Anybody who’s been paying attention to Toronto’s R&B scene lately knows the city’s got so much more talent to offer than just The Weeknd. Even if—OK, yes—Abel still casts a pretty sizable shadow. So it’s not exactly surprising Toronto-born artist 92’s early work—dark and hazy R&B numbers like “Cocaine Stains” and “Smoke & Mirrors”—earned the requisite comparisons to Tesfaye’s sound. Now, 92’s back with a new release, “Somebody,” which dropped today along with a music video produced by Bright Minds Entertainment. Watch it above.
“‘Somebody’ is a record about the desire for an unconditional love,” 92 told Complex about the track, produced by Zuri. And while the song was inspired by his own personal experiences with heartbreak, he says it’s not about any one ex in particular. “We live in a world where everything is super accessible, even love. We don’t live in a world where if something’s broken, you fix it.
“At least that’s how I feel about my generation. Why sit down and fix what problems we have when you can just open your DMs and have a thousand guys or girls at your [beck and call] to pick up all the broken pieces.”
If that all sounds a little dark, that’s intentional. “Toronto has a dark feel to it. I always would joke around with my buddies that it has a Gotham City-type feel to it,” 92 explained, saying that darkness has heavily influenced his music.
As for trying to make a name for himself in the city’s crowded R&B scene, the Toronto recording artist is no stranger to great expectations, as the son of Persian recording legend Saman. “It’s funny, because I never really got into music until a later age,” said 92. “My father was never around for much of my life, unfortunately. I always knew that my father was this star in the Persian music space, but I was never intrigued about making music.
“I have to thank my cousin for getting me to go to my first studio session. He kept saying that I had a unique voice and something special. After that first studio session, there was no looking back,” he continued. “I don’t think my father really influenced my sound, but the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”
