Mozzy Shares “Jaded” ft. Eric Bellinger
Wearing his heart on his sleeve as he strives to make his neighborhood a better place, Mozzy shoulders the weight of lost souls with every rhyme. Today, the Sacramento neighborhood hero announces Children Of The Slums, his next album. The album is dedicated to his neighborhood’s lost souls, who have lost loved ones to the streets via drugs or violence. Over the course of the album, Mozzy inhabits their perspectives, often shouting out real people by name and artfully expressing their pain through their stories. Mozzy initially announced the new album during his performance at the Rolling Loud California festival. The follow-up to Mozzy’s 2022 album Survivor’s Guilt, Children Of The Slums arrives on April 19th via CMG/Interscope.
“Nobody born in the slums has a choice,” says Mozzy. “Born into those kinds of circumstances, it’s hard to imagine a way to get out. They don’t have anyone to look out for them or to show them a better way. I’m still looking out for all the children of the slums. I am there for them because I know if the situation was flipped, they would do the same for me.”
Along with the announcement of the album, Mozzy shares “Jaded,” a new single and music video featuring fellow Californian Eric Bellinger. Adorned with plaintive piano and distorted vocal samples, “Jaded” is a heartbreaking anthem about the difficulty of overcoming personal demons while shouldering the burdens of a community. On his two verses, Mozzy rhymes about the responsibility he feels as one of the few who made it out of Oak Park. In the video, directed by Mozzy’s frequent collaborator AdamKG, Mozzy and Eric Bellinger deliver their sermons in a church, proselytizing at the pulpit and pouring their heart out in the confession booth.
“Jaded” is Mozzy’s first new single of 2024, following a busy 2023 for the respected rapper. In the Fall, Mozzy released a series of high quality visuals for songs like the heartfelt “If I Die Right Now” and the retributive “Free Juju.” Before Mozzy finished up a one-year bid in May, he released KOLLECT KALL, a 6-track EP featuring appearances from YFN Lucci, Baby Money, and his Sacramento associates E Mozzy and Celly Ru, and home to the acclaimed single “FREE ALL THE LIFERS.“KOLLECT KALL earned coverage in Pitchfork, Rap Radar, HotNewHipHop,& Okayplayer, and more. The neighborhood hero linked up with a like-minded veteran when he appeared on Killer Mike’s GRAMMY Award-winning album MICHAEL, and he has been keeping the streets hot with singles like the flex-heavy “10 Percent” (5.8 million views).
Mozzy’s next album continues his run as one of the most acclaimed and popular street rappers of his generation. He has earned two GOLD certifications from the RIAA as a lead artist–“Excuse Me” and “Sleep Walkin–and three more on his collaborations with Skylar Grey, Likybo, and $tupid Young. Mozzy earned mainstream recognition in 2018, when his song “Sleep Walkin” was featured in a pivotal scene in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, and he earned a shout out from Kendrick Lamar in his Grammy Award acceptance speech. More recently, his street classic “Bladadah” placed #68 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best West Coast Rap Songs of All Time.
Photo credit: Nick Walker