Tornup & BLKrKRT's "Hologram Zoo Vol. 1: The Crypt"

"I wanted change so bad."

It takes a big person to admit that you tried and failed. It takes a bigger one to get up and try again.

Back in 2016, multi-racial rapper Tornup's unremittingly optimistic (and Fort Worth-centric) opus Utopian Vanguard (Heart of the Funk) dropped on Election Day -- a postcard from the ass-end of the Obama era that got swept away in the torrent of stochastic terror that followed. His 2019 release, You Will Never Understand (The State of the Soul), took on nothing less than the prison industrial complex, and won "Album of the Year" honors from FW Weekly, for what it's worth. 

But last year's killings by police of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and, closer to home, Atatiana Jefferson -- just three names in a litany that's long and ongoing -- jarred the consciousness of a nation locked down by a pandemic that too many still deny. It was as clear as the sting of tear gas and the report of a flash bang that Black Americans remain the unwanted reminder of this country's unfulfilled promise. Art can catalyze, but it takes action, sustained for generations, to bring about lasting change.

Hip-hop's a social music, but denied the outlet of a live audience, Tornup went back to the well, dug deep, and came up with his most developed concept yet. The Crypt is the first volume of a projected trilogy, with a story line that revolves around a trio of venture capitalists who create an app that brings dead Black artists back to virtual life. Their scheme brings them into conflict with a deceased rapper whose last will and testament called for the erasure of his digital footprint. It's a virtual radio play that requires deep listening, so you'll want to sit down and tune out distractions for the first few spins.