Check Out The First Sounds from Symbolyc One and Sarah Jaffe's New Project, The Dividends.
Back in June, Grammy-awarding winning hip-hop producer Symbolyc One — who has been straight blowing up in recent years thanks to his production work for Kanye West (“Power”), Beyonce (“Best Thing I Never Had”) and, well, suffice it to say plenty of others — told us about an upcoming project he was especially excited about: a new collaborative effort with his fellow Dallasite, indie darling Sarah Jaffe.
Together, the producer born Larry Griffin told us, the two started creating music together under the name The Dividends after Jaffe's “Glorified High” single was remixed by S1 and his fellow members of Erykah Badu's live production collective, The Cannabinoids, earlier this year.
“It's like nothing else I've ever worked on,” Symbolyc One said at the time of his work alongside Jaffe. “It's unique-sounding. Just different-sounding, great music.”
S1 also explained in that interview that he and Jaffe were doing more than just creating music for themselves; they were also working with other, big-name artists in the producer's extensive contact list.
And, just this week, we learned the identity of one such name: Eminem. Today, Griffin reveals to Central Track that he and Jaffe are the writing tandem behind “Bad Guy,” the first song on Em's forthcoming The Marshall Mathers LP 2 — according, at least, to the recently leaked tracklist for the disc.
Perhaps more important, however, is another reveal Griffin made to Central Track today: A visit to WeAreTheDividends.com leads audiences to streaming snippets of the first three The Dividends tracks to see the light of day: “Summer Go,” “Miles” and “Cross My Mind.” None of the posted snippets last longer than two minutes, no. But they do reveal enough about the project's down-tempo electronica-meets-hip-hop direction.
It's alluring stuff, for sure.
And these songs — along with perhaps some others — should be released in full sooner than later, S1 says. The group's debut EP, which has been supported by a “major recording artist” and will be called Far From Away, is currently slated for a mid-November release date.
Adds S1: “Expect a listening/release party round that time.”
Oh, we very much will.
Cover photo of The Dividends by Dennis Webb.