Jimmy Johnson is one of the hottest hip-hop acts coming out of the city of Toronto. In recent months, the Prime Media Group affiliate has experienced a significant rise in hype due in large part by a cosign by Drake's OVO Sound imprint. The cosign has led many to speculate that Johnson could be the next artist to be signed to OVO Sound, which would not be that far of a stretch seeing that OVO has a track record of signing Toronto-based acts such as PARTYNEXTDOOR and Majid Jordan. Another interesting piece of information that lends support to this claim is that Johnson's producer, Eric Dingus, was himself cosigned by OVO for his "Worst Behavior" remix a few months back.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-c2CBXHcNo[/youtube]
Johnson caught the attention of the Hip-Hop blogosphere with his most recent single "Pray" off his debut mix-tape In God We Trust, which was released earlier this month. Hot off the release of his tape, the 21-year-old rapper has released a new track titled “Sun Goes Down” with an accompanying video. Right from the get-go the track strikes a ghostly tone as a distant synth pad melody, which is eerily similar to that of the whistle-themed melody of The Hunger Games franchise, draws increasingly distinctly with every second. The video’s intro exudes very sinister imagery as Johnson is seen with a crowd of menacing individuals while the imagery transition from light to dark in a strobe like fashion. Johnson’s rapping style is reminiscent to that of Drake, especially when Johnson raps, “Mix the hennie and the xanie so you don’t know how I’m feeling no/ Bout’ to win a Grammy for my granny how I’m feeling now,” with a double time flow in a half rapping half singing like manner. Johnson uses the same singing-rapping technique on the hook, which makes for an extremely catchy and mesmerizing chorus.
All in all, "Sun Goes Down" is Johnson's most standout track yet, a track that will surely drive up the hype surrounding the young rapper even more. At the pace that Johnson is releasing exceptional and diverse material, Johnson is bound to make major waves in 2014 in Hip-Hop. Follow Jimmy Johnson on Soundcloud for all his releases and be sure to download In God We Trust, which is available on Soundcloud, as well.
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