Rawb - The Beachfront (Flower Coast Records)

Het duo investeerde zelfs in een eigen studio in het hartje van Parijs en blikt tegenwoordig ook zelf eigen clips in. In zijn teksten verwerkt Rawb zijn persoonlijke frustraties en ervaringen, gaande van de wereld die vergaat (afsluiter 'Crazy', 'Illusions'), het milieu ('Mr Sun'), de geluiden van de stad of het strandgevoel (titelnummer 'The Beachfront'), het plezier van dans en muziek (opener 'Come Along': "Come on and dance to the melody, empty your head and mind, dance upon di riddim, enjoy this likkle vibe, dance to the melody, it's been a likkle while, dance upon the riddim, that's what it's all about!"), en het gemis van de eilandcultuur waarin hij opgroeide ('Feel Blessed': "Yes, I'm obsessed about the place where I was born, a place you can be cold even it's warm, a place you can feel alone in the crowd. In such a place, cheaper than water is rum…").

Rawb kiest resoluut voor het Engels en laat zich stilistisch graag beïnvloeden door generatiegenoten als Naâman, Jahneration of Biga\* Ranx. Dankzij de bijdragen van vocale gasten als Faya Pyd (het rockgetinte 'New Day') en Soul-J (de reggae meets hip-hop en r&b van 'Illusions') krijgen we echter toch nog wat Frans te horen. Voor een vrouwelijke noot zorgt dan weer Ela in het hip-hop-getinte 'Beyond Love', meteen één van onze favoriete nummers uit de tracklist. Een speciale vermelding moet tenslotte zeker gaan naar 'Daydream', waarin Rawb zijn frustraties uit over de stand van zaken tijdens de COVID-19 pandemie:

No time to daydream
In this society
I don't belong here

Yeah, no time for culture
Imagination
Is frowned upon here

No time for music
Only for branding
I don't belong here

No time to daydream
So I'm just sleeping
To keep on dreamin'

So I don't wait for anything
From this society I live in
No I don't wait for anything
But at the same time I'm living
Still I write a song and feel blessed to be alive with no trouble
Oppressed by the system so I must be a rebel
We can't protest, ina dis ya time all of us we muzzled
Yes that's just the way it is

And we're working so hard, just waiting for sunday
We know that's not a life, but we're stuck in a nightmare
And of course things go wrong, but we don't know what to say
So I just write a song, that's my way to express myself

No time to daydream
In this society
I don't belong here

Yeah, no time for culture
Imagination
Is frowned upon here

No time for music
Only for branding
I don't belong here

No time to daydream
So I'm just sleeping
To keep on dreamin'

While they impose dem rules, I follow mine
Cause in my zone, only love's worth the fight
I overdosed on them too many times

Now I just close all of dem doors to open mine
So I'm seekin the truth to overcome my mind's attacks everyday
Seekin' the truth to love this life for what it is just right away
Cuz, forever the sun is shining in the soul of who's awake
So gimme the light oh yeah

And we're working so hard, just waiting for sunday
We know that's not a life, but we're stuck in a nightmare
And of course things go wrong, but we don't know what to say
So I just write a song, that's my way to express myself

No time to daydream
In this society
I don't belong here

Yeah, no time for culture
Imagination
Is frowned upon here

No time for music
Only for branding
I don't belong here

No time to daydream
So I'm just sleeping
To keep on dreamin'

No time to daydream
In this society
I don't belong here

No time to daydream
So I'm just sleeping
To keep on dreamin'