Sheldon Universe Drops New Single/Video

Sheldon Universe has been in the music industry for a hot minute now, and while his experience is quite evident when listening to the new single “Poor Boy,” he isn’t showing much of the wear and tear a lot of his contemporaries have after the same amount of time. “Poor Boy” has this player sounding renewed and energized not only about music but about the narrative he’s putting forth through the beats in this latest release. He puts a lot of muscle into this performance and delivers some quintessential listening for hip-hop fans this September for sure.

There’s a lot of extra pizzazz on the bass, but even at its most indulgent, the line is never allowed to bury the vocal in messy noise.

The melodic pins here are always the biggest buffer in this performance, giving the verses enough space to breathe while letting the low-end tonality go unchecked – as is required to develop the atmospheric tone of the backdrop. It’s a complicated way of bringing a pop element into the fold, but one I wholeheartedly endorse as a critic who can’t get enough of an elaborate setup when the artist utilizing it knows what he or she is doing.

These lyrics aren’t running back the simple story of a poor man trying to make his way in the world to us; they’re adding on a chapter from Sheldon Universe, who gives us some history via the poeticisms forming the intro to the chorus. It’s easy to learn how to rhyme, and even easier to master the soundboard, but taking this subject matter and working it into a groove that reflects the heaviness of the lyrics being shared is something that requires a level of talent and skill they don’t teach in any school.

I couldn’t have done without the excessive percussion here considering the sizeable role the backdrop is already playing in this piece, but I also get what Sheldon Universe was trying to accomplish just the same. In overwhelming us and himself with a lot of tension, he obtains a critical opportunity to show us just how big a mountain he can move with his voice – and in “Poor Boy,” it’s a big one. Demonstrative as it is, some will still call it a little over the top for what he can handle at this stage, but I’ll give him props for the concept here regardless.

Sheldon Universe seems like the kind of player we can trust with the creative whims he follows, and in “Poor Boy” he makes a strong case for his being ready to roll with the biggest players in this business. The wit and the wisdom of his lyricism are incendiary and only burning hotter with each release he stamps his name on, and even though I think he still has some more maturing ahead of him, he’s an artist I’d certainly like to hear and see more often in the future. We’ll be seeing more of his work a lot sooner than later, and I think a lot of critics are taking note of that right now.

Mindy McCall