Photo by Ryosuke Tanzawa 

Last year, Navy Blue made the major label leap to Def Jam with his recommended album Ways of Knowing. There was an audible level up in production from the crinkled, underground collage style beats that typically patterns Sage Elsesser meditations around grief in his previous work. Personally, I enjoyed the shift toward clarity without removing existential confusion from the picture, but it was also understandable if the sharpened details in sound caught you off guard. It’s surprising then to see that Navy Blue will be retreating to the independent self-release format later this week when he quick-drops his new album, Memoirs In Armour, into the world. It’s even more surprising to hear that he’s not making any concessions to rethinking progressive steps taken with his style in its first and only single, “Low Threshold”. It’s an assured listen built around pensive piano bars produced by Child Actor as the Brooklyn rapper reflects on God, rock bottoms, and perhaps only course-correcting himself on his relationship with fame. “Money ain’t make him / but the dollar is a motherfucker / My tax dollar killin’ children and their mothers / Fathers, aunties, cousins, uncles, all that,” his thoughts pile over keys. “Guess it’s safe to say the bottom is the place to fall at / I call that grace / Make haste and make most of what you call a safe place.” If this is a low, it still bests so much else out there in the game.

Directed by: Ryosuke Tanzawa 

Navy Blue’s Memoirs In Armour will be released August 2nd on Freedom Sounds.