# Indie Rapper ToBy Announces Highly Personal Debut Album L’Esprit, Out October 15

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/indie-rapper-toby-announces-highly-personal-debut-album-lesprit-out-october-15/
- Published: 2021-09-17T15:00:00-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

[[

**ToBy** Announces Highly Personal Debut Album _L’Esprit_
Out October 15 via Magnetic
Moon RecordsNew Single/Music Video “[Are We Ridin](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=445854bf84&e=615f2b8493)”
Out Now

![](https://i0.wp.com/uc336a60ba751e3dfc95a0837f64.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/
p/thumb/ABTt7PuvHeqim5g6_Pghi2fVGSJv-zn_MrMTq8Gm7vmdw40atHOroJpuiehixCH8cHpYMVshidAstY8L6x6vD3ZhLPErJJojMnUWI7bBDfT2hPY2rIVcl9AoFle3KiwxzZMX2umEh7pdKVuWSYCM0FORsg6Vbkeuu-
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**September 17, 2021 (Los Angeles, CA) **– Today, indie rapper **ToBy** has released“**
Are We Ridin,”** his newest single and the first taste of his upcoming debut album_**
L’Esprit**_, which will be released on **October 15, 2021**_via_** Magnetic Moon
Records**. Out now on all [DSPs](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=ebcb946f29&e=615f2b8493),
the driving and energetic track features an industrial inspired beat that is matched
nicely with ToBy’s brash flow and braggadocious lyrics, topped off with a chorus
that will easily get stuck in one’s head. A new video for the track is also out 
today, which features ToBy in a custom motorcycle suit destroying columns of art,
while also previewing a more melodic and somber cut from _L’Esprit _at the very 
end_._ The two songs in the video perfectly encapsulate the range of emotions and
moods that _L’Esprit _and ToBy bring to the table.

Blending elements of modern rap music, introspective pop, and indie rock,_ L’Esprit_
follows a narrative and a character that is loosely based on ToBy himself and is
his most personal work to date. It details specific instances in ToBy’s life involving
depression, anxiety, grief, lost romance, and self doubt. The intent of writing 
about these experiences on _L’Esprit_ is to connect with listeners who have similar
stories to himself.

“I believe in unity through specificity; by sharing our unique nuanced specific 
experiences we stand to become much closer to one another because we are not as 
different as we want to believe,” says ToBy. “The more specific we can get with 
our lives and our stories, the more it will resonate with a community because all
of our lives are pretty specific. I think by encapsulating my specific experience
and journey as a person and an artist who thinks heavy shit, I can connect with 
someone who may need that and who might feel a little more alone because they are
trapped in their head and believes no one else thinks like them.”

ToBySZN - Are We Ridin (Official Music Video)

[⌊ToBySZN - Are We Ridin (Official Music Video)⌉⌊ToBySZN - Are We Ridin (Official
Music Video)⌉
Watch this video on YouTube

**“Are We Ridin” by ToBy**

_L’Esprit _is also an ode to ToBy’s late grandma who passed away from cancer in 
2020. ToBy was extremely close to his grandma, as she helped raise him and always
supported his musical journey when others in ToBy’s life did not. “Making music 
growing up in Miami was not very easy. It was a very judgmental environment. It 
was my parents wanting the best for me, they were immigrants from Haiti and didn’t
understand why anyone would want to be a rapper,” says ToBy. “They didn’t approve
and I was combating a lot of criticism from them. My grandma however I felt she 
really knew me and understood where my head was at. She would often step up and 
defend me in those conversations and would tell my mom to let me do what I want 
to do. She never got a chance to hear the songs from this album, but she was always
very proud of me.”

“_L’Esprit_ is French for The Spirit. It’s supposed to have many meanings but The
Spirit literally would mean the spirit of someone who has passed,” continues ToBy.“
What was really hard about this album is that I named it before my Grandma passed
away. A lot of it was coming together while my Grandma’s health declined from the
cancer, so it was a way for me to anticipate the inevitable.”

“I recorded a conversation between my grandma and I and it was about six minutes.
I took a look at the songs I did have done already and I sequenced them in an order
to tell a story that loosely mirrored my own experience with relationships, anxiety,
and depression; life shit that everyone goes through but my own lens,” he continues.“
I used her recording to narrate that journey. There’s a narrative throughline through
the record and she is the guide so to speak for the listener, kind of like how she
was mine in real life.”

![](https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/d-5BN2M5r42IkO1jzOa9Dtsgj2c7RiDfjormLcVVhzjFSSBdgtfjOTeEjMWGFmKXF4VHMPe66xZVDJBpKdMUbU_hUO5-
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mcusercontent.com/f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984/images/6df40c1e-886c-4586-0eb6-f673a2ba9dd4.
png)

**ToBy – _L’Esprit_**

1. Let It Go – Winter
2. Boyfriend3. Day By Day4. 2FUKKINCOCKY5. Want Me To Do6.
Remind Me7. Sinners8. Ghost9. [Are We Ridin](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=b24617be62&e=615f2b8493)
10. Similar Road11. 40 Miles

The 11-track album showcases ToBy’s versatility as an artist perfectly. On _L’Esprit_,
ToBy bounces from different genre and mood effortlessly, while the record as a whole
still remains a cohesive body of work. Standouts include the emotional, indie rock
influenced ballad “**Boyfriend**,” (“’Boyfriend’ is one of the best songs I’ve ever
made. We had the idea in the studio to make a really big rock opera section closer
to when we had to turn the album in, and it turned out amazing and I’m in love with,”
says ToBy).

![](https://i0.wp.com/ucbdbcd06f5caefe410d0aff0c8e.previews.dropboxusercontent.com/
p/thumb/ABTeZAhr8obQipRBE9CPMNB5b51eDiOlKtCl2wqq5y7bWNfe3Rm6I0THGAehnjyfoK1rY4DBlsS8fUk63bhZA7lZWmRyV7zx3AUtV5KSHQI8NiDOcVod7d6rIPPCgxGXUfbmZ9OyedQLIMtYyU8qM-
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p.jpeg?resize=192%2C192&ssl=1)

There is also the late 2010’s Soundcloud rap inspired “**2FUKKINCOCKY**,” the most
bombastic song on the record (“I have never rapped harder in my life and I am so
proud of the rapping on that song,” adds ToBy), and the sparse and melodic “**Ghost**,”
which details the pain and anxiety ToBy has felt as well as lost love in his life
over and acoustic guitar and trap drums (“‘Ghost’ might be my favorite song on the
album. When we got the master back, it didn’t sound like me and that’s what I look
for whenever I pick and choose songs that I am really into that I made; I look for
songs that don’t sound like me. It’s a testament to the work that my producers and
engineers put into the record,” chimes in ToBy).

“I hope people take away that they are not super alone in this world. I hope that
by hearing my story and hearing me bare out my soul, as this is the most personal
music I have ever made and I have never injected this much of my real life in my
music before, people take away that the enormity of life is so grand and so vast
and so much that the most we can do is experience it to its fullest; all the good,
all the bad, and all the in-between,” concludes ToBy

_**L’Esprit**_ by **ToBy** will be released on **October 15, 2021**_via_** Magnetic
Moon Records**. Lead single “**Are We Ridin**,” is out now.

[**Twitter **](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=ae35417578&e=615f2b8493)
[**Facebook **](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=f96ccd2352&e=615f2b8493)
[**Instagram **](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=cd386ec6e9&e=615f2b8493)
[**TikTok**](https://reybee.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f67b4587af2b2ef9aa80ed984&id=93c96cd307&e=615f2b8493)

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