J Rosa’s new song, ‘Don’t Drink the Water’ is one of those tracks that makes you sit up and listen upon a first listen. The musician, who also works as a DJ, has created another flawless composition, the second release of this year, and it’s a good one.
The song wastes no time getting started, introducing the vocals which appear to have the effect of being underwater laced in, at least to begin with. This gives it a really distinctive sound and allows the clearer chant of ‘no justice, no peace’ to be heard over the top. The mixture of the two vocals works so well, a kind of conflict between them competing for the listener’s attention, but they both manage to stand out because they juxtapose and complement each other at the same time.
This quickly transitions into a modern hip hop sound, which also manages to simultaneously sound somewhat old school, think early 2000s r&b artists like Destiny’s Child and Mary J Blige, there’s definitely traces of that vibe in there. It’s a funky track that is both a dancey bop you can jam to lightheartedly and a social commentary on fighting for justice.
Despite the song being really catchy, this isn’t the only aspect of the track that stands out. As the mixing quality is so clean, the lyrics can be heard perfectly and there is some powerful messaging within them. Words such as ‘Don’t want nobody like me powering up the weak/ Don’t want nobody like me out on the streets’ and ‘Won’t let them take our rights without a fight’ are some of the lines you will come across. This idea of standing up for what you believe in is a theme that runs strong throughout.
The title, ‘Don’t Drink the Water’ can be heard multiple times throughout the track, and is repeated in sets of three. As the line is sung over the course of those three lines it gets more passionate and animated, acting as a build up and emphasising the importance of that statement.
The song ends the same way it begins, with the ethereal vocalising in the back saying, ‘feels like something’s in the water’, a variation on the title. Coming full circle always feels like a satisfying end and after such passionate messaging, with perfectly matched passionate energy in J Rosa’s tone, this feels like a nice, chill way to calm the track down. All in all, a great song you should listen to right now.
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