Nigerian born, Brooklyn artist Thutmose drops ‘Pressure’

Before we get into ‘Pressure’ there’s a little story to tell. I have only just been put onto Thutmose, I was watching the new Scott Storch documentary, ‘Still Storch‘, and towards the end, Thutmose appeared. He and Storch were performing a track live on a roof and it was instantly captivating. The track was ‘For The Night’ which dropped around a month ago now and the vibe of that compared to ‘Pressure’ couldn’t be more different. So if you listen to ‘Pressure’ and think you should immediately dismiss Thutmose, give ‘For The Night’ a try first.

Now onto ‘Pressure’, the most initial striking thing about the song came before I’d heard a single note – Erykah Badu. I saw Thutmose and Erykah Badu official video and instantly had to see what a legend saw in this young talent and what the two had collaborated on. Unfortunately, on this occasion, Badu was only used in a supplementary way by her providing some narration at the beginning and end of the track, but alas it’s still a huge feature.

On the track, Thutmose discusses ‘Pressure’ no surprises there. What is surprising that comes through in the song are some of the extraordinary circumstances he and his family faced. He expresses some of the things that could have traumatised him, like his family leaving Nigeria to come to America only for things to shortly turn sour with armed SWAT kicking down the door to his family home. Despite these negative moments, Thutmose managed to rise above them and on ‘Pressure’ we can hear how they fuel him to be better and constantly move forward.

‘Pressure’ is therefore extremely powerful just based on the fact that it displays a level of openness and self-awareness, that is often shied away from. The track has a sombre vibe with low ‘bassy’ piano tones carrying the song, with some additional percussive elements. This fits the song, but takes it away from being a song that would do huge numbers because it’s not exactly a sing along. Despite this ‘Pressure’ is still solid, but it is definitely not even close to all Thutmose has to offer.