Austin heartland rocker Rick Hornyak’s new album Dandelion (out July 21) meshes jangly, ringing guitars with introspective and honest lyrics. He challenges notions of toxic masculinity while purging his childhood trauma through the love of his wife and child. His raw and emotive vocals have the familiarity of Tom Petty, the urgency of The Replacements and the alt-country gravitas of Alejandro Escovedo.
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Gwen Levey and The Breakdown – Not the Girl Next Door
Nashville country rocker Gwen Levey and the Breakdown’s new album, Not the Girl Next Door (out Nov. 3), finds Levey breaking free and reclaiming her voice. This album is a chronicle of her triumph over toxic times, being silenced and enduring abuse. With newfound strength, she fearlessly shares her wisdom and reveals her true self.
Levey brought in an elite cast of players for this album, starting with co-writers Will Rambeaux and Sherrie Austin, and utilizing the talents of acoustic guitarist Ilya Toshinskiy (Brooks & Dunn, Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift), lead guitarist Sol Littlefield (Kelsea Ballerini, Kane Brown, Luke Combs), bassist Mark Hill (Luke Bryan, Kelly Clarkson, Reba McEntire), drummer Chris McHugh (LeAnn Rimes, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood) and keys player Jeff Roach (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Darius Rucker).
“Toxic City” kicks the record off with a heavy electric guitar riff and classic rock organ that tells us that Levey isn’t here to mess around. This song is about recognizing when there’s nothing good going on around you and it’s time to get out of a hard situation. “My ex is an alcoholic,” Levey sings in a style that’s half Loretta Lynn and half Joan Jett, “my roommate is insane / my best friend from college / is dancin’ at Club Bombay / one’s not talkin’ to me / the other one talks too much / one just won’t stop cryin’ / she’s all outta drugs.”
A story writer might call this song the inciting incident, the moment when Levey knows that it’s time for a change and nothing will ever be the same. “Everything is autobiographical,” says Levey. “I was surrounded by the most toxic people. I was breaking up with my ex. My roommate situation made it so I couldn’t even go home. People were leaning on me and I wasn’t getting anything back. I kept attracting them. That says a lot about who I was. I was a people pleaser who got walked over. I’m not that anymore. I’m a goddess now.”
After a lifetime of unhealthy relationships, Levey’s “Man for the Job” is about finding that special person who will treat us with the respect and compassion we all deserve. Levey’s rich, sexy vocals are reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac meets Linda Ronstadt’s “You’re No Good.” The song’s bluesy composition has a propulsion to it that emphasizes Levey’s transition to an empowered woman who knows what she wants.
The bittersweet “The Next Lifetime” is about seeing the best in people even when they’re being the worst. It’s about leaving, but still hoping for the best. It’s a beautiful break up song that feels like a timeless classic that you’ve heard a million times, even on the first listen. Levey crafts a compelling narrative with this hopeful blues rock ballad that uses reincarnation as both a literal and metaphorical idea for forgiveness.
The anthemic women’s rights hoedown “Barefoot and Pregnant” comes in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned. Its tongue-in-cheek lyrics tackle a difficult subject with satiric wit and charm. Its drums propel the song forward like a freight train, as Levey’s clever lyrics challenge outdated social conventions. “What does she do with her college degree?” Levey sings,
“Throw it out the window with her IUD.” It’s a rowdy, honky tonk banger that sounds happy, but you can almost hear the tears behind the smiles.
“That was such a dark day,” says Levey. “It’s a very personal issue for me and most women. I was a child who was sexually assaulted. So, everything that’s been happening hit me really hard, especially here in Tennessee, which has the strictest abortion ban. That even if you’re a child, you can’t get help for anything like that. The song has a serious social commentary, but I wanted it to still be fun so it’s more accessible. You have to be brave to sing that in the south.”
The over-the-top “Barefoot and Pregnant” video finds Gwen Levey and the Breakdown on a set that was constructed and hand-painted by her parents. The band performs as a gospel choir, intercut with a pregnant woman performing household chores, and crescendos in a party of drunk good ole boys line dancing alongside pregnant women in maternity party dresses. “Barefoot and Pregnant” emphasizes the ideal of feminist icon Emma Goldman’s paraphrased quote, “A revolution without dancing is not a revolution worth having.” The song’s sentiment struck a chord and went viral on TikTok from Levey’s live versions before she even made it to the studio.
With the vocal power of Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” and the raw blues rock of the Black Keys, the EP’s title track, “Not the Girl Next Door,” is a power anthem of big guitars and heavy drums. This is the type of song that’s meant to blow away tens of thousands of screaming fans in sold-out stadiums. “I’m not the girl next door / I’m a goddess” sings Levey, “The total package if you can find my address / Might have been born on Main Street / But I don’t live there anymore / I’m not the girl next door.”
“My whole life I felt like the girl next door,” says Levey. “I went through my blonde phase, wanting to fit in. I broke out of ‘Toxic City.’ Now I’m more than that.”
Levey has gotten through the toxic time in her life. She’s had her voice taken away. She’s been silenced. She’s been in abusive relationships and abusive friendships. This record is her processing what she’s been through, and giving us the wisdom that she’s learned. Now, she’s found a support system and remains hopeful as she unabashedly tells us who she is, where she’s going and what she wants with Not the Girl Next Door.
“Person after person in my life was toxic in some way,” says Levey. “I was clearly attracting them for some reason. But through the healing process, I’ve empowered myself by realizing my worth and finally setting boundaries. I made this record for the younger generation of Gen Z-ers to the older hippie crowd, like my dad. It’s for people who believe in justice, who are standing up for what they believe in, and want to see the world change for the better.”
“A boot-stomping country ode to the power of unconditional love.” – American Songwriter
Belabela Forever Foundation – Instagram – Spotify – Apple
Other music under the name BELA: Spotify – Apple Music
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“Mesmerizing.” – Rockdafuqout
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belabela – “Blood” (out now) b/w “Lilith” (out Aug. 24)
The late Los Angeles electro-shoegaze maven Bella Isabelle Catherine Jhun (aka belabela) unexpectedly passed away on July 5th. She conjures two new carnal singles with her upcoming “Blood” (out July 27) b/w “Lilith” (out Aug. 24). These songs invoke a gothic atmosphere of demons reflected in puddles as belabela walks down dark, neon-lit L.A. corridors beneath a full moon. Belabela now walks with the angels, speaks to us via her beloved creatures, greets us with each full moon and continues to bless us with her music.
The provocative “Blood” opens with 808s rumbling your body and chirping crickets inviting us to nighttime activities. It evokes a visceral sexuality with its pulsing bass line and sensual vocals. Belabela creates a world for us to be surrounded by her sanguine embrace. “You held me tight,” belabela sings, “legs open wide / I’m drowning in the water / but you don’t look / you just watch / it’s in my head / you’re in my head / blood red on my hands / blood red on my lips for you.”
“My partner left me and I was upset,” says belabela. “I needed to wear blood-red lipstick around this person. He never saw me without it. I was having intrusive thoughts about sex and I wanted him out of my brain. I would go to this church across the street from my school and take naps underneath the Virgin Mary. I just kept imagining having sex with this person. I felt evil.”
Belabela’s “Lilith” is a mellow, psychedelic, ritualistic love song and biblical reference to Adam’s first wife. It’s a hymn of empowerment that taps into the darker side of feminine energy; it’s a song of seduction and temptation. Belabela summons forth the potency of this otherworldly entity, entwined with her creative inspiration, power and spiritual liberation. It’s a love song that projects a meaningful symbol of rebellion against the patriarchal status quo.
“There is a system in place,” says belabela. “It’s about making a choice to live more in the Lilith archetype of femininity. Every bad thing I believe about myself was said by a man. I don’t want to sound like a man-hater, because I’m not. I’m a total masochist and I hate it. But I’m working on that.”
Belabela grew up in Los Angeles and attended an arts high school focusing on visual art. She didn’t start music until she dated Richard. Richard who’d obnoxiously bring his guitar to every party. Richard who’d have belabela sing along. Richard who sparked belabela’s love of singing.
But before Richard, there was heroin and halfway homes for sober women. Since she was teenager, belabela has spent a decade fighting mental health issues, panic attacks, and has survived nearly a dozen overdoses. “When I’m sad,” says belabela, “it’s way more than what other people think of as ‘being sad.’ I’d go back [to drugs] whenever I’d have a panic attack. I’ve grown out of that cycle now, and I’m still here. I feel like the luckiest person in the world.”
In the L.A. of it all, belabela’s aunt Samantha Bennington was once married to a singer of a famous turn-of-the-century nu-metal band Linkin Park. Belabela stayed with her for a summer and received advice from some of the greats from a generation before her, including Steph Carpenter of the Deftones teaching her how to properly string a guitar. Belabela eventually met guitarist Dave Sender, and had him play on these two songs. And then she met mixer/engineer Claire Morison.
“Claire was in there when she was a brand new audio student, and I was in there just starting out with my acoustic guitar. Now, ten years later she’s full-blown doin’ it, and mixing my song!”
Belabela went to school for audio engineering, and had been honing her craft by assisting with studio recordings at Savannah Studios and with live sound at the Whiskey a Go Go while she was recording her next batch of songs.
“I enjoy the Pro Tools / Logic side more than guitar because I like to get my nails done with my mama,” says belabela. “I always start with bass. That’s my favorite part. Bass is like your solar plexus chakra, a very sexual energy to me. I can’t stress how much I love bass, tuned down, distorted. It can make you dance. It’s sexy.”
Belabela weaves the haunting with the hypnotic in her immersively, evocative songwriting. “Blood” and “Liltih” charm with their hyper-sexual dreamscapes, like cinematic, slow-motion kisses in soft focus. There’s a primal urge buried deep in all of us that belabela seems to effortlessly bring to the surface in her songs.
As fate may have it – at the time of this release the universe has unexpectedly had belabela return to heaven or another dimension. Belabela now walks with the angels, speaks to us via her beloved creatures, greets us with each full moon and continues to bless us with her music.
There has been a foundation set up in her memory to support causes she would believe in. Please see www.belabelaforever.org for more information.
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Shane Rennison – Nice To Meet You (out Oct. 13)
Indie-pop songwriter Shane Rennison’s Nice To Meet You EP is an earnest five-track collection of songs that feel like a peek into Rennison’s wide-open heart and his beloved home in the Catskill Mountains of New York. That’s where he made many of the memories that fuel his music, which recalls the craftsmanship of The 1975, the sugary synth highs of Passion Pit and the effortless pop prowess of Harry Styles.
“It’s just such a beautiful place. I can just take my guitar and go into the woods and hear nothing but birds,” Rennison said. “You can hear yourself think. You can feel yourself breathe. You’re more present. It’s home.”
Rennison made Nice To Meet You with Julian Giaimo, a talented composer and audio engineer who produced the EP and played all instruments except Rennison’s piano parts. Together, the two turned out songs like lead single “Cold Winter,” a slice of sparkling synth-pop and nostalgia that finds Rennison reapproaching an old flame with newfound maturity and perspective, and second single “Ghost,” which incorporates rubbery funk elements and simmers with frustration about a dying relationship.
“That’s about trying to deal with the emotions when a person you really cared about all of a sudden starts treating you differently,” Rennison said. “After all this time, they’re looking right through you.”
Elsewhere, “Another Chance” is both a lament for the girl that got away and an earworm made of undulating keyboard melodies and reggaeton rhythms. “Drunk” centers around feelings of insecurity and pulls the curtain back on Rennison’s ‘90s rock influences. And “Temptations” rounds out the EP with a feel-good story built on major chords and a syncopated beat that’ll transport you directly to a tropical island.
“I wanted the whole EP to have this melancholic back-and-forth feeling to reflect my experiences,” Rennison said. “But then ‘Temptations’ comes in and reminds you that, hey … we’re still happy to be alive.”
Happy to be alive, and happy to be back in the Catskills, where Rennison grew up in a family with its own kettle corn business. He went to college in Florida, but dropped out after studying abroad in Paris and realizing he was heading down the wrong path toward a career in business and finance.
“I stepped away from my reality at the time and just woke up every day in a foreign place and said, ‘What do I want to do today?’” he said. “And then I went and did it. And it showed me that that’s possible, and I started thinking, ‘Why can’t I do this back home? Why can’t I have this same energy and inspiration and fire back in the States?’ That set me on my way.”
Which leads us to Nice To Meet You and the follow-up full-length album, which Rennison and Giaimo are working on now, with hopes for a 2024 release.
“The music we’re making is reflecting the work I’ve been putting in the past few years,” Rennison said. “Because I’m self-taught and I haven’t been doing this that long, there’s just so much growth happening, and it’s really exciting to think about what the future holds. I feel like I’m still at the ground level of what I’m trying to do, so it’s all up from here.”
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“From his earliest tracks, an unfettered expression of joy has been a core part of Mega Ran’s music. On his latest cut, “Recess,” Mega Ran enlists an enviable list of collaborators to capture what might be his most pure expression of childhood joy to date. Kicking off with a massive horn riff and an infectious ska upstroke, Ran’s vocals summon the freedom of play. In a society where we’re told to devalue anything that doesn’t generate capital for the allmighty market, the reminder that it’s kinda messed up that play is something we leave behind in adulthood is positively radical. It almost feels wrong to listen to this song on headphones and not outdoors with speakers blaring.” – Afropunk
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Mega Ran / Buddy’s Magic Toy Box LP (out Sep. 15)
Mega Ran is a prolific rapper, DJ, author, Guinness World Record holder, and now father. He spent the past several years expanding his family as a foster parent and innovating his already cutting-edge approach to production to create Buddy’s Magic Toy Box (out Sep. 15) for his new son. This joyous and genre-bending album entertains and inspires the young (and the young at heart) with help of Mega Ran’s friends like G. Love & Special Sauce, JER (Skatune Network), New York Brass (Kanye West, Jay Z, Eminem), Stacked Like Pancakes, Whitney Peyton, Kadesh Flow, Koo Koo Kanga Roo and more.
Philly native turned Phoenix resident Raheem “Mega Ran” Jarbo has toured the world from London to Paris to Tokyo to a sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden. He’s shared stages with Tech N9ne, The Roots, Lizzo, Common, KRS-One, The Protomen, AJJ and more. He’s collaborated with legends like Del The Funky Homosapien, MURS, Kool Keith, and Young RJ of Slum Village. His song’s have been heard on television (WWE, ABC/NBC News, The Muppets Mayhem, ESPN, Portlandia, Tosh.O, AEW), movies (Clerks III) and video games (Mortal Kombat 11, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge, River City Girls 2). Four of his albums have placed on the Billboard Top 200 list.
Buddy’s Magic Toy Box is a heartwarming record that teaches us to be better people and to respect the people around us—from anti-bullying and not judging a book by its cover, to eating well and having self confidence. This album reminds us to be lifelong learners, no matter our age.
“My family and being a new father is what this is all about for me,” says Mega Ran. “Foster care and adoption is a journey. They said don’t get attached, but we’re with him all day, everyday. What if one day the mom says, ‘I’m back, let’s go?’ Affection was hard. I didn’t think I was ready at all. Now I’ve grown into that position. Nothing will prepare you for anything like parenthood. This doesn’t come easy and shouldn’t be taken for granted. He makes me want to be a better person. Now I want to make songs that he’ll want to groove to. I want to address those things that we experience as a kid, and how that makes us a better person.”
Inspired by the greatest Sesame Street song of all time, “Pinball Number Count” by The Pointer Sisters, Mega Ran kicks the album off with “Count Me In,” a boom-bap groove that has fun with sight-word rhymes bouncing off of counting children. “I imagined myself in a library and kids singing along with me,” says Mega Ran. “I wanted rhymes with predictable patterns that would make me smile when I said them.”
Standout single “Special to Me” is a shiny, indie-pop love letter to his child. It follows a legacy of songs like Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” and Will Smith’s “Just the Two of Us.” Its jamming synths and New York Brass’ funk horns lead to a chorus that makes you want to clap your hands and sing along. Mega Ran’s clever lyricism stands out in lines like “Daddy shark when the bills is due-do-due / Ain’t too much that I would not do for you / Hold you down, always come through for you / Stick by you like tubes of super glue.”
Just in time for hip hop’s 50th anniversary comes “The Story of Hip Hop.” It’s a song built to preserve the history of one of the most important musical genres in the past 100 years. It chronicles the birth of hip hop with DJ Kool Herc in the Boogie-Down Bronx in 1973, while elaborating on rap, DJing and break dancing as the essential elements of hip hop. Its informative lyrics are simplified and fun so even toddlers can sing along over its bouncy reggae beat and old school record scratching.
Health is wealth with “Gimme The Fruit (feat. Whitney Peyton),” an adorable take on The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Gimme the Loot.” Beginning with a flamenco guitar riff and bolero handclaps that wouldn’t be out of place on the Kill Bill soundtrack, the song blasts off in a hyped-up fruit-loving anthem with Mega Ran and Peyton trading lines about their favorite citrus, berries and melons. The final chorus ends in male-choral backing vocals and New York Brass’ banging noir horn lines intertwining with Mega Ran’s bombastic vocal delivery.
“Recess (feat. JER and Stacked Like Pancakes)” is a sonic standout with its triumphant ska-punk call to action to take time to play everyday. The image of hundreds of children rushing to the playground from classrooms around the world is emphasized by the horns from JER and New York Brass as they call the charge to aggressive leisure.
The laid back flow of “That’s Okay (feat. Kadesh Flow)” and Mega Ran’s New Orleans jazz-singer chorus is heightened by Kadesh Flow’s trombone. It deals with patience and potentially subconscious microaggressions when it comes to the names of some people of color and folks with tough to pronounce names. PoC will understand this most, and people who haven’t experienced it can learn to empathize with it.
“Bully Song (feat. Last BeNeVoLeNcE)” starts off with a shout out to Greg Barrett, a Texas man who confronted his middle school bully three decades later in a public forum. The childhood trauma of viscous bullying continues to hold on throughout a person’s life. Mega Ran—who’s been bullied, and was a teacher who’s dealt with bullying with his own students—gives us sage advice in this song. Mega Ran tells us the best way to deal with this is to simply tell them that they’re being a bully, as most bullies don’t even realize that they’re tormenting someone. We touch on the idea that violence rolls down the hill, that hurt people hurt people, and that peace always needs to start at home.
“This one was hard for me to write,” says Mega Ran. “I’ve been bullied. I’ve read books on bullying. What’s the resolution? I thought about Greg Barrett telling this superintendent about these terrible things he did to him, and he didn’t even remember. He said, ‘What you did to me, I almost ended my life.’ And I knew this is something that needed to be addressed. While teaching, I’ve seen kids stop coming to school, or stay with me after school for an hour. A lot of kids don’t understand that they’re being a bully. If I brought that up to kids, they would say ‘nooooo’ because they don’t like that title. That would normally squash it.”
“Good Day (feat. G. Love & Special Sauce)” lightens the mood with Mega Ran and G. Love bringing good day vibes, but it’s brought to song-of-the-summer status with German singer Kati Gazela’s uplifting chorus. “Big and Scary” is about not judging bodies. Mega Ran, making comparisons to dinosaurs, sings, “I may look big and scary, but I’m really quite nice.”
“Lovable and Capable” is a song about wanting to fit in and a reminder that everyone is worthy of love. It’s a song prompting you to be confident and proud of who you are. In the spirit of Rev. Jesse Jackson’s poem “I Am – Somebody,” the chorus is a call and response of self affirmation, “I’m good enough / I’m smart enough / I’m lovable and I’m capable.”
“Friends Winning (feat. Koo Koo Kanga Roo)” is about lifting up your friends and celebrating their successes, particularly in regards to artists and in this age of social media. It’s a song that pushes you to be conscious of jealous feelings, and turning those bad feelings into something good. It’s a life hack for positive mental health that we can all utilize and teach our children. There’s room for everyone at the top.
The album closes out with the jazzy R&B groove “Goodnight, Baby,” perfect for lullaby playlists. “I wrote this after watching our kid sleep one day,” says Mega Ran. “He was passed out like he just worked a 20-hour shift. Just all stretched all out and snoring. This song is what I would say to him in that moment. ‘It’s time to go to bed, and wake up tomorrow, and go take over the world. I’m just happy to be a part of this journey with you.’ It’s the perfect button to end the album.”
Mega Ran has come a long way from his teenage days of freestyle rapping with friends, Philadelphia open mics and producing beats on a Playstation one with MTV Music Generator. He worked in studios, producing artists from the Philly street scene whose violent lyrics he couldn’t connect with. He dropped his first album, The Call (2006), under the name Random Beats.
He moved to Phoenix and dug back into his video game roots, particularly Mega Man by Capcom, who’s soundtrack lived inside his head. He released Mega Ran (2007) with all beats produced from Mega Man games, and it was a hit. Capcom found the record and gave him a platform, and was instrumental in him being the first rapper to play Comic Con. He became so associated with the record that he changed his name to Mega Ran. He shifted the musical content he was creating primarily to gaming, which led to his Guiness Book of World Records entry for most songs that reference a video game.
Releases like Mega Ran 9 (2009), Forever Famicon (2010) and his Final Fantasy 7 record Black Materia (2011) brought press attention for combining hip hop and gaming. He quit his job and cut his teeth playing mostly sold-out shows on a 50-date tour with MC Chris at the height of his nerdcore fame. He released an abundance of singles and records including RNDM (2015) featuring Open Mike Eagle and Kool Keith, wrestling heavy albums Mat Mania (2016), Mat Mania: The Revenge (2017) & Wrestling is Real, People are Fake (2023) which lead to WWE song placements and a Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) live performance where he actually wrestled. Live ‘95 (2021) focused on his love of ‘90s basketball and features Del the Funky Homosapien.
There’s a mountain of releases and accomplishments in addition to these. Over the pandemic Mega Ran lost a parent and began to reevaluate his life. He sat down and wrote his book Dream Master: A Memoir: From The Stoop to the Stage To The Stars (2020), chronicling his rise from obscurity to Guinness World Record holder.
Mega Ran has done a lot of reflecting and has dug deep into his childhood to create Buddy’s Magic Toy Box. He chose the moments in his life that were most important to him, and would work as wisdom and guidelines to pass down to his own child. This is an album that teaches all of us how to live a loving and compassionate life under the guise of a children’s record. Many adults could benefit from the lessons taught on Buddy’s Magic Toy Box. Mega Ran has been making music for nearly two decades, and has always taken on the responsible moniker of a role model, and the world couldn’t ask for a better ambassador of kindness and joy. Listen to this record with your child, and grow into better members of society together.
