BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
With honest and emotional lyrics, rapper, singer and producer PatricKxxLee drops his first project for the year, Room 37, a tape full of collaborations that feature Sjava, Blxckie, KashCPT, Burningforestboy, and Nigerian rising star PsychoYP, as well as upcoming artists he believes in, and that was co-produced by KindlyNxsh.
The 14-track project created over the past 8 months is nothing like PatricKxxLee has ever put out before. Known to make profoundly deep music that connects with lost souls, the ethos of PatricKxxLee, who emerged on the scene as one of the leaders of the “New Wave” back in 2016, remains but with a shift from predominantly “sad” music that he created solo, to a body of work that embodies a wide range of emotions and was put together collaboratively.
“Collaboration is important because as individuals we’re all just single perspectives. Every artist on the tape will talk about love or other sentimental experiences very differently from how I would talk about the same, because we all have our own unique perspective. Collaboration opens the gates to a wider connection; the same way relationships are about communication. Communicating from different perspectives on the same song gives listeners the understanding that we’re all different, and that their own perspective is as valid as that of the artist or artists that are on the song,” shares PatricKxxLee.
Known as “The King of Rage”, PatricKxxLee adds: “I hope this tape will shift the narrative people have of me being solely a dark or emo artist. I have so many different sides to me, I love all forms of music. With this tape, I’m coming out of the box that the music I’ve been putting out so far has put me in, and I want my fanbase to understand that I’ll be exploring many different soundscapes going forward.”
Room 37 comes at a time when Hip Hop has taken a backseat in SA, with amapiano taking over and somewhat demoralising the Hip Hop space. PatricKxxLee wanted to bring established and upcoming Hip Hop artists together on this tape and give SA a collaboration tape that features some of the best in the space currently.
“Sjava pulling up and orchestrating “Last Call” was super dope. There were a lot of rollercoaster moments during the production of this tape. For example, I cried the day before I made 4R, and that’s the intro of the project. And the last song “Gravity”, I did in fact record last for this project, where I was like “Damn, I understand things now, I understand why I am the way I am” – the realisation that you can really shoot your shot anywhere at anything, and the only person stopping you is YOU,” reveals PatricKxxLee.
With a special connection to the numbers 3 and 7 (his usernames are all @patrickxxlee37) – in numerology the 3 means ultimate level of creativity, while the 7 means the pursuit of truth and knowledge, it was only fitting that PatricKxxLee brought these numbers into his latest tape.
“Room 37 is my own universe but confined to one room, and I invited all artists to my universe to produce this project. Room 37 is like an after hour hosted by me, the master of this universe, where you can feel comfortable and do anything you desire, say what you want and express how you see fit. I was inspired by “Stranger Things”, and I wanted the sounds to give listeners the feeling of a journey into the unknown. The room exists beyond time, in a different dimension, hence the portal door on the cover art,” shares PatricKxxLee.
The importance of the door of light is that it represents the entrance into this dimension. Bright light is always used to symbolise a transition from one plane to the next, so it’s meant to show that the listener is going on a journey, somewhere they’ve never been before. And that ties into the sounds used on the project, a lot of Juno synths. The sounds are meant to make you feel like you are travelling into the unknown, and that’s what PatricKxxLee wanted to capture sonically.
“Seeing PatricKxxLee embrace collaboration for this project was profoundly meaningful, given that he usually works on projects entirely himself. It was amazing seeing him open up to the ideas and inputs of others, especially co-producer KindlyNxsh, and yet put out something that has his unique and unmistakable signature across every single song. This project showed a lot of artistic growth overall, especially seeing him play with soundscapes he’s never played with before, such as Afro Pop and Afro Soul,” shares Jenny Tan, PatricKxxLee’s manager.
Production for the tape started right after PatricKxxLee’s trip to the US last year. He came back at the end of November and conceptualised the tape and started recording Room 37 in December 2022. The significance of his stay in Los Angeles is that he experienced what it’s like when a lot of artists and producers collaborate in the studio together, and he wanted to give that collaboration approach a shot for this project, resulting in only four out of 14 songs on Room 37 not having features.
“Have high expectations but no expectations when you listen to this tape. There is something for everyone in there. Different moods, different sounds. I hope I can continue to be the soundtrack to your most moving memories – positive or sad. I hope you live amazing moments to my music and embrace the depths of your experience, no matter if it’s good or bad,” shares PatricKxxLee.
Image: Supplied
