Illa J announced he’s dropping a new album, Home, on June 30 via Jakarta Records. Along with the announcement, the Detroit rapper shared the project’s first single, “Sam Cook,” where he sings about trying to be his realist self while also doing his best to channel his inner Sam Cooke.
“I see myself as a singer songwriter first, I just grew up in the generation of rap, so the 2 styles just fused together naturally,” Illa J said of the singing and poetic nature of the song and album in a press email. “I started writing poems around 8 or 9 years old, then songs, and then raps. I eventually put it all together… 22 years later… the journey to my heart, through all the ups and downs of my career trying to discover my voice, who I am, all my travels around the globe. It all leads back to Home, in the most literal sense.”
Listen to “Sam Cook” below. Pre-order the album on Bandcamp.
