Zane Roessell on March 25th, 2019

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If you were told that some of the freshest sounding music emanating from the internet was helmed by some teenager from the suburbs of San Diego, would you believe it? Didn’t think so.

Enter Jelani Aryeh, the 18-year-old founder of Raised By The Internet, a creative collective comprised of producers, vocalists, rappers, photographers and graphic designers spread internationally from San Diego to the Netherlands, united by a BROCKHAMPTON subreddit forum. In 2017 Aryeh made waves with his genre-defying debut EP “Suburban Destinesia,” immediately drawing a comparison from critics to another creative-collective-by-way-of-fan-page, (and what can only be best described as “meta” in that wondrous millennial vernacular) BROCKHAMPTON, whose members met via KanyeToThe. Parallels aside, the music speaks for itself — a bedroom haze amalgam of hip-hop, R&B, indie, pop and rock that borrows the most distinctive qualities of each, yet retains a unique individuality that evades typification.

Following up on the critical success of his solo EP, Aryeh has released the new single “Union Station” (out now via b4). Jelani says, “‘Union Station’ represents the start of a new journey into the realm of the unknown as we leave our places of security to chase our dreams and follow art. The feeling of talking about something for a long time and having that thing finally manifest itself is powerful and something we can all relate to.” Highly apropos — taking into account the circumstance surrounding its creation. A continuum of the same musical sensibilities that garnered praise for his solo EP, however on “Union Station” Aryeh flexes an expanded vocal range, ambitiously exploring his ability and remaining endearing despite highlighting his limits. 

||| Stream: “Union Station”

||| Also: Stream “Daunt” and “San Clemente”