As with his harrowing, unusual life story, it feels best to let Houston rapper Javon Johnson set the stage for new single “?” in his own words:
“June 2nd, 7:00am. [“?”] was simply me on June 2nd at 7:00am pissed off. I had been up the entire night before watching the news. Watching the political parties break down ‘history’ and everyone having equal opportunity. It pissed me off so I wrote and recorded ‘?’ to clear my mind. Now that I listen to it, I really didn’t think I sounded that angry.”
Over an ominous, skeletal bass line, Johnson sounds tensely coiled as ever, fiery and measured. “?” suggests much of Johnson’s political rage without ever sounding preachy; it’s a concerted stream of consciousness that’s seems drawn from the background radiation of his brain, a new tap in a constantly flowing continuum.
