In the aftermath of an emergency spine surgery that radically altered his perspective and body, road tested hip hop traveler B. Dolan emerges after a four year hiatus from touring and releasing LPs with a new collection of songs, a new stage show, and harrowing new stories to tell.
Written during COVID lockdown and his quarantined procedure and recovery, “The Wound is Not The Body” (a title sampled from Adrienne Maree Brown’s poem ‘The Founding Wound‘) winds through 9 new rap songs littered with pandemic fatigue, autobiographical thoughts on hip hop, living and aging, and what it’s like to be fused with steel. Production from Ant, HEBL, Small Professor, Widowmaker and Dolan himself provide a soulful and minimalist backdrop, while B. Dolan gets some of the most carefully crafted bars of his life across in an unhurried, confident fashion.
Aside from impeccable guest vocals from Nya (who is coincidentally tearing up the current season of “American Idol”) on two tracks and an appearance from Yah-Ra of Planet Asia for some spoken bars, the album is notably devoid of features. The emcee is front and center for this one, and the songs feel like tightly focused meditations on moments, impressions and memories. “The Wound is Not The Body” features a narrator writing alone in recovery, sounding like he and his work have been torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.
The album features production from Ant, Small Professor, Widowmaker and B. Dolan. Mixed by DS3K and mastered by Daddy Kev. Physical product is available direct from B. Dolan or via Symphonic Distro (US) and Speech Development/The Orchard (EU).
Pre-order here.
