Welcome yet again to another #DARKHORSE/#KELEGii presentation. Glad you’ve decided to take the time to stop by. Whatever influence; the universe, the secret, higher intelligence, luck- possibilities are many, but whatever it was that brought you here, I’m grateful nonetheless. Whatever it was that brought you here, I’m confident that it was not in vain.

Tonight, I have a record that’s backed by the most unlikely story of any one I’ve worked on before. It’s actually pretty funny, so make sure you’re sitting down when you read this.. It’s not that funny, but have a seat anyway because it’s long haha..

Typically, I get a good amount of correspondence each day, in different forms. The amount is not too overwhelming, but it’s not just a few either. Here and there I get inquiries about collaborations, but for one reason or another, they don’t always pan out. In fact, most of them only become so much as a thought before they dissipate into the air from whence they came. In this particular case, with #MannOne, it was the exact opposite. Mann resides half way across the world on the continent of Australia, but because of the internet, lucky stars and drunk confidence, he was able to connect with me. YES, my friends, you read right- my dude was tipsy when he sent me the snippet that begot this whole song haha..

He had sent me a video of his recording session and even through that recording, I could sense right away that the song was ALREADY a great one, even without me. From there, I immediately hit him back to let him know that I was interested. Now, after a lil’ bit of time & work on the song, here we are with its release.

Because of where I’m from (#UTAH), I tend to forget just how big the world is. Just when I thought I had a grasp on it, I’m corrected by reality, and in this case, reality is that I have brethren at a great distance doin’ exactly what I’m doin’. Mann and I are both of Polynesian (Tongan) descent, but outside of that, he and I are worlds apart in more ways than just distance. With this specific joint, I was hoping to find a balance between both worlds by countering his delivery, which is in our native tongue, by gettin’ at it the way I would get at any other record- but still compliment his take at the same time. This was our result. As an artist that strives to be versatile, I’m hoping that this song shows just that, the pride I have in my ethnicity and in my country (USA).

It was a fun record to create to- and I believe it’s the FiRST of its kind for me. Mann One went all the way in on the song, so it was only right that I meet him on the same level. And again, KELEGii came through with the amazing artwork- very grateful to have the uso in my corner. That goes for YOU as well, listener. I’ll have another one for you not too long following this release, so please stay with me as you have. ’Til then, my friends. UP n’ UP!