fuck the master-this master-plan.” From there it’s hard-hitting bars and me talking about us getting it from all sides. I also talk about real experiences, like my teacher taking us to see an older black dude who was gentrifying Harlem through investment and I gave him the business! I did the whole song in one breath, no breaks. Just straight through the verses and hooks when I was recording it.

“Now or Never” featuring Mndcrft & Sole Rebel

“Now or Never” is interesting because originally it was called “The Hunger Games.” My producer had this beat and he remembered that he and another artist had come up with the hook. So he sent it to me and asked me what I thought. It needed something else, and I knew what we were going to do. I wrote something for Soul Rebel to sing in the background and put my original hook at the beginning. This one is probably the biggest collaboration because there’s so many influences coming from different places. Originally the first verse was supposed to be a back and forth between me and Rashim Ade but he was unavailable out of town so I did it myself. The second verse — again it’s personal — about a friend I lost who I didn’t make time to see who was smoking on his roof then he slipped and fell. This one is a real symphony and I felt like it was the perfect ending. I felt the same way about this that I felt for “On Me,” I knew where they belonged. This one might be my favorite song, it’s inspiring. It’s dope to be able to listen to yourself when you feel down.