Poppin’ up on the spot like a Jack in the Box, Nashville-based rapper and hip-hop producer The Artist Muneer has at least four kids he’s raised to the point they’re not instigating hospital trips. So, he took a minute in 2021 to sit down for a passion project. Consequently, The Artist Muneer’s pin tap and synth-filled nine-track hip-hop debut EP Darkness to Light handles the hassles of local life and making sense of the times, amplified by fatherhood.
Muneer, meaning “the enlightened one” in Arabic, crafted Darkness to Light to be a positive attitude on display, placing it into what the West Nashville scene has dubbed “heal hop,” or bettering one’s community through the healing power of hip-hop from the home front outwards, from the mind to action, in order to produce visible betterment—even if it’s just waving to a neighbor regularly.
Darkness to Light supplies such an anti-pandemia through the optimism and subtle humor of a full-time gangsta-rap Dad staying on top of his game, functioning as a citizen and keeping everyone walking out the front door on time. It works because it’s hard to hide contagious vibes when they are genuine and presented as relatable. That’s “heal hop.”
Darkness to Light may double as therapy for The Artist Muneer, allowing the relentless frustrations of everyday life off his chest—Running out of Similac sucks; media pundits talk static; the whole gangster rap “Off Dis Road” had to have been completely written in the split second a yokel from another county cut him off on a blind I-40 bend heading into Nashville.
Muneer’s garage-mixing tact throughout Darkness to Light reflects influences from all over, from Wyclef Jean’s mellower, guitar-eased, Haitian-American flavor (“Welcome 2 Zion”); Eminem’s rasp and intensity (“Off Dis Road”); DJ Khaled’s tone, flow and whole atmosphere (“Red Dot,” “My People,” “Be Alright”); and even a little Crazy Town made it in somehow (“Dark to Light,” but that’s a guitar-based comparison). His production approach impresses at some points, as in the Danger Mouse-esque “Welcome 2 Zion,” the arresting anticipation and timing in “My People,” and “Red Dot” with its experimental layers, slightly off from one another, that mildly oscillate the chorus vocals. That might have been a pleasant mistake. Though other experimentation gets cluttered at times, too. “Emotions” pushed the audio enough to overpower the lyric, and Muneer’s self-hype chimes in pretty heavy when he is in Khaled mode.
Past that, Darkness into Light stands as a well-rounded and relatable positive gangster-rap EP with hints of Wyclef Jean and some well-placed rock guitar. And, Muneer is hilarious rapping about everyday annoyances, but he also tackles God, guns and drugs, mostly from the viewpoint of the father or the child, which pulls on some heart strings.
It’s hard to contain good coming from the home, uncontrollably spreading outwards into the community, especially when strutting a nurturing mentality. We need someone with a level head.
“It’s not really about making money for me, it’s about making change,” The Artist Muneer states.
Find Darkness to Light on Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube.
