Austin’s own song-writer, producer and MC, Randell “Kydd” Jones, is making history with new hip-hop, neo-protest song “Goblin”. While most musicians are scratching their heads in response to the screeching halt of live music, Jones pushes forward and refuses to let anything slow the progression of Black music in Austin.
Jones starts “Goblin” off by asking, "Yall want to be civil or want civil war?" Written and recorded as a form of therapy after attending a civil rights protest, the track directly addresses the unjust killing of George Floyd in the first verse. The self-produced beat carried by it’s soothing vocal pads and throw-back shuffle groove, is a perfect landscape for the MC’s stark rhymes.
Kydd Jones started rapping with his brother (Tank Washington) as a teen, going on to perform at clubs like Victory Grill, a historical Black Music Bar/Venue in East Austin, while still attending high school. “Sometimes when I was younger, it felt like a struggle just to make people outside the hiphop community […] care about what we were doing,” remembers Jones. More recently, the MC performed as part of the first all-Black artist line-up of Austin’s Blues On The Green, aptly renamed to “Blues On The Screen” due to COVID-19 restrictions.
In the current dystopian state of Austin, “Goblin” is the introspective, fever dream anthem we didn’t know we needed in 2020. “It was just an organic experience of recording the track and releasing it immediately the next morning without any kind of real rollout,” says Jones, concerning the streamlined production of “Goblin”. Regarding goals for the rest of the year, Jones states “My plan is honestly just to take care of my family and make music that inspires me.”
– Chris Lopez