It’s roughly seven o'clock in the morning in Barrhaven, Ottawa. City Fidelia is tired, as evident by the bloodshot eyes that droop behind his retro horn-rimmed glasses. Pizza Pizza boxes and soft drinks cans are scattered haphazardly across the studio, as the hook from his latest track blares from the speakers and out into the quiet neighbourhood. After numerous days of singing melodies and spitting verses, City and his engineer celebrate the completion of his newest song. It’s a special moment, as this song is the hallmark of his new sound. City, holding a can of Red Bull, does a tw-step and sings along with the newly crafted hook. The only thing keeping him awake now is the relief and excitement of finishing the track and releasing it to the public. However, he knows that the jubilee will be short-lived and sleep isn’t coming his way anytime soon. City has work in an hour, and after work, a 3 hour lecture.
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Last month, approximately a year after his Blindspot mixtape, City released a new single titled "Stress Free," the track that was going to show City’s talent as a full fledged artist, and not just a rapper. The track was released to showcase his new sound and to serve as a preview for the up and coming EP, OldNewFashion: A Pisces World. The single was released on February 22nd. Three days later it totaled 16k plays on Soundcloud, was featured on HotNewHipHop’s Soundcloud channel, and created absolute pandemonium across Ottawa. City was stunned by the reaction he got from the standalone track. “I mean, I knew it was good, but I was really just excited to show people my new sound, because before, people would describe me as the dude who raps over mellow beats. I put that song out to show that I can’t be put in a box, and that I can actually sing”. City describes the song as alternative hip-hop where it embodies classic hip hop, but also incorporates other genres such as jazz, pop, and funk. “Me and Salaam are trying to push hip-hop to another level. We let the audience describe the music as unique, but what we make sure of is that the quality is on point and that always evolve the sound.” From just listening to the song for the first thirty seconds it is evident to hear the boundaries of traditional hip-hop being pushed.
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