North Carolina-based artist Newman crash lands on our pages with a scorching new project in the form of From: Elmina. It’s a sharp project that truly is an experience, as Newman’s signature wordplay and songwriting come together for a killer listen from start to finish, laying down some hard-hitting verses and hooks across big, booming instrumentals, all adding up for a great project cover to cover.

He had this to say about the project:

Elminá is a slave castle on the coast of Ghana, where my family is from. My last trip was in the summer of 2016. I had a lot going on personally and a lot of music recorded up to that point, but at the time I hit a wall. I had been to Elmina a couple of years before that last visit, but going back at that time resonated with me and was a point of inspiration. 

I originally titled it “Postcards From Elmina”, because I wanted to frame it as a letter, or each song as its own story. The acts came with the contrast in sounds between the two. The first part was a lot of the main concepts and initial feelings from that visit. A lot of the second came from when I went to Italy. I was thinking a lot about the idea of freedom, different ways that might look and feel.

Look out for more from him soon, as he looks to keep the momentum rolling all year long.