New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The West Coast rapper known as Hanuman has released his long-awaited LP record, "Nirvana." The album contains 11 original tracks for an approximate total listening time of half an hour. It has been proudly published on the Blue Lotus Ent. independent label outside the control of the corporate music industry. Thumping, grooving, and packed with rock-solid rhymes and lines, Hanuman's "
Nirvana" debut proves him to be a hip-hop force to be reckoned with.
Originally from CA's Bay Area music hotbed, Hanuman cites as main influences Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Guru (Gang Starr), Common, early Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Immortal Technique.
Music fans familiar with these hip-hop titans will recognize the artist's good taste, the same good taste on which "
Nirvana" is built.
Hanuman's seemingly innate understanding of what will sound best pervades every track, from the tone of each percussion instrument to the careful space between each beat, and from the deliberate choice of every lyric to the natural, unpretentious flow of his delivery. "
Nirvana" has plenty of variety between the tracks, but each of them is as good as the last. Fans of Hanuman are not likely to pick favorites, and if they can do so, their favorites are likely to change. This is that kind of record.
Hanuman takes his name from the Hindu god of the same name, just as his debut LP takes its name from the Buddhist and Hindu concept of attaining reunion with the godhead. There's a positivity in his music that makes these titles fitting.
"There's always good in the bad," Hanuman writes of the themes of his record. "No matter how bad things are you can rise above it."
Philosophical ideas often crop up in his rap, too.
"Some things can't be understood unless you experience it personally," he writes. "Your actions create your reality. There's a lot of gray in certain human beliefs. We're all connected, even if we don't realize it."
Hanuman has lived in Oakland, around the Bay Area, in Los Angeles, in Las Vegas, and in the northern California town of Alturas where his rap career began.
He tells it, "I basically hit the ground running late 2010 with the writing, finishing a mixtape and an EP. I finished four more mixtapes and four more EPs by December 2014. I worked on my debut album all of 2015."
Hanuman's plans include music videos, promo shows, radio interviews and features, as well as ground-level street promos. With the top-shelf quality of this record, there's nothing stopping him from taking it much, much further.
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Nirvana" by Hanuman is available online worldwide at over 700 digital music stores now. Get in early. Very early.
