TOP NEW INDIE POP: FRANK LEONE - HUFFING PAINT

Super-young, super-ambitious Frank Leone is finally back after a long hiatus to drop his melancholic hip-hop track called “Huffing Paint.”  We Are: The Guard unpacks all of the nitty-gritty details.

FRANK LEONE - HUFFING PAINT

Not far removed from performing in front of his peers while in university, this Illini has already made his rounds via the internet. Frank Leone isn't someone who is afraid of mixing some vocal melodies seamlessly into his rap numbers. He is extremely versatile, mixing this sing-rap style into various, sometimes surprising, instrumentals. Take a listen to “SUPERTRAMP USA,” that is discombobulated and wayward. Now, compare that with the loungey, soft-listening track, “LOSER.” Calling it night and day doesn't seem to bring justice its differences.

After nearly a year of being ho-hum, “Huffing Paint” is a song dedicated to his friend and how he took his own life. This is a contemplative track that seems to a nice, indirect sequel to Logic's hit about suicide-prevention. Talking about such a subject could be a downer for the rest of us, but Leone definitely makes light of a dark situation by poetical tackling a very morbid topic.

Leone can spit rhymes onto any music, and then change paces by finishing the track with and melodic flourish. With this guy, you never know what you are going to get next.