Rapper hits mark with COVID-19 song

Locally-produced hip hop track offers clever social commentary on pandemic and lockdown

GLACE BAY — As a contemporary hip hop artist, Mitchell Bailey knows it’s not always what you say, but how you say it.

And the Glace Bay rapper has proved it on his just released new song called COVID-19. The track’s message is very similar to what Nova Scotia Premier Stephen Mcneil and Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, have been delivering for the past seven weeks, that being stay inside to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The difference is that while the government officials use televised and live-streamed news conferences to convey their message, Baily uses music — specifically, music of the hip hop genre.

“We felt it would be important to eventually make a song about everything that is going on in the world right now — my objective with the lyrics was to have social commentary about what’s going on in society with a little bit of my own perspective,” said Bailey, who collaborated on the effort with Sydney-based producer Sean Lewis and Halifax R&B recording artist Ralph Croucher, better known as JRDN.

For those unfamiliar with hip hop music, there’s far more to making a song than just jotting down a few words and “spitting” them into a microphone. So, once Bailey and Lewis decided they wanted to produce a Covid-themed song, the latter got to work in his Whitney Pier home studio where he laid down the music. He said his inspiration came from within.

“I also work in retail and I’ve been working through the lockdown dealing with the public and I was feeling a little bit stressed, so when I put together the instrumental it definitely reflected my mood at the time,” said the 34-yearold Lewis.

Indeed, the up-and-coming music producer seems to have captured the mood of the lockdown and its societal effects with a haunting, yet captivating beat that is underscored by sense of perseverance and positivity.

When he was happy with his offering, Lewis sent the music to Bailey in Glace Bay. At his own home studio, the young rapper then laid down the lyrics he had written that include the following verse that touches on social distancing and the economy.

“We antisocial, and being mobile isn’t allowed,

I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t stuck in the house,

I can’t remember the last time I was stuck in a crowd, man,

Remember when you’d call someone up,

And they said they was out and about.

You worry about recessions and economic depressions,

Small businesses with momentum now got closed signs on the entrance,

They can bounce back, man, expect the unexpected,

Yeah, you as broke as the next man,

But we rich when we ain’t separate.”

At that point, the song had a distinctive beat and the rapped lyrics flowed, but there was no chorus. That’s where Halifax-based JRDN came in. He received the chorus lyrics from Bailey and after recording them in his studio, sent the track back to Lewis in Sydney.

And, presto. After a few more hours in the studio, Lewis mixed all the ingredients together and out came COVID-19. The track (which in some ways reminds this scribe of the Eminem song Stan that includes a chorus by British singer Dido) can now be found on most social media platforms including Youtube and Spotify.

In the meantime, Bailey said he will continue to take advantage of the lockdown as it gives him unprecedented time and space to tap into his creativity.

DAVID JALA • CAPE BRETON POST Cape Breton hip hop recording artist Mitchell Bailey found the inspiration for his latest track while practicing social distancing and isolation at his Glace Bay home. The 22-year-old rapper collaborated on the song called COVID-19 with Whitney Pier-based producer Sean Lewis and Halifax R&B singer JRDN.

Sydney producer Sean Lewis came up with the music for Mitchell Bailey's COVID-19 song. Lewis mixed and produced the just-dropped track rap song that also features Halifax singer JRDN.