Toox’s new single “Own the Night”, produced by the threesome of Michael DeBarge, Juicegotkeys, and Chey de Los, is a memorable release made all the more so by the contributions of featured guests such as Daimen Carter and Rose Culture. The additional vocal firepower makes a fine track even better and the producers have a clear idea of what the song needs in terms of production treatment. There’s never any sense of overkill or self-indulgence marring the recording. DeBarge has the most profound effect on the performance thanks to having supervised its initial recording at The Music Building in New York City and he clearly shares the same creative vision for the recording that the performers and authors of the song do. When you have everyone on the same page, great results are often inevitable and that is certainly the case here.
Rose Culture and Carter are both successful vocalists in their own right despite only enjoying, thus far, regional success with their music, but they bring an extra dimension o Toox’s music that it would have lacked otherwise. Carter is well known for his vocal skills, but it’s Culture who is the real revelation here as she steps away from her customary role as a rapper in favor of a more traditional vocal. If she has any misgivings about her voice, they do not show. Instead, she performs her parts in “Own the Night” as if she has been singing all her life and shares the same marked confidence characterizing Toox’s own performance.
Toox comes across as a vocalist who has been relishing this chance his whole life and never fails to deliver. He has swagger to burn, but he’s never crude – his way with the lyric never comes across as heavy handed but, instead, wins over listeners with its easy going confidence. The writers and DeBarge alike arrange the music in such a way that there’s numerous chances for Toox to show off what he can do and he does so without ever coming across as arrogant. The lyrics, likewise, are confident without ever coming across as hamfisted. He hits on themes familiar to many hip hop songs, but Toox manages to do so in a way that carves out his own niche in the style rather than merely imitating his predecessors.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/own-the-night-feat-rose-culture-daimen-carter-single/1508028563
Rose Culture, however, brings a distinctive spin to the performance thanks to her own vocal talents. “Own the Night” would still be a compelling example of top notch hip hop without her contributions, but Rose Culture brings some extra color to the performance that helps it stand out more than it might have otherwise. There are a number of elements coming together to make :Own the Night one of 2020’s better hip hop tracks and it’s clear Toox is generating considerable creative momentum with each new release,. “Own the Night”, however, shows him in peak form and we can only assume he will continue to improve with each new outing from this point forward. Intelligent music lovers will follow him every step of the way.
by Jodi Marxbury
@MichaelDeBarge
@CheydeLos
@TooxOfficial
@RoseCultureOfficial
@DaimenCarter