Fort Worth Drummer Clint Kirby Links With Arlington Rapper Justin Christopher For A Genre-Blending Introduction To His Compellingly Collaborative Mindset.

Welcome to Song of the Day, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By highlighting one new North Texas-sprung tune every week day, our hope is that you’ll find something new to love about the rich and abundant DFW music scene five days a week.

Clint Kirby — “She Said”
RIYL: chilling late at night after a long day of loudness
What else you should know: Fort Worth artist and producer Clint Kirby’s just-released three-song Distractions EP is an infectious blend of hip-hop, R&B and soul.

Over the years, Kirby has worked with artists like Bonnie Bishop, Ryan Tharp, Jacob Furr and Bryce Merritt, and the prolific work he’s tracked translates well to the his “She Said” cut that opens his new EP.

With buzzing Arlington emcee Justin Christopher on vocal duty, Kirby supplies all the music. Over his loose and bouncy groove, Christopher zips through his rhymes, blending classic hip-hop styles with spoken-word. Kirby’s  influences of Robert Glasper and Roy Hargove are pretty evident here, too — and in a good way, at that.

With a piano line coming in halfway into the two-minute (and change) track, there’s a counter-rhythm Kirby plays that gives the song some breath. Just don’t call it a smooth jazz and hip-hop mash-up; more or less, this is R&B married with a steady flow.

Kirby says his new project was intended a a means for him to showcase “the artists that share his creative philosophy,” and that he hopes to collaborate with additional R&B and hip-hop artists in the future. Distractions, he says, is very much just the beginning.

In the meantime, catch Kirby — and plenty of his friends — at his monthly hip-hop, jazz, and R&B residency on the second Wednesday of each month at Fort Worth’s Magnolia Motor Lounge.

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