Watch

Read

Listen

Go

Play

Shop

Community

Play (Lists)

Rhymes Paint a Lonely Self-Portrait in ‘Dolo’ by Loren Todd

By Charlie Maybee

Loren Todd, a rapper based in Titusville, Florida, is feeling moody in his latest track “Dolo” which foreshadows his upcoming EP Alltamonte Springs due for release later this year.

Against the backdrop of melancholy guitars, Todd dives right in with bars that drive the track forward with gusto along with a syncopated backbeat. There’s a nice balance of boasts and brags to the nagging sense of lonliness that permeates each rhyme and each note. “I don’t got time for the homies” he raps in the chorus, “Those bitches act like they know me / But they do not know me / They only know old me”.

Though he puts on strong exterior and tries to push people away, there’s something beneath the surface that longs for more substantial human connection – someone who understands where he’s at in his life at that very moment. The reference to these people who knew him previously is quickly subverted by personality that seems burdened by a push to attain greatness and survival instincts developed at a young age.

This is a thorough diary entry that manages ebbs and flows through a myriad of thoughts and feelings in a short amount of time (about 2 minutes). The level of introspection reaches a level of depth that is admirable, and though there is still stuff that Todd needs to work through, this song feels like the beginning of a self-portrait – lonely a moment caught in time that can be revisited.

“Dolo” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify

Charlie Maybee

Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.

Join the Alchemical Records Street Team to promote these and other artists, live music, and music community organizations & events while receiving cool perks from artists throughout the region.

More to explore

Foghat Sonic Mojo 2024 Tour. Fillmore Silver Spring, MD March 9
DMV

Foghat’s Roger Earl Refuses to Slow His Ride

By this point in his life, Foghat founding drummer Roger Earl has visited quite a few doctors. But what may be surprising is that the percussionist, 77, is quick to point out that many of the medical professionals who have worked on him also enjoy rocking out.

“Nearly all the doctors and surgeons I know, they all play something: trumpet, sax, violin, guitar,” Earl said recently. “There’s not too many drummers that are surgeons, there’s probably a good reason for that!”

Earl half-jokingly invites his surgeon-rockers to join him and the other members of Foghat onstage at the Fillmore in Silver Spring March 9, where they will be headlining the Rock and Roll for Children Foundation benefit for the Children’s Inn at NIH. Earl, the only original member of Foghat still in the band, will be banging the skins behind guitarist Bryan Bassett and other members Scott Holt and Rodney O’Quinn. “Slow Ride,” the band’s 1975 megahit, is all but assured to be on the setlist, along with tunes from Foghat’s most recent record, “Sonic Mojo.”

Read More »