Indie rapper ToBy has released “Are We Ridin,” his newest single and the first taste of his upcoming debut album L’Esprit (Magnetic Moon Records), which is set to be released on October 15, 2021. The driving and energetic track features an industrial-inspired beat that is matched nicely with ToBy’s brash flow and braggadocious lyrics, topped off with a chorus that will easily get stuck in one’s head. A new video for the track is also out today, which features ToBy in a custom motorcycle suit destroying columns of art, while also previewing a more melodic and somber cut from L’Esprit at the very end. The two songs in the video perfectly encapsulate the range of emotions and moods that L’Esprit and ToBy bring to the table.

Blending elements of modern rap music, introspective pop, and indie rock, L’Esprit follows a narrative and a character that is loosely based on ToBy himself and is his most personal work to date. It details specific instances in ToBy’s life involving depression, anxiety, grief, lost romance, and self-doubt. The intent of writing about these experiences on L’Esprit is to connect with listeners who have similar stories to himself.

“I believe in unity through specificity; by sharing our unique nuanced specific experiences we stand to become much closer to one another because we are not as different as we want to believe,” says ToBy. “The more specific we can get with our lives and our stories, the more it will resonate with a community because all of our lives are pretty specific. I think by encapsulating my specific experience and journey as a person and an artist who thinks heavy shit, I can connect with someone who may need that and who might feel a little more alone because they are trapped in their head and believes no one else thinks like them.”