Rising R&B-pop sensation Josh Levi has unveiled his debut album, HYDRAULIC, will release July 25 via Issa Rae’s Raedio/Atlantic Records.
Speaking on his new album, Levi shares, “Love, like hydraulics, is a system that lifts, dips, and demands care and maintenance. It reflects the ups and downs in life. Love can also be seen as a finely tuned system of emotions, like a hydraulic car. It soars in moments of joy and dips in the lows, but it takes constant effort to maintain. Similar to a mechanic, I continue to keep myself functional even when the system – my heart/mind – breaks down so that I can always keep moving.”
HYDRAULIC will include the BEAM-assisted “Feel the Bass (Prelude)” and the latest single, “Don’t Go.” On the TONE-produced bop, which interpolates Destiny’s Child‘s “No, No, No,” Levi sings about a love interest spellbound by his bedroom magic.
“She don’t want the party to end, so she lay back down / ‘Cause she know I can do it again / She said, “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t go / Yet, yet yet, yet, yet,” he sings in the irresistible chorus.
Levi launched his debut era with “Feel the Bass,” which dropped in March. “‘FEEL THE BA$$’ is the introduction and first trailer into the new world of Josh Levi. This track is made completely out of bass—and it’s all about the feeling,” Levi explained.
“It represents the adrenaline, energy, and the vibration that is to come in my debut album. This one is for all the people that like to feel music in their veins and are ready to ride along with me into something special.”
HYDRAULIC is the follow-up to Levi’s Disc Two (Scratched Up) EP, a deluxe version of his 2022 project. Scratched Up featured all eight tracks from Disc Two, including his “Don’t They (Remix)” featuring Normani, plus “Ego” and “Birthday Dance.”
Levi told Rated R&B in a 2023 interview that he started working on his first full-length project. “I’m working on my album,” he said. “Someone told me you spend your whole life making your first album. I’m always thinking about that. I’m very intentional and detail-oriented about things. Building and putting together the first Josh Levi album is something that I’m thinking about and working on daily.”
In 2020, Josh Levi released his debut EP, Disc One. It included the popular tracks “If The World” and “Know Better,” among others. He returned in 2022 with his second installment, Disc Two. The project included the singles “Vices,” “NASA” and “All Over Again.”
Presave Josh Levi’s HYDRAULIC here and stream “Don’t Go” below.
