New York rap vanguard Gabe ’Nandez has returned with a new single and video entitled “Cortado,” the latest track to be featured on his forthcoming album H.T. III. The album will be released on September 20 via POW Recordings.
On the cut, ’Nandez cues up a preposterously clever “Wichita Lineman” pitch-shifted sample and populates the instrumental with playful synth riffs and a rumbling bass line. The track is a loose meditation on heartbreak, but like so much of ’Nandez’s work, his gruff, booming voice is the lead character here. Each bar is clever and a reminder that he’s one of the best spitters in the game, but I could listen to this dude rap about grass growing.
He raps about double espressos and Philip Morris cigs, Prosecco, and the cut of his button-down shirt. The video was shot after a life-altering peyote trip in the Mexican desert, which helped fuel his road to emotional recovery.
Regarding the track and video, Gabe explains, “‘Cortado’ was written at the peak of profound heartbreak. This particular song is a standout cathartic moment off of H.T. III, which has a section dedicated to this topic. The video, shot in the hills of the Wirikuta desert a few days after a life altering encounter with Peyote, is now, to me, a symbol of my eventual overcoming of the situation, as it shows me reciting words I wrote at a low point from a high altitude.” Check out the visual below and pre-order H.T. III here.
