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ON THE RISE
Hip-hop and R&B musician Penny Taylor drops his latest single, the catchy and vulnerable track, “Cuff.” Exploring a softer side with deep R&B roots, Penny Taylor unveils a side of his music that listeners are sure to love.
From a young age, Penny Taylor developed an appreciation for all different types of music. “Around age 7 or 8,” he shares, “I really started to enjoy music more than hearing it and it being background noise.”
What began as dabbling on Audacity with friends—trying to rap and imitate his favorite artists of the time—became a devotion to the craft. Not long after, Penny Taylor adding singing to his resume. “I moved towards singing because of the melodies,” shares the artist. “I don’t classify myself as a singer—I’m a harmonizer.” He slowly began cultivating his passion into a skill, and the rest is history.
Penny Taylor credits several musicians for impacting his work over the years, including Drake, J. Cole, Timberland (for production/beat making) and Kanye. “…Bryson Taylor, Party Next Door.. SZA is amazing… there’s so many I can name that I pull inspiration from,” adds Taylor.
How was the name, Penny Taylor, born? At the time, Penny was intrigued with 50 Cent and the number one. The combination culminated in the name coming together. “Friends started calling me ‘Penny.’ I adopted the last name from Wiz Khalifa and the Taylor Gang group. It just stuck.”
Known for his hip-hop sound, Penny Taylor ventured into R&B for the creation of his latest record. “Cuff” isn’t just a single. It’s the best song Penny Taylor has ever made, and he intended for it to be so. “I really wanted to create the best song I ever made if I included a well-structured song with lyrics and something catchy that could be played in summertime, wintertime, any time of the year. Something that could be enjoyed by different demographics.
Listening to beats, Penny Taylor came across the instrumental that would soon become “Cuff.” The beat sets the tone for a catchy hook, which informed the rest of the song. “It’s funny, because I actually had the pieces of the song made from different songs and pieced them together to fit the beat / theme of the track,” adds Penny Taylor. “Typically, I listen to the instrumental, and it’s a feeling. The beat has to speak to you. If you can’t have a conversation with it, then it’s difficult to write to it. It might be the second or third or however many beats you go through, but then the words come out of you. For this one, I didn’t have to try too hard to find the words—there were kind of just there.”
“‘Cuff’ came about because I wanted to challenge myself to make a hit record with the R&B side of myself,” shares Penny Taylor. “I’m definitely happy and grateful the listener gets to enjoy it and get what they take from it. I’m cook with whatever they get from the song, even if it’s the feeling evoked when the listen to it.”
So far, the feedback for “Cuff” has been overwhelmingly positive. “People have loved the song. I’ve heard things like, ‘this is a hit. This is a platinum record,’’’ shares Taylor. “It’s surreal. It’s crazy that I wrote this thing completely and so many people enjoy it. That’s what’s special to me. I often think, ‘I used to do this in my bedroom on a laptop and I wasn’t good, just trying my best.’ From that to this is insane.”
Penny Taylor is enjoying the moment, weaving through the unfamiliar territory that comes with widespread success. In addition to the release of his single, Penny Taylor looks forward to bringing his show to live audiences.
Make sure to stay connected to Penny Taylor on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
ON THE RISE
Clinton Brand III – better known as CBIII – is a California-based rapper. His new single, titled “I Won’t Quit,” is a motivational and relatable message for everyone “going through it.”
The track, with a beat by Tunna Beats, has a Blurry Face vibe. It starts with a violin and the soft “ahh”s of featured singer Alex Brinkley. When the beat drops, piano, bass and drums enter along with CBIII’s lyrical meditations on “overthinking, contemplating, and debating” why he “won’t quit.”
As the final line makes clear, the song is a study in contradictory mindsets. There’s the fear of failure – what if I’m not good enough? – and then the contrast of relentlessness as stated in the title.
The lyrics of the song’s final quattrain are especially strong. Beginning with an example of CBIII’s wordplay (phenomenal and astronomical anomaly), the final message is one of inspiration: I’m tired of this, so I’m going to make it better.
This struggle with nagging self-doubt and overthinking makes “I Won’t Quit” very relatable. In the end, CBIII wants listeners to be inspired, to not give in when they find themselves in similar circumstances.
Brand’s inspiration for “I Won’t Quit” was intensely personal. Following the death of his parents at a young age, he was raised by his grandmother and then was placed in foster care. A recent visit found his grandmother’s memory fading; this was painful, considering that she had once been his biggest supporter.
This episode left him feeling abandoned, in a dark place.
He says, “I wrote the song ‘I Won’t Quit’ because at that time I was suicidal. I didn’t have nobody else to turn to because my grandma didn’t really care anymore.”
The vulnerability expressed in the lyrics made CBIII unsure if he wanted to release the song at all. He says, “I actually sat on the song for like five months before even thinking about releasing it because it’s so close to home that I wasn’t even sure if I was going to have the courage to share it.”
Now that the song is out, its vulnerability is its strength. Brand’s struggle is real, and the general contours – missing family support, doubting yourself, knowing you need to persevere – will be familiar to many.
In addition to his personal desire to live up his dream of greatness, Brand has another reason not to give up: his younger brother, who is currently in foster care. Knowing his brother looks up to him, he wants to remind him that giving in to doubt is the easy way out.
Brand says, “I want to encourage him, to show him that if you set your mind to it, bro, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
In the end, CBIII wants listeners to learn from his pain, to ask themselves, “What if I don’t give up?”
Stream “I Won’t Quit” now, wherever you listen to music.
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