“The Real One” aka Toronto-based artist Matthew Progress has released “Digital Underground” the latest single from his forthcoming debut album God Made Dirt. A stark departure from the album’s previous singles (“Gen Pop”, “Doc Neville”) which were more concerned with politically and socially-focused matters, “Digital Underground” instead sees Matthew exploring the freeing power of sexual liberation.
Evoking the feel and sensation of an acid trip, “Digital Underground” is a psychedelic slice of new age funk, harkening back to the work of OutKast, Parliament-Funkadelic, Rick James and The Free Nationals, but re-imagined in a way that falls in line with Matthew’s trademark sense of menace and darkness. Its classic-sounding bass lines are paired with sensibilities skewing more electronic, that are further elevated by Matthew’s pitched up vocals.
“While making 'God Made Dirt', Dan Only and I were inspired by various forms of psychedelic music like OutKast’s Stankonia, which we consider a psychedelic Hip-Hop classic. I felt moved to write about sexual liberation as a source of personal power and alignment with the divine. To me, that was best illustrated in story form.” - Matthrew Progress
Narrating the scene of an orgy, the Dan Only (River Tiber, a l l i e) produced track, Matthew offers a detailed, first-person description of the encounter. The track’s chorus is a philosophical call to action, urging listeners to, when possible, choose love (or sex) over violence. Over the course of three minutes, Matthew urges listeners to unlearn and rid themselves of unhealthy doctrine they’ve been taught about owning one’s sexuality and body.
*Digital Underground marks the third single release from Matthew’s full length debut album God Made Dirt (Pirates Blend) and will hit streaming services and digital retailers on November 24th.
Composed of nine tracks, the project is a lyric-forward multi-genre mosaic that toggles between abstract Hip-Hop, punk, electronica, trap and psychedelic influences. The entire album has been produced in collaboration with Dan Only. Through an apocalyptic end-of-days lens God Made Dirt explores the internal human dialogue between the divine and the primal self. On this intuitive journey through an ominous and gritty dimension – Earth 2023 – Progress rejects doctrine and fully embraces human complexity. He invites listeners to align with ancestors in the cosmos, resist authoritarianism, prepare for inevitable violence, claim sexual liberation while celebrating death and decay. The project's lead single "Gen Pop", a valiantly genre-less and poignant treatise on existential dread and communal degradation gained support from COLORS, and UK DJ's Mary Anne Hobbs and Jamz Supernova who both played it on their respective BBC Radio 6 Music shows.