Up-and-coming Nashville rapper Namir Blade is coming out with a new album called Imaginary Everything entirely produced by L’Orange, who has also produced albums with Marlowe, Jeremiah Jae, Kool Keith and Mr. Lif. It’s due on May 7 via Mello Music Group with guest features from Quelle Chris, Fly Anakin, Marlowe and Jordan Webb.

A music video for their new single “Corner Store Scandal” debuted today that shows Blade playing basketball, running from a cop and waving hundred-dollar bills around in a convenience store. Director Joel Davis states the video is simply meant to offer a “glimpse of the extravagantly zany imagination of Namir Blade.” According to the press release, Blade “wrote this song after making an exuberant purchase at a corner store…sometimes you just have to allow the mundane to be extravagant”

It’s an energetic song with funky guitars and horns on the beat. Blade sings about playing ball and bags full of money, chanting out the chorus, “Run it up/Run it back/Throw it up/Swish/Run amuck/Paint it black/Slytherin/Hiss.”

Imaginary Everything is the follow-up to Namir Blade’s late 2020 album Aphelion’s Travelling Circus, which was executive produced by L’Orange. It will be Blade’s fourth album, and is currently available for pre-order on both CD and vinyl. 

“A sleek and versatile album” are the words that the album’s Bandcamp page uses to describe it, before continuing, “Imaginary Everything’s artistic vision walks the line between reality and imagination. Inspired by Woodstock energy, Foxy Lady, James Brown’s ‘The Big Payback’ & modern underground, Imaginary Everything is a journey and an experience. It channels the spirit of the old with the experiences of modernity. A departure from the nostalgic, narrative driven records from L’Orange, Imaginary Everything is a collection of songs which are individually experiential.”

Namir Blade & L’Orange will both be appearing on Mello Music Group’s upcoming compilation Bushido as well. It’s due to release on April 2, 2021.