“Game Show,” Nox Black’s new single, sounds at first like a great R&B story about bad love playing on an endless loop. And it is.
But it has a beat that drops in and out and leaves a very hip-hop feel.
“I grew up with a lot of hip-hop influences, but R&B is my No 1 favorite genre,” he said. “Hip-hop is undoubtedly No. 2, but what I really want to do with my music is to have that marriage because I love the rhythmic cadences of hip-hop, and I wanted to combine that with R&B quality vocals.”
In “Game Show,” which will drop on January 26, he has effected that marriage to tell a story that’s about the nature of “toxic love.”
Nox’s rich voice ranges from baritone earth up to high tenor sky, accompanied on the verses by soft brushes on high hats. The bass line kicking in on the hook.
“I was listening to different beats, different instrumentals,’ he said, “and when I heard this one it immediately put me in a frame of mind where I was reminiscing on old relationships, which got me to thinking about the cycle of toxic relationships.”
What we once had is a lame joke
Your love is just like a game show
That we both know I’ll play
Anytime anyplace
“So that’s what ‘Game Show’ is. It’s like a cycle of toxic relationships — even though we both know that this doesn’t work, we find ourselves coming back to it. I want people to feel the emotion in the song.”
Nox Black, from Chicago, has been a performer for more than a decade, formerly under a different name, putting out music on “free platforms, websites and stuff like that.”
“Since I’ve rebranded myself as Nox Black, this is kind of the starting point for me as an artist.”
Under this new brand, he began releasing his music on streaming channels in 2022, when he put out the 13-track album Noxicology. His music is a lively, fascinating mix — even within individual songs — of R&B, hip-hop, rap, soul, synth and other things.
“That is exactly who I am as an artist,” he said. He loves how hip-hop “rides the beat, how it comes in and out. It weaves seamlessly with the beat.”
That is what he seeks to wed to the flowing, soaring vocals of R&B.
“I just wanted to marry those two things as best I can and be fluid when it comes to genre.”
His name reflects his change in thinking on music. He wanted his new name to be more mature than the one he performed under in his early 20s, but he wanted it to reflect who he is.
“So, I started thinking about me as a person, and I realized that I’m a big-time night owl. Nighttime is when I find myself the most active, and that’s when I find myself to be the most creative in my musical process.”
Nox, Latin for “night,” and the nickname for a character in Final Fantasy 15, a video game that he was playing at the time, meshed fine with black, his favorite color. Nox Black was born.
“When I say the two words together, it sticks to me.”
The new brand brings a couple other changes. One is in work habits.
“I now plan on releasing a song every month for pretty much the foreseeable future, because I’ve been very sporadic in my releases,” he said. “Now I want to get more focused and be more present. So, ‘Game Show’ is dropping soon. Next month, I have a song ready called ‘Ginseng,’ and from there on it’s gonna be steady, steady music, at least one song a month, sometimes more, but at least one song every month.”
Another change is in his thinking about where he wants to go with his music.
“At this point, I want to have a place and a chance to be heard and, wherever it’s meant to go from there, I’m ready to go. If it’s everybody in the world that’s gonna hear this, then I’m ready for that. If I just got my local region on lockdown, that knows who I am, then I want to put myself out there and see where I fit.”
Another change is in the offing. He has been a performer for more than a decade, but his manager recently decided to get out of the music business. He wants to restart that end of his career. His hope is that “Game Show” will help him gain traction.
“Game Show” does not tell a feel-good story, but it is fine R&B with a hip-hop kick that will make you feel good anyway.
“I hope people enjoy it and find something relatable in it. My music is always story based, and it’s always something where I’m hoping people can hear a little bit of themselves in it.”
Look for your self in Nox Black’s stories. Connect on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
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