If Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump and the Clinton’s continue to hold center stage like a C-Span 90s special, I shouldn’t be surprised that my favorite song of the last two weeks is a Sean Kingston single featuring a Three Dog Night sample flip. Naturally, young Kodak is the star of “Lonely,” which reminds me a little bit of Wayne on “La La La” crossed with Boosie on Youngest in Da Camp. If the rest of the 21 and under set are mostly chasing Future, Drake, or Thug, Kodak sounds like he’s chasing ghosts, enemies, and money.
No one this young should sound so alienated and bitter, but the kid from Golden Acres is 19 going on 91. Distant from his friends, trapped in literal and figurative cells, all too aware that everyone moves only for themselves. This is the blues with bigger guns, a teenager reminiscing on how he was just a baby but now he has a child of his own.
This is his last two decades in three minutes: risking the odds every day, ferocious and afraid, flexing but unhappy despite all the newfound fame. An anthem for those moments of duress and fatigue when you recognize that you’re all that you’ve got, so the only answer is to grind harder.
