Track listing: PG Bama (The Go-go Anthem)
I love reviewing music because I get to hear things I would not have come across otherwise. Did I even know the genre of Go-Go before now? Maybe? Maybe not. But Dem Boyz from Gorgeous (featuring Somos Animales) have schooled me. Their track "PG Bama (The Go-go Anthem)" has been on a loop in my office for a while now and I'm soaking it all in. Dropped on March 27, the song is foremost a beautiful "musical vow fulfilled" dedicated to DJ K-la, a deejay who was taken too soon from us by that MF, cancer.
Where this hits home for Dem Boyz from Gorgeous is that the group's executive producer and 'primary conceptual driver' Frank Cisco “STEEL” Anderson is currently also battling the disease. So along with award-winning solo performer/producer/engineer/lyricist Lavell “Magnus” Copeland, the duo have "chosen movement over mourning." Speaking on "PG Bama," they share that the track "draws from the lineage of Go-go as a survival music—music that has always stood its ground in the face of systemic pressure, erasure, and negativity." There's an undeniable energy in the track's production, the horn lick, backing vocals, and lyrical construction.
"'PG Bama' transforms pain into rhythm and remembrance into release...honoring Go-go’s lineage, choosing intention over polish, letting legacy shape the sound."
Dem Boyz from Gorgeous are channeling the sounds of Go-go OG's Chuck Brown ("Bustin' Loose") and the Marcus Miller / Experience Unlimited classic "Da Butt." And they're doing it with a hard focus on their home field of Prince George’s County, Maryland. They explain, "The sound needed to carry the DNA of PG County, heart of the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia)—the bounce, the call-and-response, the communal sweat of live performance."
Impressively, "PG Bama" was recorded in a basement during a blizzard. The group were isolated and focused, not just like any artist who's paying for studio time, but because they were physically blocked off from the outside world. They embraced the imperfections of their situation, creating a track that had some sweat and realism sewn directly into the mix.
What's wonderful about this single is that it's not just beats and lyrics thrown down and released hoping it will gain some traction. Like many great songs, "PG Bama" was born out of deep-seeded emotion, forged with limited resources in during a tough situation. The goal with the track from the get-go has been to honor a treasured human, a long-standing genre, and a particular region of the country in which its inhabitants take a genuine pride in their home and themselves. Check Dem Boyz from Gorgeous on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube.