Young Dolph hand-picked the roster of his label Paper Route Empire, selecting artists who shared his work ethic, hunger, and love for the art of rhyming. Even before signing to PRE, Kenny Muney had a special relationship with Dolph, who plucked him out of the Memphis streets and gave him hope, guidance, and an opportunity to become a successful rapper. Today, shortly after the release of Paper Route Empire Presents: Long Live Dolph, Kenny shares the video for “Role Model.” Adorned with lush harmonies and a heartbreaking, earnest feel, “Role Model” finds Kenny baring his soul, the South Memphis native audibly emotional when he mourns Dolph with equal parts grief and gratitude for the time they spent together: “You ever lost a part of your heart and can’t nothing soothe it?/Have you ever been sad at the ending of a good movie?”
The video for “Role Model” opens with a clip of Dolph in an interview, discussing his plans for the future of PRE to be much grander than its founder, before giving a shoutout to his latest signee, Kenny Muney. The clip appears on the big screen of a movie theater in which Kenny sits alone, remembering his mentor while displaying a range of emotions: sadness, frustration, and the motivation to use the gifts Dolph gave him and keep moving.
Remembering the tireless grind with which Dolph mentored him before eventually signing the young artist, Kenny said, “Any time I wanted some information, he never hesitated to give it to me. That’s real, and people don’t do that these days.”
Released last week, Paper Route Empire Presents: Long Live Dolph features contributions from almost every artist on the label, from rising stars like Key Glock to relative newcomers like Paper Route Woo. Spanning 8 tracks, the project points to a bright future for the label that the King of Memphis built from the ground up. The project is home to “Proud,” a moving and defiant new single from Key Glock, which earned over 4 million views in its first 3 days of release and garnered praise from The New York Times, among others, and “Love For Me,” featuring a new verse from Young Dolph. With additional appearances from Memphis standouts Big Moochie Grape, Kenny Muney, SNUPE BANDZ, and Paper Route Woo, as well as Brooklyn’s Joddy Badass and Chicago’s ChiTana, who point to the diversified vision Dolph developed for PRE that extends beyond his hometown, Paper Route Empire Presents: Long Live Dolph is available everywhere via Paper Route Empire.
Long Live Dolph is reflective, but it is also triumphant; Paper Route Empire will continue building on the foundation that Dolph laid. Keep an eye on the young and hungry PRE roster, as nearly every one of them plans to drop plenty of music this year. 2022 is Paper Route Szn. First up: Kenny Muney, and his imminent Time Is Muney, coming February 11th via Paper Route Empire.
Watch Kenny Muney – “Role Model”: https://youtu.be/
Buy/Stream Paper Route Empire Presents: Long Live Dolph: https://music.empi.re/
© 2022, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
