Son the Rhemic is the perfect mysterious friend, the antidote for the lonely, those who think they are the only ones to experience the only things they experience.
Born Tyson Kimbrough, in March of 1991, the now Seattle-based Houston native releases one of his most striking albums yet in December “I Realized How to be a Basic Bitch”
His songs, be they rapped or sung, are filled with ethereal wonderment and sweet-felt puzzled curiosity that peruse all the things we have all been itching to know or say, but are too shy to speak — and does so with bold, brave honesty.
The juxtaposed characters Rhemic breathes through are worth particular mention, in that the dynamic lyrics and creative delivery (sometimes beautifully dark and smooth, others strong, edgy and commanding) send for the biggest takeaway.
The words of an isolated soul, but it’s through this coy character of loneliness that the songs, because of their bravery and willingness to share, observe, ask and self-report for the world around, lead us to discover the real gem behind the masterpiece.
The lens through which the music is seen and performed is through a premise akin to the whimsical innocence of a child but said with the wisdom of a consulted adult.
Son the Rhemic — with sometimes sleepy, sometimes fierce flow — speaks our hearts when we put our selves in a quite dark closet, just us and our thoughts. In the song “Quasi” — recently released as a music video — the artist sings in a poised melodramatic wavy tone, but fills in the in-between with punching words in neatly tied up clever raps.
“My wings got holes, but they still flap,” is one of the examples of the character of “shining light” and of hope and brilliance, that is weaved in and through the artist’s compelling project; carefully performed in poignant alternating proximity.
The Hootie Rotten-assisted track titled, “Answers” is a part hip-hop, part grunge bridge for human relation and connection, with smooth yet edgy and beautiful, hovering vocals. A brilliantly balanced collaboration, as catchy as top 40, but as rich as the lessons learned from a legend.
In “I Realized How to be a Basic Bitch,” Son the Rhemic delivers us more than a realization, but helps us all to wake up, interpret and navigate the worlds we find ourselves in, while, with beautiful rhetoric and magnetically welcoming, calm tones, invites us all in for a chance of friendship, rare and maybe this time understood.
Gui Jean-Paul Chevalier is a Seattle-based recording artist and author from rural Washington, living counter-small-town mind for the cause of humanity.
Wait, there's more. Check out the full January 17th issue.