God of Musik’ (feat. Michael Debarge & Paul “Sequence” Ferguson)

Grinding out an electric beat that soon swells as big as our speakers will allow for, Jason Elm St.’s new single “God of Musik” starts off with a bang and only gets more invasive as we push forward. Bringing along Paul “Sequence” Ferguson and Michael DeBarge for the ride, Jason Elm St. makes it pretty clear from the get-go that he isn’t interested in playing out someone else’s sound in “God of Musik,” but instead crunching together classic influences with a contemporary ferocity rarely heard in the mainstream anymore.

While Sequence and DeBarge definitely contribute a unique watermark to the structure of this composition, it’s the man of the hour who tends to draw us closer to the core of the song than anyone – or anything – else possibly could have. His swagger is off the charts here, and though he cut an entire album full of quality jams on this level earlier this year, this song just might be the LP’s greatest jewel. Hip-hop is the biggest genre in the world right now, and if you ask me, artists like Jason Elm St. are the absolute reason why. 

The percussive component in this single is so heavy and intentionally overstated that the piano has a tough time cutting into its presence towards the conclusion of the track, but I like the duel that ensues because of this deliberate tension. The vocals are layered as to get as aching a harmony as possible out of the back half of the mix, and better yet, we find no muddiness from the bassline present to come between the artists and their target audience. If you’re going to stack a track, this is definitely the way to do it, but given the pedigree each of these three musicians bring into the studio with them, we should anticipate as high a quality a result as we’re getting with “God of Musik.” Jason Elm St. is always the brightest star in the room for this performance, but to say he picked the right people to record this with wouldn’t be doing the decision justice. 

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Debarge-Sequence-Ferguson-Explicit/dp/B08KZZJ6G6

For those who have been keeping hip-hop’s spirit alive and well through what has become almost an entire year without live music or traditional connectivity between fans, Jason Elm St.’s “God of Musik” is a declaration of loyalty to both the genre and the listeners that I would definitely recommend across the board right now. It’s early December and there’s still a bit of time left in 2020, but from where I’m sitting I can’t think of many studio cuts of this variety than can contend with the magnificent finish to be enjoyed here. “God of Musik” probably won’t change the game entirely for Jason Elm St. – that’s something that, despite the popular narrative, takes more than just a hit song – but if it brings his discography any additional exposure from the mainstream market, his entire scene stands to benefit. He has my respect, and smart money says he’ll soon have yours as well. 

Nicole Killian