WESTBURY rapper and electronic dance music producer Tom Hendry, AKA R.E.P, has released a new album called Legacy of a Country Vegetable that details his life experiences.
The album touches on his struggles with Tourette’s Syndrome and his time at school as well as diving into his love life, and Tom says that his latest work has already surpassed the streams of his first album, Fallen.
Tom explained, “Each of the 11 tracks on the new album features a different story of my life experiences, including my struggles with Tourette’s and ADHD. The album is a mixture of subject matter, ranging from documenting troubles in school years, all the way up to personal loss and falling in and out of love.
“This album is a show of rhyming skills and life lessons and I think it is a major improvement on my debut Fallen LP from last spring. This latest addition received ten times more listens online in its first month on Soundcloud than the last one had in a whole year.”
The sixth track on the album (Turn Back The Clock) hit over 1,100 listens in the first 48 hours.
Tom added, “This one looks at being in my thirties and glancing back to much younger years with the realisation that often our days of what appear to be mostly suffering could one day be seen by us as the good old days. Or, as the chorus in this one says: ‘I kinda wish I could turn back the clock, ‘cus you never know half of what you’ve got ‘til the time when it’s actually lost!
“The album begins with the intro track (Vegetable), which acts not only as a doorway into the structure of the album but also as an overview of the following ten tracks, summing up what the Legacy album is and why I have spent a whole 12 months crafting it and also what it represents to me as an artist.”
Tom describes Legacy of a Country Vegetable as a form of black comedy. He explained, “The songs are typically deadly serious but, at the same time, often amusing in another light. However, the album reaches an uplifting finale in an eleventh track expressing my experiences of love gained and love lost, which I’m sure a lot of people may relate to in one way or another.
“This track is actually my own remake of Roxette’s Listen To Your Heart which is an upbeat ‘80s ballad which I have always found heartwarming.
“Now at the age of 38, my personal style has greatly evolved and developed. Particularly in relation to tracks on this newest album, such as ‘Don’t Know Jack’ and ‘Turn Back The Clock’, my storytelling ability is what has been remarked on by fellow recording artists and up-and-coming rappers in the game.
“For instance, popular London-based rapper Zanotti, who has recently been working with JDZ Media, been featured on BBC Introducing, and who has many music videos on YouTube, said after listening to my legacy album, ‘I love the detailed storytelling in Tom Hendry’s music. It makes you feel like you are with him in those moments! I like the originality in his lyrics and also the bounciness of the beats. Tom’s rapping reminds me of Eminem’s songs.’
“My new album of West Country rapping can be listened for free by simply searching Legacy of a Country Vegetable on Soundcloud.com.”
Tom is signed to two labels: Stomp Inc Records which releases his electronic dance music songs and Excite Digital which sells his UK bounce tracks to a wide range of DJs.
