Undoubtedly my favorite new artist find of the year, JASMINEGOLD has blown me away with each of their releases. My first taste of the Florida duo came in March with “Conscious,” the perfect introduction to their alternative approach to hip-hop, and followed that up with “Broadcast” in May. However, their latest single “Backseat Driver” might just be my favorite one yet.

Over groove inducing production led by a piercing guitar line, KJ kicks off the first verse with an animated delivery, even taking a moment to chuckle to himself. He introduces the song as a conversation between him and the other half of JASMINEGOLD, David Nights, describing the tumultuous downfall to a relationship he recently ended as the two drive around town. The occasional murmur of acknowledgement from David can be heard in the background, before context around the day’s events are given as KJ raps, “And now I’m with you, smoking, and drinking / Talking about what we finna do.”

They go on to trade bars, poking fun at each other while KJ reminisces of an old lover, rapping, “She even even told me when I had a corny flow” to which David responds, “Man, you always got the corny flows,” before KJ ends it by saying, “You know your beats sound like Pac-Man.” The back and forth continues until a sudden swerve of the car causes a stark mood change, as the backseat drivers can’t prevent David’s reckless driving, leading to David taking over the second half of the song. 

JASMINEGOLD are building towards their debut album Serpent, set to release on July 27, and if their string of singles are any indication of what is in store, then this will be sure to fly up the album of the year charts. Check out “Backseat Driver” below:

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