HISYDE

Hisyde (Debut CD Review!)

June 1, 2021: First posted on Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews.

June 1, 2021:

Hisyde: Who Is Hisyde (Dirty South Journals) Four Stars **** Distinguished Debut By A New Southern Soul Artist.
I was reminded of the late Reggie P. while reviewing the debut album by Hisyde, Who Is Hisyde? Reggie P's debut was entitled Who Am I?

I'm not going to say Hisyde's debut is as auspicious as Reggie P's---well, yes I am. Reggie's legendary, break-out album was his second long-play, Why Me? Hisyde also reminds me a little of Luster Baker (Vickie Baker's little brother for the old school), who's a musical genius but less career-focused than Hisyde, and of Arthur Young, who is the more accomplished vocalist and writer but lacks Hisyde's producing acumen. That's some pretty elevated company for a debut artist. Hisyde's not a producer per se (he gets the cream of the crop---Beat Flippa, T. Tatum, Eric "Smidi" Smith---to do the work for him), but he understands the importance of getting the best out of every record (something Young still needs to work on), and that's half the battle.

Born in 1979 in El Dorado, Arkansas and raised just down the road in tiny Strong, Arkansas, Sernerick Greer (aka Hisyde) started managing and doing promotional work for a rap group called the Swangaboyz in south Arkansas after graduating from high school. In 2009 he moved to Dallas to pursue a gospel recording contract with gospel producer Flaco Da Great. When Flaco relocated to California, Greer pursued musical studies at Eastfield Community College, interned in "Artist Boot Camp" under engineer/professor Brad Cox and managed Cynithia Walker.

Hisyde published his first southern soul single "Ouchie Coochie" in March of 2019, and followed it up in 2020 with the release of his debut EP Hap Here, containing "Oochie Couchie" and the tunes "Fantasy Man," "Sleepin' Pill" (feat. Chrissy Luvz), "Hap Here" and "The Git Up" (feat. Big Mucci & Rico Cason).

Hisyde first appeared in Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles in June of 2019 with "Sleepin' Pill" featuring Chrissy Luvz. The giddy and disarming "Sleepin' Pill" also gained year-end honors, coming in at #21 on Daddy B. Nice's "Top 25 Singles" as well as propelling Hisyde into a nominee for Best Debut artist of 2019.

Who Is Hisyde? essentially reprises the songs from the Hap Here EP while adding Hisyde's two head-turning, blockbuster singles of 2020 and early 2021, "Is It Ova?" and "For Your Love". The roof-rattling "Is It Ova?", featuring Avail Hollywood and produced by Beat Flippa on his celebrated P.O.T.Y. album, was #1 with a bullet in December of 2020, and the buoyant, swinging "For Your Love," produced by Eric "Smidi" Smith, was #2 in March of 2021 (and the 11th-ranked single of 2020), prompting Daddy B. Nice to comment:

Hisyde is really coming on. Two in a row! "For Your Love" comes at you as easily as Mr. Campbell's "I'm Stepping Out" a couple years ago. This song plus "Is It Ova?" should catapult Hisyde above the rank-and-file for good.

The rambunctious "Is It Ova?" was an outright smash, peopling deejay turntables across the South and not only lifting Hisyde's profile but revitalizing Beat Flippa's mojo. And just as with Chrissy Luvz's inspired vocal on "Sleepin' Pill," Avail Hollywood's turn on "Is It Ova?" was among the King of Grown Folks' best-ever, guest-artist spots, furthering Hisyde's reputation and knack for bringing out the best in his collaborators.

Southern soul devotees may do a double take at "If You Were Mine," a full-fledged country-western single that according to Hisyde has already attracted some attention in Nashville, and proving, like so many before him, that if you can sing southern soul you can sing country.

Of the handful of remaining tracks, there's not another song of which you could say, "This is a sure-fire new southern soul hit single." But there's more than enough to savor just catching up on the last two years of Hisyde's product. Debut albums seldom pack in as many deserving cuts as Hisyde delivers on Who Is Hisyde, and I would rank the not-to-be-missed songs in this order: "For Your Love," "Is It Ova?", "Sleepin' Pill," "Fantasy Man," "Ouchie Coochie," "Hap Here" and "Nookie Now," with the best of the new/unknown cuts the ballad "Yes Maybe No".

Hisyde takes to the road with a host of venues in 2021 including El Dorado and Crossett, Arkansas, Dallas and DeSoto, Texas, Monroe, Richwood and Choudrant, Louisiana, with big-city stops in Atlanta and Detroit, and if his official video to "For Your Love" is any indication, he should be great in concert.

---Daddy B. Nice - Southern Soul RnB

HiSyde to perform Southern soul at MAD tonight
Strong native headlining first show at First Financial Music Hall by Matthew Hutcheson | August 26, 2021 at 4:00 a.m.

HiSyde will perform at the First Financial Music Hall tonight at 8 p.m. (Contributed) - Eldorado News Time

Despite the ever-present calls for “real” country music and condemnation of what many listeners deem to be “pop country,” the truth is that as time and culture have progressed, so has the sound. Country music is no different than any other genre in that it has seen many trends come and go as the music has evolved. The same listeners who condemn pop country tend to happily enjoy artists like Luke Bryan, whose catalog boasts hits with strong pop influences such as “That’s My Kind of Night.” With country music, the unwritten rule seems to be that nontraditional country music influences are welcome, so long as they are coming from an approved source.

While pop country has been frowned upon, the idea that hip-hop could or would fuse with country has been downright shunned. The country music industry has long kept the gate shut against the inclusion of Black people in all facets of the mainstream industry. Their influence, however, has always been present. Contemporary hitmakers like Sam Hunt, Florida Georgia Line and Colt Ford have embraced hip-hop influences in their music and seen monstrous success in doing so. What’s been missing from the industry is Black people — the originators, heart and soul of hip-hop — to assert hip-hop influences within the genre.

Recently, notorious country music artist Morgan Wallen found success in a collaboration with rapper Lil Durk. While some would expect this as a next step for a genre that’s being forced out of its comfort zone, the reality is that it’s a perpetuation of the harm caused by the genre to an entire culture — not to mention that Black people played a major role in the birth of country music, and Wallen hurt their descendants by using the N-word. To Black listeners, the move felt like a smoke screen for Wallen’s bad behavior. Collaborations that are little more than public relations maneuvers are no step forward. But there is something else new and exciting happening in the country realm.

As the movement for a more inclusive country music landscape plows forward and grows louder, Black artists are becoming more vocal about their appreciation for country music and are reclaiming their right to craft it in new and exciting ways. Some are not only incorporating hip-hop influences but also thoroughly blending the genres from an authentic perspective.

Hisyde
Hisyde

In 2019, Lil Nas X planted the seeds for the emerging movement, using his internet marketing mastery to create a viral hit with “Old Town Road.” While the country music industry actively fought against it, the song saw worldwide success and no doubt inspired many of the cross-genre projects that artists are now making. “I do think [Lil Nas X’s influence] is here to stay as long as it is conducive and beneficial to the culture of the genre,” says Dallas artist Hisyde. “Take Jimmie Allen and Nelly [collaborating], Kane Brown and H.E.R. It’s here to stay. All it needed was a window of opportunity.”

After spending years working behind the scenes in music, in 2021 Hisyde stepped to the front of the stage with a unique sound that melds country, hip-hop, blues and soul. For Hisyde, it’s a natural expression of the way he sees himself.

“When I decided to infuse hip-hop, blues, gospel, R&B into country, it wasn’t that I wanted to create a new version, or create a ripple in the much-beloved genre that would take away from the art of country music,” he says. “I was just introducing my country music fans and supporters to my life — to my upbringing, the rich history and culture that is the core essence of who I am. I am hip-hop, I am blues, I am R&B, I am soul, I am gospel, I am country.”

While it may appear at first glance that these experimentations with the genre will forever live on the fringes, Hisyde predicts a shift. “I think that the newer generation of country music listeners long for their favorite hip-hop or R&B artist to be infused with country,” he says. Still, he acknowledges that the willingness of listeners to embrace something new may not be enough. “But as in all industries, there are invisible rules and influences that determine what is acceptable and who gets to introduce it to mainstream country.”

The woman behind “Big Ole Wagon” — a hip-hop/country crossover track that racked up hundreds of thousands of plays on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok — was surprised to find such a large audience. “It was honestly an experiment,” says Houston-based Chiyanti. “I just wanted to do something different. Wasn’t expecting people to go for it this much.” The song is undeniably hip-hop, with a fun, upbeat sound behind clever and confident lyrics. It’s also undeniably country, emphasized by expert fiddle licks from Dominique Hammons.

Though hip-hop, pop and R&B influences are not new to country music, what is new is the fact that Black artists are leading the charge. There have not been many Black artists welcomed into the country music industry over time. When they did attempt to gain acceptance, they were warned that they needed to behave and make music in a certain way. In a 2020 interview with CNN, Mickey Guyton recalled being told that she needed to make sure her songs sounded country and did not sound like R&B. Chiyanti was aware of this double standard and decided to push forward anyway.

“That honestly was a concern in the back of my mind, like, ‘This isn’t traditional country,’ ” she says. “Will they even accept it as country, or welcome it in the genre? But I just said, ‘I don’t have time to worry, just do it. I’m a creative, I can’t limit myself.’ If I want to do it, I’m going to do it.”

Artist and Apple Music Radio host Breland has laid out a blueprint for what these artists might hope to achieve. After a successful career in hip-hop and R&B, Breland began experimenting with blending those sounds into country music back in 2019, following the success of “Old Town Road.” His song “My Truck” was a sensation. “I was aware of the fact that the biggest record of all time is a country-trap song by an unknown artist from Atlanta and now no one else is putting out songs that sound like that,” Breland told The New York Times back in 2020. “Wide open. Why on earth would I not give it a shot.” Since then, mainstream country has welcomed Breland. He’s collaborated with country chart-toppers like Dierks Bentley and Keith Urban — proving that the intuition he used to develop his sound was spot-on.

The call for “real” country music has revealed itself to be nothing more than a weapon against the diversifying of the genre. Black artists are beginning to say “no more.” If the goal is an authentic sound, artists like Chiyanti and Hisyde are giving compelling examples of what that could be. And they’re doing it in exciting ways that have the potential to reach a much wider audience than the industry typically markets to. - Nashville Scene