Amon Flies Solo

Amon's solitary approach bodes well

While some of us were shaking off champagne hangovers from New Year's celebrations, San Diego rapper Amon was prepping "Pinky Swear," a slow moving single made from go-getter confidence and Southern soul. It's his first song of 2017 and he sounds hungry, but while the track is a fitting way to start the year, his process for releasing music is rooted in a change in workflow that dates back to last August.

After a string of well received one-offs, he decided that instead of releasing a project via the traditional LP/EP format, he was going to put out a new single once a week. Five months later and 23 songs in, we have "Pinky Swear," a self-assured Amon chasing the spoils of success and laying claim to a long lineage of rap royalty: "I work hard, I play hard, I dream even harder, can spit like I'm Wayne, a descendent of Carter."

But it isn't just his wordplay or consistent output that's impressive, it's also his workload. As a one man unit, he not only writes, records and produces his own singles, but he also mixes, masters and designs the artwork for them too. It's a full time operation that requires 40-60 hours a week, but he keeps going.

And right on schedule he's released "All Good." Over closed hi-hats and backward loops, Amon brushes off disappointment, moving through adversity with casual confidence and a simple affirmation: "stressing 'bout the wrong things, stressing 'bout the wrong things, but it's all good, but it's all good, find blessings for the small things, blessings for the small things, so it's all good, so it's all good."

He sounds focused, grateful and ambitious. He's an artist coming into his own, out for the long haul -- beginning to hit his stride.

J. Smith, aka 1019, is a San Diego native, rap fan and one half of the rap duo Parker & the Numberman. You can follow him on Instagram at 1019_the_numberman or on Twitter

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