In the current era of music where an average of 24,000 songs are uploaded to Apple Music daily, it's easy to miss out on gems hidden within the seemingly endless waves of MP3s. Much of what we hear sounds similar due to algorithms, So it's refreshing when you catch something out of the ordinary. In moments like that, it’s important to give flowers. That’s where Philly artist Jai Winter comes in, my friends.

A saxophone rift playing over a hypnotizing simplistic baseline caught my ear. Just as I settled in Jai’s voice cuts through with purpose. “4 corners feeling boxed in, that’s murder”. A minimalistic line with a plethora of meanings that had me intrigued as to what would follow. The production here would have you believe this is another easy-listening rap song but Jai does enough with his pen to let you know you need to pay attention. Every line and metaphor becomes more and more important as the song goes on.

Murder by Jai Winter is a story you may have heard about harsh surroundings and tough survival conditions in a neighborhood where murder seems to be a resident. It’s told in a unique way, however, that appears to be written from the author’s heart and soul. Through an emotional tone, Jai delivers a little bit of himself to the listener and it seems there’s much more where that came from. You can hear the influence of Kendrick Lamar who receives a shoutout in the song but this isn’t a Kendrick wannabe rapping. Jai Winter is himself.