To help viewers and concertgoers prepare for this weekend’s Rolling Loud music festival in Miami—which REVOLT TV will be livestreaming here—we’ve compiled the top three songs you must know from scheduled performer (Saturday, May 6) and rising rapper-singer Jazz Cartier. Hear them below!
“I’ve been second guessing like there’s someone better in my city? Wait – no no no!” Jazz Cartier proclaims on fan favorite “Dead Or Alive.” Steep praise when your hometown’s main representative is the biggest name in rap, but the Toronto native has been making a strong name for himself over the past few years with his mixtapes Marauding In Paradise and Hotel Paranoia, which have earned Polaris Music Prize nominations, the Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year, and a legion of fans who rock with his music. Check below for some cuts to check out.
Dead or Alive
One of Jazz Cartier’s most revered songs is “Dead Or Alive,” a highlight from his breakout Marauding In Paradise mixtape that sees a paranoid, angry Jazz constantly looking out for his enemies while facing imminent dread that he won’t last long. “Someone tell Mom I won’t see 25/Mean, I can tell her, but I just do not want to see the pain in her eyes,” he laments, over an ominous, organ-fueled backdrop.
100 Roses
Shouting his rhymes over a thumping, horn-heavy backdrop from his in-house producer Lantz, Jacuzzi LeFleur – one of Jazz Cartier’s nicknames – defiantly stakes his claim as the primary representative for his city, insisting that his competition doesn’t have the talent or the pressure to do the job. It’s one of the opening songs to Hotel Paranoia, his second mixtape to earn vast critical acclaim and recognition from the Polaris Music Prize and Juno Awards.
Tempted
Jazz Cartier’s debut studio album Fleurever is on the way, and the single “Temptation” is a strong first impression. He enlists fellow Toronto native T-Minus – his first time using an outside producer – for the beat, rapping and crooning about his search for sex in the club with an instantly catchy hook. The song was a worthy pick as Zane Lowe’s first World Record of 2017 on Beats 1, and also Jazz’s first song to chart on the Canadian Hot 100.