Sometimes an artist or group slips between the cracks of notoriety—an unfortunate result of the relentless amount of information that the internet saturates us with. Still, it’s a mystery how COMMAND has not been recognized to a larger scale. The 23-year-old Atlanta singer/rapper/producer’s debut, Watermouth, was a cleverly produced and stylish mash-up of jazz, hip-hop, and R&B that should’ve gained more traction in the city. However, while his first effort didn’t quite takeoff, that hasn’t stopped him from pushing forward and putting in work.
“Tangerine,” one of the slew of singles COMMAND has released since dropping his debut in 2014, is a mild-mannered, yet thickly-layered track. The production is a FlyLo-esque concoction of cosmic 8-bit synthesizers and house-inspired drum and bass. It’s a journey that feels extraterrestrial, but swap planets for subwoofers and stars for an array of organs and keys. COMMAND’s rapper-singer style falls in line with the growing PBR&B genre popularized by artists such as SZA and Frank Ocean, but he’s no knock-off. His songwriting is exceedingly artful and isn’t obsessed with overpowering the track with unnecessary ad-libs and melodies.
The music video for “Tangerine” has a similar, low-key tone to it. Don’t get it misconstrued, COMMAND is a cool motherfucker, but his swagger comes with more substance than a flashy car or stacks of cash. Directed by Vonte Vendetta and co-directed but the artist himself, the video is a loose affair with an emphasis on the group rather than the performer. The droptop Jeep Wrangler riding into the orange, magenta and yellow hues of the Atlanta sunset is the perfect imagery for an end of summer track. It’s an exceptionally solid first video and hopefully one of many more to come in the near future.
More Info
Web: cmmd.co
Instagram: @cmmdmusic
SoundCloud: @commandforce
Twitter: @CMMDMUSIC