NaeemCover_Startisha

Naeem (fka Spank Rock) preps debut LP, shares "Simulation" ft. Justin Vernon & Swamp Dogg

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Naeem (aka Naeem Juwan, formerly Spank Rock) has announced Startisha, his first album for Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon’s 37d03d, which will be out June 12. The record was made in Philadelphia, New York, and at Vernon’s home studio in Minneapolis, and contributors include Ryan Olson (Gayngs, Polica), Swamp Dogg, Velvet Negroni, Francis and the Lights, and old friends/collaborators Amanda Blank and Micah James. “I’ve been really blessed to have Naeem come into my life because of the wonderful events of the first PEOPLE event in Berlin at the Michelberger hotel,” says Vernon. “He has become a great friend and I’ve gone back now since meeting him and seen what true mark he left on the city of Baltimore and its music scene today. I feel very thankful to have been a part of the making of this record.”

Startisha includes his cover of Silver Apples’ “You & I” and woozy new single, “Simulation,” which features Vernon and Swamp Dogg. “I had been reading a few books, such as Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art, and they helped me solidify feelings I’ve had all of my life about surviving a society of institutions that presents fictions as fact, and often use these fictions to diminish my worth, or to convince me to join their gangs,” says Naeem of the track. “I wrote this song to remind myself, and hopefully everyone that hears it, that nothing is real, and our greatest defense in this life is our own creativity, and finding great faith in whatever sigils and icons we choose to guide us.” You can watch the video for “Simulation” below.

NaeemCover_Startisha

Startisha tracklist:
1. You & I
2. Simulation (Feat. Swamp Dogg & Justin Vernon)
3. Let Us Rave (Feat. Velvet Negroni)
4. Woo Woo Woo (Feat. Amanda Blank, Micah James)
5. Us
6. Stone Harbour
7. Right Here
8. Startisha
9. Tiger Song