With a unique name and talent, Tom The Mail Man might be the next big thing in a long line of successful hip-hop artists from Atlanta. I first found him on SoundCloud’s ‘Rap of Tomorrow’ playlist in which his song ‘Taking Over” had accumulated about 20k plays. Like most of the artists I find, he had a sound that I can’t quite describe, but from the very start of the song I could tell he was something special and had that ‘it’ factor. I mean really the song felt as if it could be right up there next to the likes of Post Malone, Juice Wrld, or Trippie Redd. It was a clean cut, professional track in which he rapped ironically about taking over the world and blowing up as an artist, all while not letting the fame get to him and staying grounded. The lyrics change quickly from “I been out here moving, taking flights around the country. And my pop worried ’bout me ’cause these n***** acting funny to “leaving shit to pick up, it’s all on me. I’d rather have it all my shoulders than you taking over”. While he’s acknowledging his blow up and not shying away from the spotlight, he also points out the dark side to the fame where people starting acting differently and switching up on him. Even so, he is determined to pick himself up and move on, not letting it weigh him down and continuing to push forward.
This was just one song on his 2021 album titled Sometimes Sorry Isn’t Enough which he released in August. The project consisted of 10 songs, mostly of hip-hop and pop, however there were also a few songs that touched upon alternative music. The track I specifically have in mind and perhaps my favorite on the album is ‘Sober’. Admittedly I am a fan of alternative music and this song reminded me of a Machine Gun Kelly Tickets to my Downfall type song. Very heavy on the drums throughout the song and the whole time you’ll no doubt find yourself wanting to bop your head around. A very feel-good song, I find myself listening to the song in the car on a sunny day singing along and vibing to it. Diving into the lyrics, the song is about a failed relationship where Tom says things like “Run away to better things. I tried to say the things that were on my mind, but you won’t hear me out for nothin’ ” and “You was always up to something I can only make assumptions”. A relatable message to us who have dealt with heartbreak and been in a toxic relationship, knowing we probably should leave, but are blinded by love. Some of my other favorite tracks are ‘Short Lived Love Song’ and ‘Last Night’.
Last Friday he dropped a new single titled ‘Brown eyes and Backwoods’, that has massed over 140k plays on Spotify. Unexpected, but much to my enjoyment, the whole song is a ballad centered around an acoustic guitar. Though TTMM has touched on slower songs before such as ‘Come Over’ on his album Sunset Visionary, I think he really took a leap here and it was interesting to see how he was able to expand on this area of his skillset and make it different than his earlier R&B stuff. No matter what type of music you are into I highly recommend giving this artist a listen since he covers such a wide variety of genres and makes music for every kind of hip-hop fan.