“ARTAWAY” Signals KELO SOUL’s Next Move
The internet moves fast. One day you’re freestyling on Waterside Drive in Norfolk, rapping for J. Cole, the artist you’ve called your favorite since high school. The next day your name and freestyle are featured on Complex, XXL, Genius, Source Magazine, DatPiff, The Virginian-Pilot, Hot 91 Radio and more.
“ARTAWAY” arrives in the middle of that momentum. From the opening line, “It’s like I almost gave my art away in every single artery,” KELO SOUL establishes the framework. He splits artery into art, into a way, into a ray. The wordplay shapes everything that follows.
He moves between reflection and resolve without sitting too long in either. “She gave me amazing grace, I gave her a stable heart.” But the vulnerability deepens later when he admits, “Pain in my veins from sustain in the rain, I probably joke too much.” The honesty is there, but he keeps it moving.
The edge shows up next. “Black man, feel like Batman, tell ’em take they mark” frames like he knows exactly where he stands. It’s bold, but controlled. “Different flavors if you savor it you can taste the art” stretches the palette. And when he declares, “The scene ain’t the same without KELO baby tape it up,” it doesn’t sound like ego. It sounds like awareness.
“Make a plan then write it down, They just make it up
Ricky Bobby word to baby Jesus, Imma shake it up
The scene ain’t the same without KELO, Baby tape it up”
There’s also a restless ambition running underneath. “Make a plan then write it down, they just make it up.” That line alone reframes everything. This isn’t accidental momentum. It’s intentional.
At a certain point, you realize “ARTAWAY” isn’t about giving anything up. It’s about reclaiming authorship. About choosing how your story moves once more people are watching.
Yes, the freestyle moment mattered. Cole told him he was talented. Gifted. Told him to keep dropping music. For someone who relocated to the 757 for college in 2015 and has called it home since, that co-sign carried weight. But this record doesn’t hinge on it. It sounds like someone who already knew.
The production by soulfuloops gives him space, and he uses it. His cadence stays composed, never rushing to prove a point. “My life is like a script, but I don’t trip, I just shake it off” lands steady. And by the end “K E L O I’m the best and I’m gorgeous” sounds less like ego and more like affirmation.
The freestyle moment may have amplified his reach. But this single sounds like someone who’s been building long before the camera showed up, and plans to keep building long after it fades.
With a project on the way, this doesn’t feel like the peak. It feels like placement.
Stream KELO SOUL’s “ARTAWAY” now on all platforms.