Maintaining palpable momentum this summer, rising artist and musical innovator Zzz. unveils a new single and music video entitled “U & I” featuring Stunna Gambino and Jehaki, available now via Warner Records.
Zzz., Stunna Gambino, and Jehkai unlock uncontainable chemistry as they trade bars back and forth atop otherworldly production punctuated by delicate piano and loose beat-craft. Billowing through a plume of smoke, their interplay gives way to an emotional and entrancing refrain, “Running through the world, just so I can shine. 8 billion in the world, it’s just U & I.” In the accompanying visual, these three buzzing outliers cruise the city in a white Rolls Royce. They turn up around town, spitting rhymes on the rooftop of a metropolitan parking lot. The grainy footage and nighttime backdrop seamlessly evoke the hazy and hypnotic mood of the track.
Just last week, he dropped “Running Away.” It has continued to pick up traction on DSPs. He initially teased “Running Away” on Soundcloud, reeling in north of 5.6 million streams and over 106k “likes” on the platform.
It notably arrived on the heels of “Sad & Alone” with Trippie Redd. The latter has already accumulated over 2.9 million Spotify streams and 672K YouTube views on the music video. Attracting plugs from the likes of Hip-Hop Wired and more, Sheesh Media proclaimed, “For both artists, the track is a testament to the versatility that each provides in an attempt to explore new styles within their niche genre of sound,” and Our Generation Music hailed it as “a swooning medley of emo-rap bliss.”
“Sad & Alone” was the first new music from Zzz. in 2023. It follows after the two-track release of “How Does It Feel” and “Mile High” late last year, two songs bursting with incredible lyricism and astounding production. They were preceded by the 20-year-old’s major-label debut single “All I Never Wanted,” a piano-centric track introducing a uniquely gifted artist to the world.
Although still new to the music game, Zzz. already has the poise and presence of a seasoned rapper and singer. For some time now, he has been aggressively perfecting his sound, cultivating a particularly powerful lyrical quality to his soulful sounds. That culminated in “running away.,” which went viral early in 2022. The track notched up more than 4 million plays on SoundCloud and broke into the top 25 of the SoundCloud charts.
Download/Stream:
All Platforms: https://zzz.lnk.to/UandI
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/u-i-single/1697117699
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4WkQCXEpxT1gDqSWiVh0Of
Follow Zzz.:
Instagram: @zzz.sammm
TikTok: @zzz.sammm
Twitter: @zzzsammm
Running through the storm just so I can shine
Eight billion in the world but it’s just you and I
Lyrics:
Chorus: Zzz.
Life doesn’t end
‘Cause when I dream, I know I’m gon’ fly (I will fly)
Still gon’ try if I fail every time
Nineteen years old but lived a hunnid lives
Tears, they grow to trees when my mama cried
Songs that made a way when my parents fight
Running through the storm just so I can shine
Eight billion in the world but it’s just you and I
Verse 1: Stunna Gambino
Nineteen, I signed that deal, hopped in that suicide
Ugh, fuckin’ on this lil’ hood bitch in her Uber rides
She twenty-five, she bartend, shorty been through a lot
She keep tryn’ take pics with my chain, we been through this now
Way too many times, baby, we been through this
Why you waste my time? Why you actin’ foolish?
I’m in the trenches, I can’t sleep, this shit get spooky
Me and Z slide in Cullinans, this shit a movie
Tears fallin’ from the face of my mama eyes
They drop Chrome Heart feathers everytime a Vulture fly
Used to pray for times like this
Ain’t want to see me ball, stood on all tens
Chorus: Zzz.
Life doesn’t end
‘Cause when I dream, I know I’m gon’ fly (I will fly)
Still gon’ try if I fail every time
Nineteen years old but lived a hunnid lives
Tears, they grow to trees when my mama cried
Songs that made a way when my parents fight
Running through the storm just so I can shine
Eight billion in the world but it’s just you and I
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Verse 2: Jehkai
Runnin’ coupe, take off the roof
I tell her get inside
I can’t see no other girl, it’s only U & I
Try and hit the kitty rock, see what it feel like to me
People inside the city, it’s only U & I
Travelin’ speed, 80,000 cash, Jerry Rice
You lick it good ,you gave me warning, baby fuck me right
Lick it and spit on the cab, 50 on this top
Christian Louis red bottoms, thank the cops
Life always gotta end
So I can open the door with suicide
Fuckin’ with your friend
It ain’t fun if you can’t share the night
Chorus: Zzz.
Life doesn’t end
‘Cause when I dream, I know I’m gon’ fly (I will fly)
Still gon’ try if I fail every time
Nineteen years old but lived a hunnid lives
Tears, they grow to trees when my mama cried
Songs that made a way when my parents fight
Running through the storm just so I can shine
Eight billion in the world but it’s just you and I
About Zzz.:
Zzz. makes heartbroken ballads for the terminally online. The Miami singer/rapper’s songs are powered by the frenetic attention spans of the internet age, blending melodic emo-rap, bristling pop-punk, and colorful anti-pop experiments. His breakout 2022 hit “Running Away” distills the magnetism of his work into a little over two minutes. It’s relatable and real, which has earned the 18-year-old a lot of listeners in a short time. The track has notched 4 million plays on SoundCloud and reached the top 25 of the platform’s charts. Now he’s newly signed to Warner Records and working with a host of A-list producers and collaborators. The young Sam Zelaya has only been recording songs for a few years, and he’s only really been active since the early days of the pandemic. Because his mother has underlying health conditions, he spent over a year locked in his house. Bursting with the emotions from this intense experience, he recorded 7 or 8 tracks each day, each capturing a specific element of what he was feeling at the time. Sam’s savviness eventually got him on the radar of Chicago rapper and label executive Lil Bibby, who was impressed enough to offer the young rapper a deal with his Grade A Productions. As he works on new music, he’s put his work ethic front and center. He claims to now have more than 200 unreleased songs in the vault, evidence of his grind and that his recent success isn’t enough. He won’t stop until he’s reached everyone who feels as intensely as he does.