{"title":"McKinley Dixon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMcKinley Dixon is a hip hop, soul, and jazz group hailing from Richmond, Virginia. With their unique blend of genres, they have captivated audiences with their powerful and thought-provoking music. Their lyrics delve into social issues and personal experiences, creating a profound connection with listeners. McKinley Dixon's innovative sound and compelling storytelling make them an influential force in the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFormed in [year], McKinley Dixon has quickly gained recognition for their exceptional talent and artistic vision. Their dynamic performances showcase their versatility as musicians, seamlessly blending different musical styles to create a truly captivating experience for audiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith their debut album \"[album name]\" receiving critical acclaim, McKinley Dixon has established themselves as one of the most exciting acts in contemporary music. Their ability to push boundaries while staying true to their roots sets them apart from other artists in the industry.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"beloved-paradise-jazz","title":"Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?","description":"\u003cp\u003eMcKinley Dixon calls the late Toni Morrison the greatest rapper of all time; and the way he tackles topics like survival, violence, and religion within the expansive landscape of the Black experience, evokes her novels. It is from the title of Morrison‘s Beloved trilogy where he finds the title of his new album with City Slang Records:\u003ci\u003e Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?\u003c\/i\u003e Musically his household was defined by “artists whose first name was Mary,” including Mary J. Blige and gospel duo Mary Mary. Discovering Outkast was formative for Dixon, deepening his love for hip-hop while he also grew curious about the more theatrical rock of groups of the day, bands like My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco that his Maryland friends introduced him to. “Those groups also helped me with my sense of longing, since their music reflected a sense of longing,” he says. Eventually he channeled these competing influences into a debut EP he released in 2013. With time, his music became his primary means of self-expression, whether discussing Blackness or his own relationship with healing. Across his next releases, his style evolved and his confidence grew, especially when it came to live instrumentation. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis 2021 debut album \u003ci\u003eFor My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her\u003c\/i\u003e was a game changer, as Dixon set his sights on heartache and grief. “I was making these really dense and chaotic songs, stuffing whatever thought I had into five and a half minutes,” Dixon says of that project. \u003ci\u003eBeloved! Paradise! Jazz?! \u003c\/i\u003eis an attempt at channeling different impulses. Sometimes rough and other times delicate, this record is a journey into is a journey into the psyche of McKinley Dixon, with all of the of the attendant peaks and valleys.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Slang","offers":[{"title":"Brown LP","offer_id":50383661007179,"sku":"2014835","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50383660777803,"sku":"2014833","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0-1_a48bf980_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726275296"},{"product_id":"for-my-mama-and-anyone-who-look-like-her","title":"For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her","description":"\u003cp\u003eDebut album on Spacebomb featuring Micah James, Alfred., and Deau Eyes. For fans of Black Milk, Kendrick Lamar, Kamasi Washington, Mos Def, Blood Orange, Milo, Pharcyde, Blackalicious, and Anderson Paak.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichmond, Virginia-based artist McKinley Dixon has always used his music as a tool for healing, exploring, and unpacking the Black experience in order to create stories for others like him. \u003ci\u003eFor My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her\u003c\/i\u003e, Dixon’s debut album on Spacebomb, is the culmination of a journey where heartbreak and introspection challenged him to adapt new ways of communicating physically and mentally, as well as across time and space.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe language accessibility aspect of this project draws right back to communication and connecting,” Dixon explains. “I think about the messaging, and how this can be a way for another Black person, someone who looks like me, to listen to this and process the past. Everything I've learned about communication for this album culminates with this bigger question about time. Is time linear when you’re still healing and processing? Westerners look at time travel as something to conquer or control—it's a colonizer mindset. That’s ignoring how time travel can be done through stories and non-verbal communication, and doesn't acknowledge how close indigenous people are to the land and the connections groups have because they’ve existed somewhere for so long. Storytelling is time travel, it's taking the listener to that place. Quick time travel. Magic.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNever relying solely on beats, Dixon taps into a hybrid of jazz and rap, pulling in an array of piercing strings, soulful horns, percussion, and angelic vocalists throughout the album—plus features by Micah James, Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon, Pink Siifu, and more. Jazz instrumentals add a level of uncertainty, with the sounds and shifts evoking a lot of emotion and vulnerability. It’s an energy he describes as “Pre-Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly,” the era when rap adopted more live instrumentation. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe best way to sum up this album is: I was sad, I was mad, and now I’m alive,” Dixon explains. “These things I talk about on the record have had harmful and brilliant effects on my timeline, and have forced me to be cognizant of the fact that living is complex. Rap has allowed me the language to communicate, and be someone who can communicate with people from all over. Knowing how far I’ve come, I think people will find trust in the message I’m sending.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Spacebomb","offers":[{"title":"Orange | LP","offer_id":50452756201803,"sku":"1114528","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0cd8b26c-659f-4c7f-a306-997d8280bca4_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727163053"},{"product_id":"magic-alive","title":"Magic, Alive!","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRichmond\u003c\/strong\u003e-born, Chicago-based rapper \u003cstrong\u003eMcKinley Dixon\u003c\/strong\u003e's new album, \u003cem\u003eMagic, Alive!\u003c\/em\u003e is released via City Slang. \u003cem\u003eMagic, Alive!\u003c\/em\u003e began life when Dixon received an unexpected email from English producer Sam Yamaha. Dixon's early beats had inspired Yamaha's own nascent work, and he wanted Dixon to listen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBefore long, Dixon rendezvoused with him in London, digging through his archive to find a wealth of beats that resonated with his own approach and with the burgeoning concept for \u003cem\u003eMagic, Alive!\u003c\/em\u003e In July 2024, Dixon returned to his native Richmond, Virginia, with a tranche of sounds from Sam Yamaha and Koff, with whom he'd worked before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlongside a cavalcade of guests and friends, from the mighty singer Anji Mile and imaginative Alabama emcee Pink Siifuto to trombonist Reggie Pace and harpist Eli Owens, Dixon split these beats wide open, adding hooks and horn lines and guest spots. He strung several songs together, too, so that \u003cem\u003eMagic, Alive!\u003c\/em\u003e moves like a dream or, at the very least, an alternate reality where new rules reign.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor the better part of a decade, Dixon has been turning his experiences as a native Southerner sometimes living in Queens and an eager student of literature into vivid reflections on joy, pain, and perseverance. His breakthrough, though, began with 2021's much-loved \u003cem\u003eFor My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her\u003c\/em\u003e and continued with 2023's \u003cem\u003eBeloved! Paradise! Jazz!?\u003c\/em\u003e, both instrumentally rich exercises in storytelling wrapped up in the trauma and grief of losing a young friend.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThose albums were emotional expurgations, Dixon dumping his feelings into marathons of literary references where Toni Morrison and Greek mythology shared space with detailed personal reflections.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"City Slang","offers":[{"title":"LP - Orange | Signed Print","offer_id":51627400921419,"sku":"R9072-3817","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP - Orange","offer_id":51290493649227,"sku":"2500071-S","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51290493616459,"sku":"2500068-S","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/MCKINLEYDIXON-MAGIC_ALIVE_-PACKSHOT_145fa78c-9f0d-495c-a1dd-d139968dabd0.jpg?v=1739880509"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_101bb736_thumbnail_4096_3ac95b52-36b1-4ee8-b605-21ade37792b5.jpg?v=1726275256","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/mckinley-dixon.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}