Features : Belgian artist A-mask continues his drive into hip-hop stardom with “Dough & Dash”

“It’s really something that people should have fun to listen to in any kind of environment where you want to feel confident,” said A-mask.

“It brings up the energy and uplifts you. You feel powerful, you feel strong, you feel like having fun, you feel, you know, all the positive — the open — intensity that you need.”

A-mask has been making music for over five years but, until the last 2 years, he put his tracks only on YouTube. Now he is moving out as an artist into the larger world of hip- hop. This track is a statement of intent.

“It’s like a stamp to say I want to be part of the game. I want to start my journey to the top of the game, to show that I'm a great lyricist and i make great hip-hop records.”

“Dough & Dash,” the track and the video, are releasing today.

A-mask (Aron Mukendi Kamba) is obviously having fun with the beat and the hook, which is his part of the track. He shows off his vocal chops with the double-time lyrics and, at one point, shifts into high, demonstrating speed, flow and control of the pace.

The theme is explicit, even a little raunchy, but the message comes through that A-mask is aiming for the top:

I get the dough then I dash — yeah

I get the dough then I dash — yeah

Me and my n---a the best — yeah.

Me and my n---a the best — yeah.

…

Moving fast like a fast train you ain’t never gonna stop us — yeah!!

The vibe in the track, reinforced and amplified by the video, is pure celebration.

The song is based on an experience from his life. The two parts, his and Leslie’s, share a theme but take different approaches.

“He’s more — how can I say? — deep. I’m just on the surface, like letting people know this is based on my life. I’ve worked hard, I got the money, and now it’s time to dash, to go straight forward toward the top.”

“Dough & Dash” is the third single that A-mask has released this year in working up to the release later of his debut album, Stuck in My Head. The two singles already released are “In My Head” and “Stuck on the Plan.”

A-mask and Leslie are the primary artists for all the tracks. Leslie is the lead vocalist on “Stuck on the Plan,” with A-mask featured. On “In My Head,” the order is reversed.

Hip-hop is at the core of A-mask’s musical being.

“That’s what I love to do,” he said. “That’s what I’m known for. I consider myself a hip- hop artist, but I also like to dabble in other genres. I don’t like to stay in a box.

“In My Head,” the first single they released off the coming album, has a slow, flowing melodic pace, a more R&B feel to it. “Stuck on the Plan,” the most recent release, is more melodic, but the beat and flow of rap are much more prominent.

The album is a collaboration project between him and Leslie, who, in addition to being a lyricist, a beat-maker and an artist, is also the album’s producer.

“We will also have some featured artists on it,” said A-mask.

Of the five years he spent making but not releasing much music, except a few things on YouTube, A-mask says he was “testing myself out.”

“I felt like I wasn’t ready. I was incomplete as an artist. I didn’t know my sound yet, and I didn’t know exactly who I was as an artist.”

Now he is ready. Aron Mukendi Kamba knows who the artist A-mask is, and who he wants to be.

“When I’m in the studio,” he said, “the producer is playing different beats, and the vibe, the atmosphere and the ideas just come off of what’s going on in the studio in that moment, and how I’m feeling. That’s where it all starts.”

“‘Dough & Dash’ will definitely make you feel good, make you feel like turning up when your energy’s low, make you want to have fun,” he said.

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