Johnny Cosmic Releases New Single ‘Kingdom’ with The Movement
Before you do anything, please listen to Johnny Cosmic’s incredible new song featuring The Movement — I promise it’s better and more interesting than anything I have to say here. Go on, I’ll wait :)
Johnny Cosmic (with The Movement) — Kingdom
It’s hard to believe that just ten years ago most of us didn’t know who Johnny Cosmic was. He wasn’t playing sold-out shows around the world with Stick Figure yet, and didn’t have his name on songs and albums that were being streamed tens of millions of times.
No, 10 years ago he was just a kid that lived outside Chicago, producing music in his room, playing music with his friends, and dreaming big. But to people who really know Johnny, it’s no surprise to them seeing the success that he enjoys today.
It’s always fascinating to me learning about someone’s journey — not just where they are currently, but where they came from. To paraphrase a conversation I enjoyed recently with Johnny’s long-time friend and former bandmate Patrick Tuggle (P. Tugz) of Too Hype Crew, Patrick said,
“Johnny is special man — we’ve always seen the raw talent he possesses, and he was constantly the guy who could take a production to the next level by adding something that never would’ve crossed anyone else’s mind. He’s also one of the hardest working guys I know — he used to tell me that we always had to be really prepared to make big moves in case a good opportunity came up.”
This helps explain why in a relatively short amount of time, Johnny Cosmic has become something of a legend in what most would refer to as the “Cali Reggae” scene. While he earns a lot of well-deserved acclaim as the touring guitar player for Stick Figure, it’s his production magic in the studio that really has everyone talking.
Just this past year he’s worked with Stick Figure, Collie Buddz, SOJA, Trevor Hall, Anthony B, The Elovaters, Bumpin Uglies, KBong, The Movement, Vana Liya, and so many more (you didn’t really think I was going to mention myself in there with those legends, did you? 😎) Hell, it seems like every time a new song comes out his name is on there, and that’s always a really, really good thing for us listeners.
So you can imagine my excitement when he messaged me a few months ago saying that he was working on a brand new song of his own featuring The Movement.
“Dude, you gotta hear this verse that Josh spit on there”, said Johnny’s voice excitedly on the other end of the line. “I’m going to send you a rough copy of it.”
As I blasted the song on my studio monitors, Cosmic’s intentional, spacey layers of melody and rhythm washed over me, and I fell into the usual zenned-out state of mind I feel whenever I listen to his jams. When it came time for Josh’s verse, I could feel myself leaning forward in my chair, and focusing intently as his jaggedly beautiful voice cut through the mix.
I love Josh’s voice; I love Josh’s songwriting; I love his powerful melodies and masterful flow. But what he did on this tune absolutely blew my mind in the best way possible — I had to keep rewinding it and listening over and over again, as it sounded almost like Eminem hopped on there and spit a verse on this beautiful reggae tune.
In short, I’m not surprised at all by how much I love this new Cosmic tune, as this seems to be my reaction to all of his tunes, and I know that’s not by accident. In my personal experience, having both worked professionally and just casually hung out with Johnny, he is one of those rare people who radiates humbleness, humility, happiness, and unrivaled chill, but who also has a nearly unmatched work ethic, pays glorious attention to detail, and I’m not really sure how to best describe this last part, but he truly gets music; he feels it in his soul, and knows when something needs to be added, taken away, and has the ability to see potential even in what might be an extremely rough version of a song.
Johnny, as always, amazing job. Keep living your dreams out. I’m forever grateful my path crossed with such an awesomely talented person, musician, mentor, and friend. I think a lot of people reading this will share this sentiment with me: Thank you for all the incredible music you put out for the world to enjoy 🙏
