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Dublin has been called “the rapper for people that don’t like rap”. He’s been referred to as “a crooner” and “residential white boy smart ass”. He doesn’t appreciate any of these labels.

“People enjoy making up genres for me since it’s a little hard to pin down when you first hear it. I accept them all and reject them all at the same time.”

So how does he define himself? “A songwriter with deep roots in hip-hop I guess. If I had to label it. Is that pretentious?”

After gaining a loyal following as the emcee and frontman of San Francisco jazz and hip-hop band The Shotgun Wedding Quintet Dublin is stepping out with a solo record entitled “Ease the Pain” that dropped on October 27th on independent label Jazz Mafia Recordings. Completely produced by frequent collaborator Elon.is, “Ease the Pain” is a collection of what Dublin does best: intricate story telling, melancholy hip-hop ballads, and straight ahead rapping with Dublin’s signature grace and wit.

“Elon and I tried to make the production sound raw like the early days of hip-hop but still with a series of ironic twists here and there. A lot of blues influence. And a lot of vocal styles that bounce around featuring singers like Emily Schmidt and Forrest Day.”

Mr. Day is featured on the title track and contributes his usual mixture of stirring melodies and intricate word play. “While we were keeping it in sort of throwback rap style I still got to reach out to some of the Jazz Mafia guys and have them do their thing on it.” Jazz Mafia don Adam Theis, who had Dublin work with him on Theis’s hip-hop symphony “Brass Bows & Beats” and is a member if The Shotgun Wedding Quintet, is featured on several tracks along with Eli “The Funky Hebrew” Herowitz and turntablist Teeko of the 41Funk DJ collective. “It was gratifying to work with my friends and people I respect. Me and Elon got to set up all the songs and had our folks come in and lay the sauce down.”

Why the title “Ease the Pain”? “Well the name of the album works on multiple levels. There’s joy and melancholy all through it but overall it’s an upbeat mood in the music. Plus the album is about life and a lot of us spend our time trying to ease different kinds of pain whether we’re aware of it or not.”

Like what you hear?

Download all 15 tracks for free.