Dipped in darkness and woven with a heavy rock influence, rap artist Kap Kallous delves into the twisted mechanism of love and relationships through the release of his new album, ‘Lonely Heart'.

The California rapper gained traction in the hip-hop scene with his 2014 debut album, ‘Grandeur’, which followed his North American ‘Mursday’ tour with artists Mursday and Mayday!. He then went on to release his experimental rap album ‘December’, as well as his most recent 2016 project, ‘That Juice’. Kap Kallous has also previously collaborated with the likes of Freeway, TechN9ne and Caskey of YMCMB, proving him to be a name that is on the rise in the rap world. 


The idea behind ‘Lonely Heart’ was born out of Kap Kallous’s recent shove back into the murky waters of the dating pool, and his realization that the people he had met were all similarly struggling with loneliness, and a sense of confusion.

“You know, a lot of people are looking for things that they don’t have in themselves, and they’re trying to fill it with attributes that they’re finding in other people. and no one’s really happy with it, at least in my experiences in dating in LA.” He says. “The opening line of the title track, ‘Lonely Heart' is ‘I love you, I hate you, I know that’ and it’s just like - people are confused. I’m sure you’ve been in a relationship before and if you’ve really cared about someone you’ve also really hated that person. And to be really really angry is lonely.”

The solo artist is distinct is his usage of vernacular, as a medium to craft sketches of life. Rather than using the genre merely as a surfaced platform to showcase his rapping prowess, a move which Kap Kallous has experimented with in his past work, the rapper has chosen ‘Lonely Heart’ as a way to delve into the meaning behind his words; utilizing the poetry in the lyrics to display his messages. 


Furthermore, his use of instruments not usually associated with hip-hop, such as electric guitar over rich classic piano, allow Kap Kallous the freedom to experiment with his sound, and with the borders of traditional rap. Following suit the album’s title track, ‘Lonely Heart’, features a heavy hitting production with a foundation in heavy rock— wrapping his verses in a guitar-filled, metal-tinged musical.

The artist’s reshaping of genre allows him to be more than a rapper, but in essence a musician, melding the various strands of sound at his disposal to create the music he wants to convey. In a merging of The Black Keys meets Post Malone, Kap Kallous’ ‘Lonely Heart’ is bound to break barriers in 2018.