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FLY ANAKIN
releases debut studio album
‘FRANK’
out now
via Lex Records

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Photo by Tim Saccenti

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Acclaim for FLY ANAKIN

“dexterous, vibe-heavy rap” The FADER

“Anakin never uses tongue-twisting wordplay just for the sake of it.” Brooklyn Vegan

“Fly Anakin has established himself as one of the most fascinating artists in the genre, again proved with latest release Frank.” HIPHOPDX

“May be the one of the most important hip hop records of the year. A major breakthrough. The world is his for the taking.”  The Quietus

“Frank is the largest and fullest expansion of Anakin’s lore to date. It’s the purest culmination of the silly, serious, and thoughtful artist, all tied together by a fierce skill and dedication to his chosen family.” Audiomack

“Captivating lyricism and delivery” Paste Magazine

“When Fly Anakin is on his shit, you can’t help but make the type of animated faces that are only seen in the crowds of the most intense battle rap showdowns” Pitchfork

“Smooth boom-bap, with an anthemic feel” Acclaim

“Underground hip-hop goodness” Pilerats

“Ani’s gift for sliding smoothly from razor-tipped boom-bap and muddy, avant-garde future-hop is both his defining characteristic and greatest strength” Uproxx

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Today Virginian rapper Fly Anakin releases his debut studio album Frank via Lex Records along with the release of his new video for ‘Class Clown’. LISTEN HERE, WATCH HERE.

The album, which includes his previously released and widely-praised singles ‘Black Be The Source’, ‘No Dough’, ‘Ghost’ and ‘Sean Price’ is a bold statement from Anakin as not only a technically-gifted rapper but as a fully-realized artist and songwriter. Frank experiments with expectation, finding Anakin drawing influence from the classic R&B and Soul his dad played for him at a formative age and crafting songs in that mould, while also delivering the same breakneck raps that he always has.

In support of the album’s release, Fly Anakin held an album release event on Wednesday at High Garden in New York City to celebrate the project. He’ll additionally set out on a brief run of US and UK tour dates starting this month, which includes stops to play Song Exploder & FORT Agency / Lex Records showcases at SXSW in Austin and Boise’s Treefort Festival in March alongside bbymutha. In April, he’ll return to New York and LA for a set of headlining shows at Baby’s All Right and The Peppermint Club respectively, before heading overseas for performances in the UK & Europe alongside Armand Hammer. See all tour dates here.

Frank marks the latest demonstration of Anakin’s prolificacy, following his self-produced 2021 EP Pixote, which Stereogum called “a lovely and insular work of deep head-nod rap” and his critically-acclaimed joint album with Pink Siifu FlySiifu’s and their follow-up $mokebreak EP which are just the latest continuing his prolific run of solo and collaborative releases at the core of the Richmond, VA collective Mutant Academy.

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Fly Anakin
Frank LP
BUY/STREAM HERE

Frank album artwork by Timothy Saccenti & Yoshi Sodeoka.

TRACKLIST

Love Song (Come Back)
Dontbeafraid (feat. Henny L.O.)
Sean Price
Underdog Theme
Kenneth Cole Collections (Skit)
WaxPoetic
Black Be The Source (feat. Pink Siifu & Billz Egypt)
Ghost (feat. Nickelus F.)
Class Clown (Interlude)
Bread (Skit)
No Dough
Grammy Snubnose
Bad Business (Killswitch)
Poisonous Primates
Fly Away (Skit)
Telepathic (feat. Big Kahuna OG)
Bag Man

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Follow FLY ANAKIN
Instagram – Twitter – Facebook

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About FLY ANAKIN

Raised on a steady diet of Ready To Die and Supreme Clientele, equipped with a penchant for dizzying internal rhyme, and damn near impossible to out rap, 27-year-old Richmond, VA artist Fly Anakin has established himself as one of the country’s most essential rappers dedicated to transmuting the rugged spirit of ‘90s New York and sending it spinning into the future.

Born Frank Walton, Anakin grew up in challenging circumstances, in a household defined by crack cocaine addiction and distribution. He found an escape and a calling in music, and he laid down his first verse at age 9, inspired by his brother, a local rapper who helped him develop a taste for Ghostface Killah and other rappers in that vein with an emphasis on style and delivery. In the months after his high school graduation, where he first discovered Curren$y, he “rapped the whole time,” creating multiple mixtapes and setting the stage for his prolific decade to come.

Since 2015, Anakin has released over 25 projects, including many with his inner circle of rap friends, including Tuamie, Ohbliv, Big Kahuna OG, Koncept Jack$on, Henny L.O., and Birmingham hero Pink Siifu. In this span, Anakin has placed collaboration at the core of his artistic identity, and he’s honed his sharp, observational, and sometimes surreal manner and the bulletproof sneer with which he delivers it. All the while, he’s maintained a DIY ethos, recording an estimated 95% of his music at home. His wizardry has garnered extensive praise from Pitchfork, which wrote, “Fly Anakin is a marvel to behold, the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle technician who makes you drop what you’re doing to better absorb his enunciation, syllable placement, and superhuman breath control.” Fly Anakin has been rapping for nearly two decades and it shows—but his prime has only just begun.

Fly Anakin is set to release his forthcoming album Frank on March 11th via the British independent label Lex Records. The project marks a new chapter in Anakin’s artistic trajectory. It includes a wider array of collaborators, including Madlib and Nickelus F. He folds in melodies for the first time, inspired by his fondness of R&B, which he first cultivated on childhood Sundays when his dad would blast Marvin Gaye, Lenny Williams, and Luther Vandross. And he continues to experiment with form, having mastered hook-less 1- to 2-minute songs by his 2020 album At The End Of The Day. There are few other artists today who are shaping rap’s leading-edge while remaining steeped in the genre’s traditions.

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AMNPLIFY – DB