On the cusp of “Redamancy”, 12 months of Lushlife.
About ten years ago, I found out that one of my neighbors, Raj Haldar – the soon to be rapper and producer-turned children’s book author Lushlife – was a big deal. The cloud rapper in him was readying a full-length elpee, Plateau Vision. And soon, he would go from record digging, mix-mastering producer and MC to the toast of heavenly 4AD-ish sounds and softly contoured textures. All with hip hop heft.
“As a kid, I led two secret lives. One as a hip-hop head, listening to A Tribe Called Quest, Nas and Black Moon. And another where I was knee-deep in ’80s and ’90s alternative rock. Like The Smiths and The Pixies,” Lushlife, AKA Raj told me at the time. “These interests seemed so divergent to me at the time. But now, that pedigree in the classic cannon of hip-hop and indie rock is what I think makes my records work. I hope my records sound fluently like a combination of those influences and more.”
Tigers Jaw is ready to take on 2021
Since then, Raj, AKA Lushlife, has dropped albums such as “Ritualize” with features from Killer Mike and Ariel Pink. And the “My Idols are Dead” and “My Enemies are in Power” mixtape. Most prominently, however, my neighbor in the Italian Market area published a #1 New York Times bestselling children’s book, “P Is For Pterodactyl”, which spent 26 weeks on the Times’ bestseller list. It won a development deal for his kids’ book ideas. Along with getting a production deal for a “social horror” TV series set in India, “Cult of Aghori.” As of this month, the sequel to “P is for Pterodactyl”, “No Reading Allowed” is due in a library and book store near you.
For those who have pondered, long and hard, as to whether or not Lushlife, AKA Raj, had given up on the sonic world for the print world… Au contraire. Along with January’s single release of the sparely synth-phonic “Hessdalen Lights“, a self-described “airy, psychedelic, genre-defying song,” Raj, AKA Lush, is preparing to drop a new ghostly, East Coast rap-influenced EP, “Redamancy”, on the Fortune Tellers, label in February. Get excited.
About Post Author
