All you ask from a new artist is that they be themselves. If the music is genuine, that’s all that matters. No poses. Rapper Dylan Owen doesn’t hide behind an image or persona on his debut album There’s More to Life. Growing up in upstate New York, he simply makes music about his own upbringing, and his introspective take on hip hop will remind some of the narratives created by Mike Skinner of the Streets. That characteristic shines through on “Glory Years”, in which he writes eloquently, “Making out in UFOs at the Orange County Fair / Made me feel like something from another world would save us / Or some great tragedy would come along to turn my pages.” He’s just released a video for the track.
“This song summarizes the message of There’s More to Life,” Owen says. “We haven’t had the best years of our lives yet, and that’s okay, I’m confident that they’re still to come. I perform the song while trapped in a dusty room filled with special memories and future hopes, like a decaying love letter, a map of the world, and old photographs. An elderly man who reminisces back on his life alongside a snowy lake could be me in the future or anybody who never had the years they always hoped for. Lastly, I drag a knight mask made of real armor up on a long hill. That mask is my protection over innocence or growing up, and I have to let it go because it weighs so heavily on me.”
There’s More to Life is out now.