Rome Fortune

In the most cosmic sense of the word, Rome Fortune is Atlanta’s newest star. Green-bearded and crop-topped, 6’5” in cowboy boots, he takes the stage like an eclipse and flips straighforward bars into lunar poetry. But even with such otherworldly swagger, Rome’s music connects with fans because of how powerfully (and sometimes painfully) human it really is. Jerome Raheem Fortune (out 2/26 on Fool’s Gold) is the true story of this man who fell to earth. Rome’s Beautiful Pimp mixtapes (“rap as motivational speaking, generous and all-inclusive” – Pitchfork) and collaborations with everyone from turn-up trailblazers OG Maco and ILoveMakonnen to Four Tet and Toro Y Moi were merely the prelude to JRF’s nakedly honest storytelling. Over loose, dreamlike tracks from longtime collaborator Cubby, Rome gets extra real about his struggles: his parents, his children, and their mothers… his dreams, his demons, and the drugs that may be fueling both. Even Kaytranada produced single “Dance” is an outlier, an uptempo song about escape rather than elation. Yet nothing on Jerome Raheem Fortune is a drag; over the course of 11 potent tracks, Rome Fortune presents hip hop catharsis at its most compelling. Head towards the outer limits of rap with a guide who is intimately familiar.

Chicago-via-NYC club king Brenmar lends his low end expertise to Rome Fortune’s “Dance,” masterfully building up tension and release with handclaps, finger snaps and truly filthy 808s. That bedroom boom! Stay tuned for more “Dance” remixes in 2016 along with more from Rome’s upcoming Jerome Raheem Fortune LP on Fool’s Gold.

Produced by new beat hero Kaytranada, “Dance” is unlike anything we’ve heard from Rome before — a melodic anthem in the grand tradition of dance-my-pain-away jams. The single is another pleasing curveball from this one-of-a-kind artist, who’s equally at home trapping in a jeep with ILoveMakonnen and Rich The Kid on “No Ma’am” as he is guesting on Four Tet tracks and popping up at Boiler Room. With his first international tour on deck and the single release (accompanied by a unique app that lets Rome chat direct to fans – and put his blue beard on their own pics!) the future is looking very bright for Rome. Stay tuned for more as he puts his finishing touches on the “Dance” video and his highly-personal upcoming Fool’s Gold LP, Jerome Raheem Fortune.

Taken from Fool’s Gold’s “Day Off Fire” compilation, which you can download off BitTorrent here.

New Rome Fortune, produced by Four Tet. Take a listen below.