The first single from Quez Cantrell’s upcoming album N.I.N.E comes out swinging at Nashville. From the very first line of the very first verse – “Today’s a New Day, a different hue tryna rep for the City” – you know that Cantrell has thoughts about the city, downtown in particular. He follows with “when they choose the interest of tourist and hillbillies downtown, (it) feel like Disney World to them, but to us, it’s just reminders of the way we can’t get in.” For anyone familiar with the fact that Slim & Husky’s and Prince’s Chicken are the only black owned businesses on Broadway, that’s a stinging truth of the blockers ahead of any non-white person looking to partake in one of Nashville’s largest money makers.
Expanding on that, Nashville’s other largest money maker is the music industry and one that, historically, has very little support for hip-hop, rap and R&B artists. Cantrell embraces those difficulties throughout the track, delivering verses about the difficulties of escaping the gravity of Nashville’s country music scene. Based on historical evidence, it’s damn near impossible.
Writing about the truth of your environment is a damn good recipe for others to connect with your situation. Cantrell has never shied away from delivering honesty – see “The Black Today,” Talkin’ My S#1T“, In The Rou9h, et al – and N.I.N.E. could be a statement piece for Cantrell. Looking forward to it.