Granny Said dispenses a consistent message of love, positivity, and overcoming pain alongside a substantial torrent of multifaceted sound. Noa James’ raw, gritty vocals growl through a spectacular diversity of beats, from melodic boom bap loops to bass-heavy trap to slow-rolling jams. Recorded messages from his grandmother punctuate the rap release.

“My Granny’s wisdom always finds a way in my music because she was all I had at a time, her love and wisdom,” shares James. “My homie in high school would tell me, ‘You’re like the Water Boy, you always talking about your Granny.’ I’d tell him ‘that’s my best friend.’ During that time, my mom was in prison and my pops was somewhere in Haiti. Every aspect of my life has some of my Granny’s wisdom in it, so automatically each song has her wisdom. Don’t look at this album as a project about my Granny, it’s about how my Granny, with her love and strength, encouraged me to be me and overcome everything.”

Filled with love and perseverance, Granny Said is conscious with the energy of the new underground. Positive and often pro-female lyrics are juxtaposed with aggressively heavy beats for a pleasing incongruence. James has gathered a stout roster of guest artists on the release, including Sahtyre, Hugh Augustine, Faimkills, JT, Endz, Aye Brook, Gypsy Mamba, and Cleo aka HippieTrapGoddess.

“All the producers on this album I know pretty well and I’m pretty open-minded; being open-minded and familiar with each other helps a lot, egos leave the room and it’s just about music. JT on LOVEMONSTER gave me that country tone and Faimkills perfectly caught that alley-oop on LoveWave. With Aye Brook and Gypsy Mamba, they made some beats from scratch in front me and I was able to be there to just vibe out. I like to keep it organic as possible.”

Granny Said is James’ first album since 2011 and since losing over 100 pounds. The prolific artist has been a force in the Inland Empire and Los Angeles hip hop movement, and he continues to evolve his craft and deliver “lit, church-like” live shows.

“This time around, I’m not overly anxious to release, I enjoy taking my time, I love the process of creating now. I’m not second-guessing myself, I truly know myself. I want my music to remove fear from love. I want my music to help the world with self-love, self-forgiveness, self-education, self-awareness and knowledge of self. Be accountable for your choices! To me, these are the core ideas to make a better you and creating a better foundation for a better world. My message will always be about love, positivity and how I’ve overcome, that’s my formula over any beat.”

Granny Said by Noa James will be released on digital formats worldwide via The Order Label on July 27, 2018.