Alternative hip/hop rapper Sú North has been making serious waves with his latest single "Yellow" and its music video, a chillwave ode to one of his favorite songs by Coldplay. We sat down with the up-and-coming artist to dissect some of his biggest musical inspirations, starting with the obvious!
1. Yellow - Coldplay
"Coldplay was the first group of artists I fell in love with that wasn't hip hop. When I first heard the song I was a kid and didn't know what It meant to be 'in love' with someone you're dating or the concept of having a partner at all, but that song made me want to feel those feelings."
2. Jet Fuel - Mac Miller
"Mac Miller is one of my favorite artists of all time. I can recite just about every Mac Miller song. The groove to 'Jet Fuel' has a bounce I was never accustomed to hearing in a hip hop song. This song inspired me to be more innovative. When Mac passed away I decided to do a cover tribute performance to him and 'Jet Fuel' was the song my band and I covered. Surprisingly the video touched so many other Mac Miller fans on Youtube. "
3. The Heart Pt. 5 - Kendrick Lamar
"I feel like this song is tied to my DNA. You can hear the passion and hunger in his voice as he raps every bar behind such a jazzy instrumental. This hunger and love for hip hop is the same feeling I have constantly. I personally feel like this is one of Kendrick's songs that is slept on."
4. Vibrate - Outkast
"If you ever drive home late at night or during a sunset just put this song on. Andre 3000's vocal control and range is a beautiful thing to study and listen to. This song taught me to dig deeper when I'm songwriting, I feel like when I think of the words, Introspective, Self Love, and Uplifting this is the song that comes to mind. "
5. 35.31 - Childish Gambino
"When I think of the phrase 'genre Blending' this song is top of my list. I don't know any artist who can take a southern folk style and blend it effortlessly with hip hop. I feel like the biggest rule in creating music is trying to break all of them."
"Yellow" is available across streaming platforms.