Three months later and Stringz EMB’s “Black Summer” Ep is still going strong. EMB released the project on Aug. 9 featuring a vintage filter cover of him and his wife in the studio.
“Continue to follow me on this journey,” he said. “Things are looking good and feeling good. It’s a lot of work but it’s good work, it’s labor of love.”
“Black Summer” is one compilation part of a four-part EP series including “Black Fall,” “Black Winter,” and “Black Spring.”
“[Black Summer] is my latest EP, leading into my next project,” EMB said. “This is a sampler platter for DJs and vibes, showing how I can get myself into different vibes. This is done at a quality level and I’m still giving you that natural sense you get from a particular type of music or genre.”
The title comes from Black representing power, pride, while also addressing his insecurities.
“The project is me giving myself ,my uttermost insecure self, my most vulnerable self, my most open self during the ending part of the summer,” EMB said.
The seven-track EP includes “Orion (Intro),” “Save Me (feat. KVtheWriter & Jay Marie),“”You,” “Pure,” “Lost (feat. Tommo & T-Spirit),” “Party (feat. Zeus Rebel Waters),” and “LOUD!” (feat. EM Breese).”
Each track has its own distinct meaning. With the intro EMB dedicated the song as an homage to the track’s producer, whose name is Ryan.
“Only reason I called it Orion is because his name is Ryan and it was a play on words, ‘Oh, Ryan,’ you made this beat for me, thank you,” he said.
Coming off the strings heavy production, listeners are met with “Save Me,” an inspirational melody discussing mental warfare and kicking depression.
“I can’t let depression get the best of me because I want you to see I can’t let the presence of all this stuff happening around me get the best of me,” he said. “I have so much more to show the world before I break down and leave this earth.”
The romantic feelings and deep admiration on “You,” is dedicated to EMB’s wife and the mother of their two kids. “My wife is everything to me and she deserves a sonnet dedicated to her.”
The transition of You’s love affair and matrimony transitions to “Pure,” an afrobeats rhythmic movement written in honor of EMB’s daughter.
“Lost,” is what EMB calls an experiment. He said he was “playing around on it and ended up rapping to it.” He added St. Louis talent hip-hop recording artist Tommo and spoken word artist T-Spirit to add that “extra umph.”
“Party,” is just as it sounds: a funky horn and drum infused high-energy celebration featuring worldwide sensation and St. Louis legacy artist Zeus Rebel Waters.
“The producer who made “Party”’s beat lives in Brazil,” EMB said. “I heard something different I don’t hear often. It immediately stuck out to me when I heard it and I thought [Zeus] was the perfect addition.”
“LOUD!” closes out the cohesive body of work mixing various fusions and sounds of music with an EDM flair. EMB said he and his cousin Breese created the song in 2015 and finally decided to do something with it once the EP rolled around.
EMB’s other albums are E Legato A (Italian for tied to) and Anchor, brother projects in relation to each other, serving as part one and two of a trilogy. The third album will reveal his interpretation of “what’s being tied together.”
The EM in EMB, stands for easy money meaning whatever you put your mind to becomes second nature. The B stands for bloodline, keeping it in the family, since he started doing music with his cousin.
His first taste of music came in kindergarten when he was asked to lead his graduation and performed “Lean On Me,” and “Wake Up Everybody.” Then from there he grew inspired by an older cousin who did music.
But it wasn’t until 2014, that he says he “took music seriously.”
“I was working at this job where I was one of the top representatives and I was supposed to receive a significant payout, but they weren’t paying me,” he said.
After losing that job, “I became really depressed.” He said songs were delivered to him divinely, and he started performing karaoke.
His easy-going, positive outlook on life and uplifting lyricism has been compared to B.o.B., Andre 3000, Mali Music, and Anthony Hamilton.
EMB doesn’t categorize the music he makes though. He takes the approach of creating what feels best and goes with that.
“Continue to follow me on this journey,” he said. “Things are looking good and feeling good. It’s a lot of work but it’s good work, it’s labor of love.”
Stringz EMB’s music is available on all music platforms.
