Mona On The Radio just released his debut single and music video, called “Hi, I’m Mona,” basically an introduction to Mona, who says the project came about “to cheer myself up after I told this girl I loved her but she didn’t say it back.”
Imagine, if you will, Post Malone channeling the musical aesthetic of Liberace and you’ll have an inkling of Mona’s stylistic slant. It’s pure, unadulterated bubblegum hip-hop, meaning equal parts pop, R&B, and hip-hop flavored with comic book melodic influences and a Hubba Bubba trap beat pulsing on a subterranean bassline and a Thor-like kick drum.
Sounds blasphemous, right? Like Jesus rapping about guns, drugs, and bitches. Nope! Actually, it’s off the chain excellent. Mona’s delivery, cadence, and content are beyond awesome. His soft, affluent tones ooze the perfect amount of laconicism and nastily tight droll timbres.
“Hi, I’m Mona” opens with tinkling nursery rhyme synths leading into a throbbing trap groove. The synths shimmer, ascending and descending in gauzy wisps of penetrating colors, as Mona’s indulgent voice raps overhead. Juxtaposing aromas of trap muscularity and glittery bubblegum permeate the tune with totally antithetical textures that, somehow, fuse into an infectious hip-hop sound, nuanced, decorative, yet thrumming with delicious energy.
Shot in beau coup shades of pink because, as Mona says, “I realllyyyyy like penne rose,” the video was directed by Mona’s little sister, Alexia. Explaining the video, Mona says, “I hired a bunch of dancers for the video, but never really had an idea so I just asked my little sister what she would do because she’s weird and I’m weird. I kept the dancers because they were already paid for, lol.”
Frankly, Alexia has it going on as a director. A montage of shots ranging from family portraits to gyrating dancers to Mona covered in whipped cream imbues the video with intimacy, remarkable charm, and quaint eccentricity.
“Hi, I’m Mona” has it all: flamboyance, a smooth, contagious hip-hop vibe, and of course, Mona. The music and the video are cap-a-pie lit.
Randy Radic is a Left Coast author and writer. Author of numerous true crime books written under the pen-name of John Lee Brook. Former music contributor at Huff Post.
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