Chris DeLine

Often an album or song will represent a thought or theme that runs through an artist’s mind for a simple period of time, but when asking slept-on MC Black Noize about his new album you get a very different answer. “The significance of the title 6:15 Daydreamsz is that it describes everything about me” he explained recently via email. The 615 representing Nashville’s area code, Noize went on to explain the title’s meaning which is also represented visually on the album’s cover. “The Daydreamsz part comes from me as a person. First off, I feel that the sun and moon are my yin and yang.” As he continued, he explained further how the literal representations on the cover offer insight into his own personality, “Day equals the sun, Dreamsz equals the moon. Also, Day describes the side of my personality that is lively, upbeat, bright, etc. [while] Dreamsz is the side of me that is relaxed, thoughtful, deep, etc.” This might not seem like a leap into deep philosophical introspection, but the ability to recognize who it is you are, even on the level of what duality exists within you, is an important one; certainly one apparent throughout 6:15 Daydreamsz.

Rapping since the age of 14, the still-young Noize approaches his debut solo mixtape with a bit more confidence than a typical rookie might be thought to do. Much of that has to do with his previous efforts, dropping two Snap Sessions releases with his old group the Remedy, but much might have to do with his own progression and the presence that comes with it. “I want to be the king of this city,” he commented when asked about his self-appointed label of “The 615 King.” “Plain and simple. We got plenty of talent down here in Nashville and I want to be above the competition so I’ma call myself ‘The 615 King’ cause that’s what I envision as real. Not to be cocky but it shouldn’t be long before people start realizing that I deserve that title. Eventually I want to be at least one of the best from the South. That’s the harder challenge!”

It’s not that these tracks necessarily stand above the rest as the best on the mixtape—though they are my personal favorites—but Black Noize’s flow over Lil Wayne’s “Let the Beat Build” and J. Cole’s “Who Dat” stand as prime evidence of this focus. Take his closing rapid release in “Let the Beat Build,” for instance:

“I Am… The 615 King, and I am so 615…You think I’m lyin’?/N*gga I am the King of the 6-15/Killa on the beats/On the realest on the streets/Blow kush from Miami so feel my heat/When I come to defeat/I’m warrior, horrible, I’m sendin’ hell to ya whole aura doe/Spray art from my tongue like an aerosol/Damn shame anybody’s a target doe/When I hit these rappers with a harder flow/Calm it yo/ OK, my bad, but these n*ggas make me mad/Talkin’ bout they got swag when they ain’t never had shit/Make these non-gymnastics perform a back flip/Weezy get at me, bring the beat back, bitch!”

These two songs find Noize’s slightly grizzled flow working within the masterful hooks and beats of each track, but it’s his ability to avoid sounding like a just another generic bush-league MC rapping over already amped beats that propels him to a higher level.

Is Black Noize “The King”? Not yet. But right now he’s got the wind flowing beneath his lyrical wings and is only likely to make an even harder case for his argument when he drops the tentatively titled Jungle Juice and Captain Crunch in August. Until then, 6:15 Daydreamsz is available as a free download right here.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]