Combining jazz-infused underground hip-hop, the band is known for period instruments from the ancient Mediterranean, and this 7-inch release comes packaged with an original 20-page manga chronicling the adventures of a young recruit from North Africa in the Roman Legion, illustrated by the team at Saturday AM. On the release, R.W. confides, “We drew a lot of inspiration from the fact that we’ve been in survival mode for the past year, just trying to make it through everything in one piece, and that sentiment tied together really nicely with the themes I found myself exploring with these historical military instruments.”
The Urban Renewal Project is a sixteen-piece collective known for its genre-bending original music combining elements of jazz, hip hop and vintage soul, and its explosive live performances that have captivated audiences from SXSW to the Java Jazz Festival. Following a successful tour with Camp Lo to celebrate their collaboration on the track ‘Don’t Ask Y‘ and the subsequent placement of their single Shake Those Hips on Netflix‘s The Circle, the group has been preparing their next full-length release, but with recent events rendering large ensemble recording and live performances impossible, the musicians spent the past year adapting to more intimate, home studio-oriented creative projects, including new multimedia concept Pᴏssᴇ Cᴏᴍɪᴛᴀᴛᴠs as well as session work for several forthcoming releases with producer Marlon “Chordz” Barrow (Ty Dolla $ign, BJ the Chicago Kid).
Bringing new meaning to the term “oldschool,” Pᴏssᴇ Cᴏᴍɪᴛᴀᴛᴠs expands on The Urban Renewal Project’s prior experiments with vintage styles and modern tastes by incorporating period instruments from the ancient Mediterranean into the group’s jazz-infused, underground hip hop aesthetic. Accompanied by an original manga chronicling the adventures of a young recruit from North Africa in the Roman Legion, this series premiered with a new 7-inch single, ‘Will to Survive’ featuring Vic Mensa, available exclusively on Record Store Day.
Watch the official music video to the Urban Renewal Project’s ‘Will to Survive’ featuring Vic Mensa via YouTube!