EP: Wara From the NBHD – If Guns Could Speak

Wara From the NBHD Is Out for War On His New EP, Premiered by The Fader

01.28.2015

Critical Praise for Wara From the NBHD:

“Wara recalls the 1990s of Wu-Tang Clan and the early 2000s of Pharrell Williams’s Neptunes and N.E.R.D.” – The New York Times

“Lyrically he comes across as both book and street smart and has the direct cadence of a great live performer.” – XXL

“Wara… has nearly bled mind, body and emotions dry in writing and scoring his audible biopic.” – Passion of the Weiss

“If the piano breakdowns and gloomy production are any indication of how soulful Wara gets with his music, we can’t wait to see more of him in time.” – Complex

“Wara has been holding it down for musically explorative hip-hop.” – HotNewHipHop

“The gloomy, minimalist production… is perfectly suited for a late-night ride through town.” – The FADER

“His hook and verses are on-point.” – MissInfo

“… the rawest shit you are going to hear for the rest of the year.” – Mass Appeal

“Wara’s a writer and a slick rapper, a talented producer who knows how to shape an album’s worth of songs into a world.” – Pitchfork

The EP:

Wara from the NBHD isn’t your traditional Atlanta artist and his new release isn’t your typical EP. Premiered by The Fader, If Guns Could Speak is the follow-up to Wara’s Kidnapped, which garnered a 7.7 review from Pitchfork. The EP is a politically charged narrative that confronts black-on-black crime, fear, paranoia, and police brutality. As Wara tells Creative Loafing Atlanta, “Art is supposed to be the thing that makes people uncomfortable, raises the questions; it’s supposed to be controversial.” If Guns Could Speak makes good on this belief.

Wara opens the EP spitting like he has everything to lose. On “Shotclock” Wara delivers vicious lines like, “I been violent since the Loony Tunes designs on my draws” amid a feverish beat. Wara designed If Guns Could Speak to be, “based [on] real life situations that I’ve personally faced with a firearm or simply just what you see and hear in neighborhoods across America. Every ghetto has its own language, its own sound, and for these times this EP reps that in its own way.” “Shotclock” starts Wara on the path of reconciling the violence of his home with the injustice of those served to protect it.

The momentum continues with “Bubblin,” which is the best Clipse and Neptunes reunion we’ll probably see in 2015. From the searing guitar to the synths and keys, Wara’s production has developed from the edgy boom-bap of his previous project to more precisely constructed punk-rap compositions on the new EP. When Wara yells “My shit bubblin'” on the second track, its a multilayered observation of the young MC’s current trajectory in the music industry and a symbol of unresolved anger boiling to the surface. However, Wara never strays far from the inherent darkness in dealing drugs to one’s community. He even states, “I just personally don’t want to be the artist out here spreading a negative virus by misleading these fucking kids and people…If my content gon’ be raw and dark then so is the music. Sonically it can’t be halfway, the listeners need that entire experience – drug dealing isn’t cool, murder isn’t cool, period.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the whole EP comes with its last two songs. On “Coldplay,” Wara lowers the intensity to deliver a story of lost love. On an album filled with controversy, it’s a much-needed break from the pressing issues Wara presents. However, the If Guns Could Speak most powerful moment arrives on, “Don’t Call 911.” The song’s bold chant of “Fuck the police,” is where Wara embodies the unresolved anger of a nation that has seen multiple black men and women taken before their time. It’s an angry but intelligent take on the complexities of having cops police neighborhoods they have no stake in. As Wara puts it, “I feel like any we have an encounter with cops it’s never good so that cycle kind of continues and that’s where the mistrust and negative light thrown on law enforcement come from… the last thing you gon’ see a lot of times is kids wanting to grow up and police their neighborhoods.”

With his new EP Wara has truly put it all on the line. If Guns Could Speak is a courageous release from one of hip-hop’s breakout voices.

Listen to If Guns Could Speak: https://soundcloud.com/warafromthenbhd/sets/wara-from-the-nbhd-if-guns-could-speak-ep

Check out The Fader Premiere of If Guns Could Speak: http://www.thefader.com/2015/01/27/stream-wara-from-the-nbhds-if-guns-could-speak-ep

Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with Wara From the NBHD.

The Background:

Wara From the NBHD might be ATL’s next rising star. The Brooklyn born, Atlanta-based rapper serves as an embodiment of both of the areas he grew up in. An artist with a unique ability to blend both cultures seamlessly with striking lyricism and impressive production. This sentiment is highlighted with Wara’s latest release The Ill Street Blues a mix tape garnering critical praise from notable outlets such as The Fader, Complex and XXL. The project portrays a dichotomy of the good and bad Wara has experienced in his life, notably personified by his son sitting next to a gun on the mix tapes cover. His new release, Kidnapped, is a concept album produced entirely by himself.