Music

Kulu Drops “O’ How the Mighty Hath Fallen” on July 30

In the wake of tragedy, where others would wither and fade, Emmanuel Kulu finds strength and inspiration, channeling his energies in to creative endeavors.

The Buffalo native and hip-hop artist is releasing his fifth studio album, O’ How the Mighty Hath Fallen, on July 30th, the birthday of his nephew Denell Baker, who was murdered in December 2014.

Kulu describes the album as the story of the traumatic experiences he has gone through in recent years.  He recounts the folding of his record label, Tephlon Ent. in 2011, the loss of his nephew, and the recent death of his mother, Betty Kulu, in May of this year. He says he’s “using music as an outlet for those types of tragedies.”

A previous tragedy, the murder of Kenzel Fleming, an artist on his old record label Tephlon Ent., spawned the short film, The Rize & Fall of Tephlon Ent., which premiered at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival last year.  Kulu is not one to wallow in self-pity, instead choosing to forge ahead and make something positive.  A new record label emerged, Black Art Visions (www.blackartvisions.net) and a clothing line, Plug Life Clothing Company (www.pluglifeclothing.com), aided by his brother Karl Kulu and Franklin Stewart.

A year in the making, O’ How the Mighty Hath Fallen was produced by DJ Kid Kold, who has worked with certified Platinum artists like DMX, Ashanti and Faith Evans.

The interest in the project brought a review of the album by Interscope Records, which has many notable artists, including Maroon 5, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Sting and Dr. Dre.  Kulu is meeting with a representative in August with the hopes of possible signing on with the label.

An album release party is set for July 27, 2017 at Milkies, 522 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo starting at 7 PM.  Though it is three days before the official release online through iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and Google Play, there will be physical copies of the album available.  The video from the first single off the album, Trapped, is already in play on YouTube.