this week’s opener (11/15) is:

Marlowe

🔮the vibe…

north carolina hip hop duo with powerful boxy rhythms and breakneck lyrics 🗣️

🏡the roots…

North Carolina📍

📖 the story…

• Alright, it’s time we sprinkled some more good hip hop into The Opener

• Introducing: Marlowe - a hip hop duo made up of seasoned producer, L’Orange, and lyricist Solemn Brigham

• The duo met in 2008 while attending UNC Wilmington 🎓

  • Both lovers of rap - one of Solemn’s freestyle tapes ended up in the hands of L’Orange and they soon became fast friends - sitting together in L’Oranges car and freestyling for hours on end

• Time and personal disagreements, however, saw the two grow apart.

• L’Orange moved to Nashville after school and was signed as a hip hop producer. He went on to produce for the likes of MF DOOM, Rapsody, Kool Keith and others

• Solemn Brigham never released an official track and endured tougher years - working at Taco Bell and Walmart to get by, and spending small stints in prison….throughout this time, he never stopped honing his lyrical craft

• After nearly 10 years apart - L’Orange was in a musical rut and reached back out to Solemn with a hip hop sample that he needed someone to rap over. Solemn remained one of the best lyricists he knew, and he knew he would bring the heat.

  • This song ended up being ‘Lost Arts’ (see below) - a crazy hard hitting song which has garnered over 5M listens.

• After a few more starts and stops - as well as L’Orange discovering a tumor in his ear, requiring two major hearing loss surgeries - the two began synching up more and more to make music together.

• L’Orange finally decided to pitch his label (Mello Music Group) on signing Solemn for them to do a joint record together ✍️

  • They eventually agreed and the debut, self titled album, Marlowe, dropped in 2018. 💿

  • It earned acclaim from BBC, Yahoo! and Amoeba Music as well as debuting as the #1 hip-hop album in the UK on iTunes 🏆

• Since then - they have released Marlowe 2 in 2020, and Marlowe 3 in 2022

  • Each of which has taken a major step forward in their sonic journey

• All in all, the blend of L’Orange’s psychadelic/artsy hip hop beats, with Solemn’s hard-hitting lyrics make for stellar music that feels almost nostalgic…like you’ve known about them forever. Enjoy.

🎙️ the 🔝 performance…

lost arts ⬇️

🎧 the 🔝 songs…

tales from the east - spotify / apple music

light trip - spotify / apple music

royal - spotify / apple music

📇 the rest…

• L’Orange IG

• Solemn Brigham IG

📩the word…

spread it - and forward this to that one friend of yours…

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