King Bry – “The Return” (Video Trilogy)
Johnston, SC native and rising artist King Bry just completed the release of a 3-part visual series, entitled “The Return”, produced by DJ Pain & King Bry himself. After watching the videos and listening to the tracks a few times, I am left in awe as to how strongly King Bry drives home the themes of retrospection, self-analysis, and the power of soul searching.
“The Return Part #1: Truth”
Beginning with “The Return Part #1: Truth”, which is self-produced, the artist focuses on the theme of retrospection, giving us a grimly honest look into the trials and vices that built him. I have a high level of admiration for his level of honesty in this track. On top of well-crafted, piercing delivery, King Bry provides a gentle ensemble of strings, piano, and ambient background vocals that lay lightly behind King Bry’s unapologetically honest words.
The song serves as a slight introduction to the next two songs and with the ‘palms up on the table’ hook, you can see these tracks are going to dive deep: “truthfully I dont respond to hate, ’cause I agree with you / I’m the lamest n**** breathing and it go back to my roots/ see, not the type to sugarcoat my life, I tell the truth/ ever since I can remember, been a weirdo, that’s the truth/ I been awkward since a youth, back when I was 2 plus 2.”
“The Return Part #2: Vision”
Next up in the trilogy is “The Return Part #2: Vision”, which is equipped with a smooth saxophone and classic boom bap drum-kick combo, that ushers onto the continuance of this 3-part journey with King Bry.
In “Vision”, he gives you the introduction to the revelations of his vision. A humble soliquoy, presenting the obstacles faced when trying to walk in your purpose. “See I’m merely a man, what do I know?/ God told me he got a plan and that’s fo’sho/ I had to take you down, spit you out, and bring you low/ had to put you in the dirt, so you can have some room to grow.”
My takeaway from this scripture of King Bry’s piece, is to accept the light and the dark because they are both part of this process of becoming.
“The Return Part #3: Like The Way”
King Bry ends the series with “The Return Part #3: Like The Way”. Highly reminiscent of some of the classic (pre-2013) Wiz Khalifa mixtapes, King Bry floats in over a lighter toned beat, with a short catchy hook, and smooth, comprehensible songwriting.
As the themes of this series seem to revolve around the self-realization that we are or can be, our own worst enemy; verses like, “Where do I go from here/ I thought acknowledging myself would be my biggest fear/ I been trapped inside my darkness yet its crystal clear/ I gotta make some f****n changes to get out’ta here” make this song unavoidably relatable.
Outside of these lines, there are several parts of this song, yet alone “The Return” as a whole, that I relate to on some of the deepest levels of my consciousness in this human experience.
“The Return” video/song trilogy is that look in the mirror that we didn’t know we needed. For those moments that we indeed have to check ourselves, before we wreck ourselves (in the great words of the O.G., Ice Cube).
We are all human and we can all overcome our human conditions and answer our call to greatness, when we return to self and give the world the light that is innate in all of us.
