martellus
by lou kang
about the album
Bala and I met about five years ago. I discovered he had made a beat for a song my little brother and I did many years ago; they had worked together. We started talking about creating new tracks, initially just playing around, but over time we became good friends. We shared music ideas, songs we loved, and thoughts on music. Bala suggested we take things a bit more seriously.
I had just returned from a life changing week in Punta de Mita for my Big Brother Mike's birthday getaway. I was inspired by what I saw and experienced. This new idea of luxury emerged—recognizing everything in life as a luxury because everything in life is a luxury. Not thinking of luxury as things you don't have but appreciating what you already do. Thus, luxury rap was born.
Lou Kang became our name, mostly my choice, but Bala wasn't tripping. I love Kung Fu, and Lu Kang turning into a dragon felt like me, spitting hot fire. Inspired by the Punta de Mita trip, I wrote a song to recap the experience, which became the sound of Lou Kang from then on.
Bala is brilliant, and I love working with him. We have a great creative relationship. I don't make music all the time, and I think that bothers him sometimes, but he understands that I work in many mediums.
Then I ran into Nathan, and he was the perfect engineer for me, for us. He is very much a part of the Lou Kang sound. I'm pretty sure he has engineered almost every song we have ever made.
That's another reason why we have such a consistent sound. Nathan and I work closely together in the sessions, and Bala is always on the line to change things as I am recording. I restructure a lot of songs in a nontraditional way. I believe in a great edit.
I love what we have created over the past four years. We have about 100 or so songs in the archive. I haven't done a great job promoting it, but I'm putting it here so everyone knows that Lou Kang exists outside of the algorithm.
Yung Bala on da Beat, I appreciate you my nigga.
To everyone who has listened to the MARTELLUS album, THANK YOU!
To those of you of have yet to tune into this listening experience...
Adventure Awaits...
with love + imagination
-MR. TOMONOSHi!
behind the music.
Baldwin Hills
Inspired by the events of the "Punta De Mita" track on this album. Angela Davis and I had coffee together many mornings while in Punta De Mita, and we spoke a lot about James Baldwin. She shared many personal anecdotes about him and our mutual love for his writing. Inspired by those conversations, I wrote this song and sent it to her, asking if she would be interested in adding to the track. She listened, loved it, and said yes. This track is more spoken word, speaking from the heart. You can hear my beat throughout the entire song if you listen closely.
Punta De Mita
The origin song for our sound. A trip to Punta De Mita was so life-changing that I had to create something to always remember what I felt and saw. It was incredible.
Millionaire Lifestyle
Features my daughter Jett when she was in 2nd grade. She wanted to try rapping, so I put her on the album. She did great, and we have more songs together. I like making things with and for people I love—it's my love language.
Colours
Features Lenora, who is amazing. I enjoy working with her because she understands music at such a high level. She was trained for the opera, so every time we work together, it's like being in music school. I learn so much.
Italian Leather
The hardest song to perform. I don't like to punch in, so breathing becomes difficult on longer pieces. Finding the pacing was challenging—there are probably 15 different versions of this. I kept doing it until the breathing pattern became routine.
Caramel Latte
A classic smoker's track. Roll one up with your coffee and sit on the balcony in the middle of the afternoon to this.
Brotherly Love
A love song to my brother. My brother was my first love; we are 16 months apart and have been through so much together. This track is a celebration of our brotherhood and friendship.
Million Dollar Group Chat
Inspired by a group chat I got added to with a bunch of millionaires. Some of the funniest shit I ever heard happened in that chat, but there was also a lot of empowerment, love, encouragement, and thoughtfulness in between the foolishness. That's what inspired me to write this song. Princess is Bala's Wife, and she was in the studio with us. We all looked at her, and she laid the vocals on the track. Her voice was the perfect tone for it.
Bruce Leroy
Inspired by Barry Gordon's "The Last Dragon." The last scene when Bruce Leroy says, "Could you teach me some moves?" I imagine this being the song they danced to.
press.
Album: MARTELLUS
Artist: Lou Kang
Date: August 11, 2022
Duration: 44:46
Words + Arrangements by MR. TOMONOSHi!
Sounds + Production by Larry Robinson Jr
Houston-based duo Lou Kang, comprised of storyteller and prolific contemporary artist MR. TOMONOSHi! and Dallas' music virtuoso and producer Yung Bala On Da Beat (Larry Robinson Jr), deliver an elevated, jazz-infused hip hop concept album fitting for our times. Entitled "Martellus," the album features 14 blazing tracks that clock in just under 45 minutes—a rarity in the current climate of hip hop where albums often sprawl with interludes, skits, and other forms of filler.
Like a punk band or an Earl Sweatshirt project, the longest track is the closer at a mere 4 minutes and 52 seconds. MR. TOMONOSHi! gets to the point and leaves the listener wanting more.
Opening with lush Angelo Badalamenti-inspired synth lines and an Angela Davis feature, “Baldwin Hills” cuts into MR. TOMONOSHi!’s rapid-fire verses, his vocals the only semblance of rhythm. True to his style on the written page and across storytelling mediums, MR. TOMONOSHi!’s flow and lyrics are at times playful, meditative, wisecracking, explosive—all with a tongue-in-cheek swagger.
His voice captures these antithetical times while remaining deeply confessional and personal. MR. TOMONOSHi! is a storyteller, and each of these 14 songs is its own micro-narrative, each tying back to his near-cinematic story arc. Listening to MR. TOMONOSHi! from start to finish is like binge-watching an entire series in the time it takes to watch a single episode.
The album showcases his formidable voice while remaining shockingly insular, in part due to Yung Bala’s meticulously crafted production.
Bala is the perfect complement to MR. TOMONOSHi!’s maximalism, drawing from decades of jazz, funk, disco, soul, and R&B. Bala’s sonic palette is like a history lesson of American music, expertly weaved together in a sonic tapestry dubbed by the duo as “luxury rap.”
As the album closes out with echoed trumpets and a humble “thank you and goodnight” from MR. TOMONOSHi! on “GOLDIELOCKS,” one feels almost like Odysseus returning home from a great adventure—altered by the journey but comforted by the experience.