Jeff Chery - Magic

With the relentless grind up-and-comers must undertake to lay the groundwork for musical success, a little burnout is virtually inevitable—even Booth favorite Pay$0z has days when he starts to think “...the Magic‘s gone.”  Recorded earlier this week and making its exclusive world premiere right here at DJBooth.net, this track is something of a paradox; for a downbeat record about losing one’s inspiration, it’s surprisingly, uh, inspired.  Lee Major and Joel Montana‘s bluesy boardwork sets the stage for rhymes that, despite the convincingly downtrodden delivery, are as vivid and clever as anything we’ve heard from Pay, and the hook, which blends a vintage soul sample with guest singer Shyrron Anthony‘s equally impassioned backing vocals, is both crushing and explosively uplifting.  If the rapper is truly as bummed as this record suggests (feel better!), I can only conclude that Pay on a bad day is worlds better than most artists on a good day—it’s certainly among his best features to date.  This powerful cut is sure to leave fans even hungrier for the emcee’s Booth-co-sponsored Against the Grain LP, set to hit our front page later this summer.