BANNI, the 23 year-old sovereign artist was born in Trinidad and raised in Brooklyn where he would develop an understanding of the relationship between sound and emotion. With this love for music, a rich Caribbean heritage and the perfect location–the very city hip-hop calls home–BANNI has been able to curate a sound that is best described as raw and intoxicating. “All of [my] music is self-talk” says the budding artist, “cause this shit is not easy, and I wanna be able to inspire someone to do something.” This relationship, between sounds and emotions, between music and inspiration, is one he is very intentional with during his creative process. “I call everything I make soul music” he says. “Whether I’m rapping, singing or screaming I just want to make people feel something”. In fact, BANNI’s projects, if anything, should be understood as not just a bunch of songs, but “a fucking movement”. His love for the creative-learning process and sonic-experimentation is easy to understand when one listens to the driving beats and rumbling vocals on his debut-album CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT [2022], where BANNI journeys through unleashing his most expressive self. BANNI’s latest album, HILLSIDE, released on May 7th, 2023 and explores the mind of a young man who was raised in a jungle ruled by ravaging wolves, as suggested by the stunning album art. In it, the value of patience, and impatience are evaluated as the young man tries to make something of the cards he was dealt.