Twenty-one year-old Jake Carter aka SpiritBound, is based out of Greenwood, Indiana. The hip-hop recording artist has been making music since he was 9, and recently dropped his latest single release “Gotta” produced by Melori. Correctly marketed, this track has all the potential to earn SpiritBound sales and chart placements, as he blends despondent sentimentalism with vengeful rhyming, over a heavy 808 malaise that showcases the range of the artist and his production team. The song foregrounds both, the artist’s R&B sing-song style, and flaunts a tight control of his rapping instrument. He sounds undeniably, immovably enthroned and imperious, and with nowhere to go but further up the ladder of his game.
If “Gotta” produced by Melori, looks anywhere, it’s inward. The absence of trust, the presence of doubt, the search for faith, all awash with pain and curiosity. This studio effort is above all else a headphone listen, possessed of an instrumental and vocal palette of astonishing depth and variation.
This is glittering, diamond-sharp stuff that sees SpiritBound switch from dulcet lothario to canine street anger. The result is emotional tones and many pockets of SpiritBound’s secret weapon: passionate ardor.
“Gotta” helps to explain the appeal of SpiritBound’s music at its best. He takes his own conscience and translates it, making it easy to plug into your own life experiences. His music exists in a universe unto itself, a space separate from the musical world around him: the prevailing sounds of the day, the would-be contemporaries and rivals. It’s just you and him, alone in a song.
“Gotta” is personal, emotional and very much the soundtrack for a cold winter day when you’re all by yourself. The thing with SpiritBound is he knows his music is a chance for him to get more personal with his fans and create content that is more than just a party record.
While showcasing his charismatic, melodic flow, the song also features some proficient rapping. On display is a seamless polysyllabic rhyme scheme, both technically impressive and aesthetically pleasing to the ears. Also evident is the topical matter SpiritBound delves in.
It’s interesting to hear a young man who can rap in melodic, incredibly boisterous inflections and also be able to tone down the exuding charisma and resort to a much more humble, laidback style of delivery, all in one song. Aside from virtuosic polysyllabic rapping, “Gotta” contains an inspired instrumental. Once you take all of this in, this single becomes better with every listen.
“Gotta” produced by Melori is a perfect moment of enchanting music packed with disarming humanity and skill, full of emotion, yet somehow flowing easier than just about any other single of its type out there currently.
