Los Angeles battle rap vet Nocando has returned with a new full-length project called Severed, an 11-track journey into the pain he was experiencing throughout his split with the mother of his three children. With monster features from Sean “Slug” Daley of Atmosphere, Aceyalone of Freestyle Fellowship/Project Blowed fame and U.K. rap legend Ghetts, the album is a staunch departure from the ego-fueled battle raps that kicked off Nocando’s career. But sometimes — life just happens.
“I made ‘Severed’ at a time when my relationship with my wife — my high school sweetheart and the mother of my three children — was coming to an end,” Nocando explained in a press release. “This was right around the time the rap crew side of my record Label Hellfyre Club began to disband and when I split from my business partners at Low End Theory of more than a decade. Plus, I was broke as fuck. The songs on ‘Severed’ are more personal, more vulnerable than anything I’d made before. The battle rap braggadocio that I held dear for so many years melted away. Every piece of my personal life was ripped apart and rearranged. I had no choice but to rebuild from the ground up.”
Overall, Severed is a record about one man losing hope in everything and everyone, including himself, and also serves as one of Nocando’s most powerful albums to date.
Check out the album stream, cover art and tracklist below, and cop the album here.
- Severed f. Jimetta Rose & Dream Panther
- Salty (prod. Curtiss King)
- El Camino (prod. Jack Jr)
- Wize Words f. Otherwise
- Bodied f. Ghetts (prod. Jack Jr)
- Mykraphone Myk (prod. Elusive)
- Say Yes (Prod. Elusive)
- Useless f. Slug of Atmosphere
- Villain f. Troop (prod. Dead Boy Yo)
- Sick f. Aceyalone & Tru (prod. Dead Boy Yo)
- Sus Lord (Ooh) (prod. Elusive)
