Hello and welcome back to Three Songs to the Head where we share three songs that moved us, three songs we love, three songs we can’t get out of our heads! Today, we’re featuring Raz Simone, The Honorable Chief and The Bad Tenants. Enjoy!

–Jake Uitti

Raz Simone has a kingly quality. He’s somehow supremely reserved and uber-powerful. He has keen judgement in production, courage to say what’s on his precise mind (even if it goes against the Emerald City’s most well-known rapper) and, at the same time, the ability to move people with strength of heart. There’s an effortlessness to the delivery he offers on his latest track, “Plottin,” while simultaneously he gives off the sense of a great care being taken in what he chooses to give his audience. Nothing is off the cuff with the man, it’s all thought out and pre-determined, masterfully.

The Honorable Chief, also known as Ahamefule J. Oluo, mixes tenderness and boldness unlike any other musician in the city. There is something so visceral about the tone of his songs that bleeds out and seeps in. He’s a knight in shining armor, he’s a tragic clown, but, most of all, he’s prolific and pointed. His poignance continues through composition after composition, whether it’s with his stellar band Industrial Revelation or in his theater or comedic work on stage. His latest offering, a punk rock record, The Honorable Chief Ahamefule J. Oluo, is a race through fields, a leap into space and an encircling of the universe in a matter of 10 tracks. My favorite, “End of Courtesy,” is that moment when you leave the atmosphere and realize you can still breathe the air.

The Bad Tenants are a slice of funky, fun hiphop, a throwback to late 80’s group mic attack with a bit of New Orleans horn flare mixed in. They’re a nod to comradery, giving off a flavor of a po’ boy and confectioner sugar. They’re the group best heard after dropping house keys in the bowl, kicking off tired sneakers and falling into the couch, the troubles of the day sliding off like steam into the ether. And their song, “Loudmouths,” is the perfect example of this moment.