Hailing from St. John’s, NL, Canadian hip-hop outfit ChessClub drops their sophomore album THESE FLOWERS ARE FOR YOU via URBNET on Friday, February 23, 2018 and will be available on limited edition vinyl LP and CD. The LP features 11 freshly-minted tracks and is available via Bandcamp here, Spotify here, and iTunes here. Watch + share the video for the single “Amelia Earhart” HERE.
St. John’s, Newfoundland is not traditionally known as a hotbed for hip-hop, but for the individual members of ChessClub who grew up there – Andrew Lahey, Matthew Murphy, James Piercey and producer Adrian Gagnon – hip-hop is how they found each other. The four piece now call Toronto home, and with fifteen years of collective writing, musings, and even a few rebirths, ChessClub are all too ready to release their sophomore album, These Flowers Are For You.
In 2014, ChessClub premiered their first self-titled album with Vice magazine’s online music publication, Noisey, and earned themselves an East Coast Music Award (ECMA) nomination. The group are passionate about performing live, and often opt to perform alongside a full band. Throughout their career they have shared the stage with notable acts such as Pharoahe Monch, Shad, Camp Lo, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, The Beatnuts, Slaughterhouse, Belly and RA TheRugged Man.
ChessClub’s blend of traditional and contemporary style carries into These Flowers Are For You, with defined growth and evolution. Expect layers of rich, textured, modern sounding production, married with dense, introspective lyricism, in both traditional rap and melodic vocals. Thematically, the album explores a full range of emotions through the particular lens of each member. Chess Club probes questions about the tension of post-material modern life, and the relationship between growth and decay.
