Jamil Rashad, better known as Boulevards, released his new studio album Electric Cowboy: Born in Carolina Mud on 11 February 2022 via New West Records imprint Normaltown Records. The 12 tracks on the album were co-produced by Blake Rhein (Durand Jones & the Indications) and Colin Croom (Twin Peaks) and were recorded in Chicago, Nashville en Atlanta. The album also features Adrian Quesada of the Grammy-nominated neo-soul act Black Pumas, Nikki Lane and Macie Stewart.
Electric Cowboy: Born in Carolina Mud is an album full of demons. Rashad sings about some of the same troubles that shook his idols: drug abuse, racism, violence, systemic oppression, professional and romantic self-sabotage. Electric Cowboy doesn’t wallow in the darkness, but counters those tribulations with wild, electric grooves. “On the cover you see a black man on a horse running away from his demons. That’s me. You can hear it all in the songs – struggling with demons and still coming out on top of it all. That’s what funk is! You got some heavy, dark shit, but you also got some joyful compositions, funky basslines, dope harmonies, infectious hooks. So that’s me on the cover, the Electric Cowboy, slaying anything that comes in my path. I gotta keep riding, keep trucking, keep fighting, keep pushing.”
The new single Better Off Dead is an addiction saga featuring vocals by Rashad’s New West labelmate Nikki Lane. It’s an affecting duet, each bringing both a charisma and a world-weariness to their performances. Listen below.