Theophilus London: Timez Are Weird These Days

Theophilus London
Timez Are Weird These Days
(Warner Bros.)

Urban pop emcee Theophilus London is now making waves internationally as well as stateside with his proper full-length LP, Timez Are Weird These Days.

Meshing melodies and genres with creativity and honesty, the Brooklyn-based rapper is repping a new crop of rap-pop stars that are unafraid to express themselves in exotic and refreshingly new ways. With a killer flow to boot, Theophilus recorded the project in NYC, Los Angeles, and Stockholm, so it definitely has that global feel to it. He even includes an indie-rock sounding track called “All Around The World,” which describes what he’s seen, well, all around the world.

For those who are just being hipped to London’s atypical style, lead single “Last Name London” is a perfect introduction—an electro-rap-pop-tune that speaks firm about his direction: an amalgamation of pop-meets-hip hop-meets-new wave-meets-punk rock-meets-folk and hip hop again. With two cameos (indie artists Holly Miranda on “Love Is Real” and Sara Quin of Teagan and Sara on “Why Even Try”), Timez Are Weird is all about how the rapper sees the world today. In a recent interview with Billboard magazine, London says the album is unlike anything he’s ever done. “It’s all my new influences, my new story, my new point of view. All my new ideas from the last year are all right here.”

His growing list of accomplishments include a 2009 mixtape, This Charming Man, last summer’s Dap Kings-assisted single “Calypso Blues,” and this year’s appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and France’s most popular talk show, Le Grand Journal, it seems that Theophilus London is further set for international stardom.