New Orleans’ Pell doesn’t sound like you might imagine a New Orleans rapper to sound. Perhaps that’s a testament to a city with a wide variety of cultural influences, perhaps a product of Pell’s particular: raised in New Orleans’ 7th Ward by a mother who was a professional opera singer, displaced in the 9th grade by Hurricane Katrina. He wields the sort of bouncy, melodically-inclined flow that’s in vogue across regions now, as much a sign of rap’s evolution and (at least immediate) trajectory as any other.
New single “Dollar Store” details Pell’s days stuck dreaming of being an entertainer while working at a dollar store. With a beat from frequent Childish Gambino and Chance the Rapper collaborator Ludwig Goransson, Pell dives into the future bounce territory being mined by rappers like GoldLink while ably expressing his own story.
It isn’t yet a definitive statement that separates Pell from the pack, but it is a sign of his potential and an intriguing teaser for his fittingly-titled upcoming project Floating While Dreaming.
Listen to “Dollar Store” below.
