Premiere: New Jersey Hip-Hop Artist RMS’ Soulful New Video for ‘I’m Here With U’
The Indian-American rapper dove into production at the age of 12
New Jersey Indo-American artist RMS aka Rohan Sridharan. Photo: Courtesy of Pug Life Records
One of the most pleasant surprises on hip-hop artist RMS’ new song “I’m Here With U” (released in July) arrives right at the end, with New Jersey-based Indo-American artist Rohan Sridharan introducing a cappella horn section, carrying it off with class.
The rapper and producer says he was introduced to the technique years ago by musician friend and collaborator Riti Suresh. RMS adds, “For this song, I actually did that acapella horn solo in the outro thinking I would eventually replace it with a real instrument, but it sounded dope so I kept it. Anyone who’s heard my music knows I love a good outro section, so I figured I’d do something unique for this song that sat nicely on top of those Rhodes.”
The soulful pledge to stick around and stay faithful arrives on the back of several releases since 2018, including EPs such as Faith in the Future and Impatience. The 21-year-old first began getting into production at the age of 12, inspired by film soundtracks and scores and says he put out his first mixtape in 2016. He says about his evolution, “[…] As I’ve matured I’ve tried to better bridge conceptual records with real emotion and grounded language. I still love to build worlds and carry concepts, but I want it to be a message that actually reaches the audience, resonates with them, and even comforts them. That was the central motivation behind the writing style for ‘I’m Here With U’. A transparent and honest audio journal that speaks about cultural stigmas, trauma, and reassurance.”
Graduated this year from the University of Maryland, RMS has made more inroads in that scene (“I’m Here With U” was co-produced by his former roommate Brody) than in New Jersey. RMS points to the success of rapper Austin Kassabian aka AK as one of the more recent signs of encouragement in Jersey. It’s spurred on more interest for RMS in matters of business decisions, branding and more. “People like that motivate me to stay on my path as an independent artist. Part of the grind is getting involved in every element of it too, from production to mixing to filming and content creation. ”
Watch the video for “I’m Here With U” below.
