Marcus Brown, a deft Baltimore musician best known as Nourished By Time, is gearing up to release his second album, The Passionate Ones, in August. He’s already shared a pair of impressive singles, “Max Potential” and “9 2 5,” and today he’s back with another called “BABY BABY.”
Though the song is bright and warbly, its message is heavy. “If you can bomb Palestine, you can bomb Mondawmin,” he sings, name-checking the neighborhood and mall where the Baltimore riots began after Freddie Gray was killed by police in 2015. The video for “BABY BABY,” filmed by Caroline Waxse, takes place at American Dream, a massive shopping center and amusement park in New Jersey. Brown, accompanied by fellow musicians Carrington Edmondson and Tesia Jaramillo, are blighted by gluttony, overstimulation, and endless escalator rides as they search for its namesake.
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Brown will host a 24-hour livestream on his YouTube channel on Aug. 5, encompassing “continuous moments, sounds, [and] collaborations.” He adds, “I find streaming so fascinating, so I created a character to further investigate the medium. Idk if we’re gonna make the whole 24, but the point is that failure isn’t that big a deal if you try. My goal for this project is to share information. I’ve learned a lot in the last three years of putting out music on a pro level, and I wanna share. I’m going to interview the inspiring people I met along the way.” That includes journalists, musicians, socialists, and independent label owners.
After releasing the album, Brown will head out on a tour across North America and Europe, beginning in his hometown in September. See those tour dates here and the visual for “BABY BABY” below.