New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Atlanta artist Slange releases the first single from his latest album titled, Ballad Boy Slange: Balance Your Ego (BBS). Slange has been called "the therapy of rap" for his lyrics that are often about becoming a better version of yourself, understanding who you are, and overcoming feelings of insecurity.
"BBS is a conceptual album," explains Slange (pronounced slang, like the word for casual language). "I designed it to be an immersive experience that tells a story beyond lyrics, through the literal music, videos and animations."
Each of the 11 songs has an accompanying video and animation that delve into the mind of the artist and his interpretation of the soul's journey through Duat (the Ancient Egypt Underworld). Slange pulled in several artists who are friends from his alma mater, Emerson College, including Mike Ijac (a.k.a. Mykadelic);
Lucas Gerow and Joseph Freeman. The album also features Slange's father, Jon Schlanger, a long-time Atlanta bass player, and Slange's drummer cousin-in-law,
Aaron Kaufman.
"There are so many more people who I am grateful to, who contributed to this album in a million ways," says Slange. "You'll see them in my posts, the credits and liner notes. All of them hold a piece of my heart."
Slange wrote all of the album's lyrics and orchestrated the music; conceptualized, directed, casted, and acted in the videos; storyboarded the concepts and animation, and creative-directed both. He drove the project to completion despite disruptions like Covid, a breakup, and a move to his hometown of Atlanta from Los Angeles. Slange began recording the album five years ago with Joseph Freeman, then teamed up with Heartbreak (Devon Waggoner) of HeartbreakStudiosLA. The album's final tracks were mixed and mastered at Jan Smith Studios in Atlanta, with Mama J herself and engineer/artist
Jesse Owen Astin.
"The time I spent in the studio has actually been part of my healing," says Slange. "To have something as concrete as this project makes the heartache worth it."
K.B., the song Slange is releasing today, is a beautiful duet he sings with the woman from the aforementioned breakup. "The song and video grew to be about more than a relationship ending," explains Slange. "It overemphasizes exactly what I was aiming for: the balance of masculine and feminine voices and all variations of emotional expression."
Slange says that his aspiration is "to be known for music and art that connects with my audience and hopefully helps them grow, process and bypass life's roadblocks and heartaches. I want whoever is listening to feel heard in my lyrics. I want to create a safe space for them. That would affirm the fulfillment I get when making art. Creating helps me breathe. I hope listening to the album does the same."
