ON THE RISE
PRZNT has gained massive popularity on music platforms with more than 120 million streams under his belt. Now the Cuban-born hip-hop artist has released Night of the Rose, and he is extremely proud of the overall aesthetic of the debut album.
“It’s the instrumentals, the vocals, the melodies and the cover art,” PRZNT said of the album released on March 1, which has a unique and eclectic mix of genres and styles. “Everything about it is a perfect representation of me as an artist, and the person I’ve been trying to become all these years. I feel like I’ve finally reached a point where I am that person and I finally got to showcase it with a body of work.”
Night of the Rose is a compilation of songs that PRZNT has been working on for the past five years. Slowly but surely he was building a catalogue of material and was able to narrow it down to 11 songs that meshed into a finished product that he loves.
“I put it all into a collection for everyone to hear,” PRZNT said. “It’s like a piece of me for the world.”
PRZNT has been putting his due diligence in releasing Night of the Rose, saying that plenty of effort has gone into including songs that were just right for the collection. While there are smooth vocals that overlay solid beats in a hip-hop and R&B manner, it also transcends genres with an array of instruments including guitar and trumpet.
The album has a general mantra of going out and living the good life.
“Whether it is hanging out with friends, going out partying, or driving in the late night, there are a bunch of different experiences in every song,” PRZNT said. “It’s less of a message, but more of an experience that you have to have. Have fun and live life.”
Night of the Rose starts off with beautiful guitar picking that serves as a delicate introduction to PRZNT’s powerful, yet calming, vocals. He sings in the song opening track titled “Saint”:
“No I'm not a saint
And I won't change myself for you
Just to ease your pain
And I can't let myself fall through
Every puddle in the rain
It's like the petals of the rose
Telling me my fate
Will I be okay”
“The part of this album, specifically, that I’m most proud of is the beginning of ‘Saint,’” PRZNT said. “I feel like it couldn’t have been better as an introduction to my project. Like the beginning, the intro, is immaculate.”
The track is followed by “Like Pablo,” which PRZNT said is one of his favorite tracks. He loves the storytelling aspect to it, and it is once again along with some tantalizing guitar work that moves along with a rhythmic drum beat.
“Toxic” was released as a single for a year before the album came out, but PRZNT said this track went along so well with the rest of the Night of the Rose that he knew it needed to be included. The other single released was “Or Nah” which has a relaxing vibe with a sweet beat that goes with the steady easy flow of PRZNT’s vocals. It closes out the album in more of a traditional hip-hop and R&B manner.
The rest of the 11 tracks were released to the world with the full album all at once.
After moving from Cuba when he was six-years-old, PRZNT was raised in Florida where he still resides to this day. Music was his first passion, and he constantly surrounded himself with it. PRZNT was inspired by artists like Michael Jackson, Kid Cudi and Lil’Wayne, and said from a young age he knew he wanted to make music of his own.
“I am inspired by the music I grew up listening to, and not so much my experiences,” PRZNT said. “I think through my music I have lived a lot of experiences.”
When writing a song, PRZNT tends to just sit down and go at it, trying to write the best lyric he can possibly think of on the spot. PRZNT has been working on making his own beats to use, and said he usually gets a melody from a friend that he will vibe with for a bit. He’ll get a hook going and then put the drums and other instrumentals around the vocals.
“Mainly I come up with the hook melody first, before the lyrics,” he said. “I always try to focus on the hook because that is what people are going to feel the most.”
The sky is the limit for PRZNT, as he plans to release music for many years to come. He is putting his all into promoting Night of the Rose, saying that he has taken some time off from writing new material until the time is right. PRZNT will have shows in Los Angeles this spring that have yet to be announced, and this is where he will be able to showcase the album in a live setting.
“I’m really just trying to explore everything I can, and give it all I’ve got,” he said.
Night of the Rose and other material by PRZNT is available on all major platforms.
ON THE RISE
Blossoms caught up with NME to discuss competing with The Beatles and Johnny Marr for this week’s Number One album. With ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ in the running, the band also explained why making things themselves remains such an important part of their work as AI becomes more common.
The Stockport group put out their sixth album last Friday, October 2. By the midweek update, it was sitting at Number Two, between The Beatles’ expanded edition of ‘Rubber Soul’ and Johnny Marr’s latest solo album, ‘The Age Of Everything’.
“It’s mad, to be honest,” singer Tom Ogden said to NME about the chart race. “Liverpool on one side, Manchester on the other and Stockport in the middle. If you’d told us this 10 years ago, when we were releasing our debut, I wouldn’t have believed you. But I mean, we’re in good company aren’t we?”
Discussing the stories behind the album, Ogden described ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ as “about being married and all the everyday stuff that comes with it”. He married Katie Donovan, the sister of Blossoms drummer Joe, in 2021. Married life has since given him a new appreciation for what he describes as “the extraordinary ordinary”.
“Saying the wrong thing in an argument, losing your wife’s no claims bonus, crying at the Kardashians, it’s all in there,” he explained. “The album is named after Stockport Town Hall, which everyone round where we live calls the Wedding Cake, and it’s where I got married, so it couldn’t be much closer to home.
“The last album [‘Gary’, 2024] had a song about a stolen fibreglass gorilla, which everyone loved, and that gave us the confidence to bring the same playfulness to this one, just with more personal subject matter this time.”
Alongside tracks that came out of writing sessions with Declan McKenna in a hot tub, the album reflects the band’s desire to stay involved in every part of the creative process.
“It started with the recording,” Ogden explained. “We made the album with Shawn Lee, playing live straight to tape, and once you’ve done it that way you can’t really go and fake everything else. We sat down as a band and picked the colour palette, and everything visual followed from that. We had body scans taken of ourselves and cake toppers of the five of us 3D printed, put them on a real cake and photographed it. I’ve directed and edited the videos, and the sets are all built by hand, no green screen. For the pop-up shop on launch weekend, a local artist hand-painted the album cover for the sign outside.
“It’s more work, but you end up with a world that’s yours, and I think people can tell when a band’s had its hands on everything.”
With AI tools and digital effects becoming increasingly widespread, that approach feels particularly relevant. For Blossoms, though, the motivation is simple: “the fun is in the making”.
“Tape doesn’t let you cheat and neither does a real cake,” Ogden said. “If a set’s a bit wonky, it’s because one of us or our mates built it. I think the more stuff gets generated, the more people want to know a human being actually did it. We’ve been in this band together for over 10 years, five lads from Stockport, and that isn’t something you can ‘prompt’.”
Maya Jama also appeared in the video for the album’s first single, ‘Meet Me In Love’. Her appearance came shortly before the UK launch of Celebrity Traitors, where she took on the role of a traitor alongside a cast that included Richard E Grant and James Acaster.
“She was brilliant,” Ogden recalled of working with Jama. “We’d met her at the MTV EMAs in Manchester a couple of years ago, so we took a chance and sent her a DM …and she said yes. Next thing she’s in a theatre in Cheadle miming my vocals while a load of people dressed as me serenade her. She got the idea straight away and was a proper laugh about it.”
The conversation then turned to whether he thought Jama could take home the win on Celebrity Traitors.
Ogden joked: “As for Traitors, she spent a whole day pretending to sing my song and I almost believed her, so I’d say she’s got every chance.”
Fans can listen to ‘Songs From The Wedding Cake’ now. In November, Blossoms head out on a UK arena tour with The Royston Club. Tickets and further details are available here.
Before the tour begins, the group is also scheduled to appear on SNL UK on Saturday, October 24.
