Listen to White Rhino, Hip-Hop Born in Ditmas Park
When White Rhino plays a concert, it’s an event. There can be as many as eight musicians on a small stage working together, producing big sounds that aren’t always easy to pin down. This is outfit with pop, hip-hop, rock, electronic dance and a number of other genres in their back pockets. There’s a potent chemistry experiment going on. When the elements come together, it’s a spectacle.
Julian Rhine, a Argyle Road native, is the man behind White Rhino. He’s written two full length albums for the group, toured around the country and worked tirelessly to build a career in music since graduating from Nashville’s Vanderbilt University with a degree in song writing and musical performance. He wrote the first album in the Music City but the music started here in Brooklyn.
“I got guitar lessons from Steve Adelson in the neighborhood from age 12 to 18,” said Julian, “right next door to Di Fara’s, which is a place that has really influenced me. Di Fara’s is our neighborhood in a nutshell. Each song should be made with TLC and by me, in my hands, all charcoal’d and calloused. Each one is unique and shaped differently because it’s not coming off an assembly line of robots churning out the same stuff over and over again. Unique, delicious, $5 per song. That’s my move.”
Here’s the latest from White Rhino, an electro remix of New York City off his second album:
“Album number one took a lot of my Nashville schooling,” said the Vandy grad. “It was a lot of songwriting and prose and story lines. Each song really had a succinct plot. For the second album, I took one idea and freestyled all the wackiness of that roller coaster ride of fame, meeting the devil, dreams, fortune and the misfortune that comes with it. For the third album, I’m looking forward to taking the best things of each of my first two albums.”
A brief look through White Rhino’s past reveals big changes between each phase of his career. Listen to Underwater, the first song on his first album. Compared to Rhino’s later work, it’s simple but an undeniably catchy nod to his songwriting education.
In addition to touring the country with the big band, Julian is preparing to add a new dimension to his arsenal. He’ll be DJing solo at bars and clubs around the city, promoting his music and, now that he’s been building up a production business, the music of his clients.
“I just bought a Traktor S2, so my live shows are going in a completely new direction.”
Technically and emotionally, Rhino made a major leap to new territory in his second album. The female vocalist, Brooklynite Kristine Kubat, delivers the icing on Crazy International:
White Rhino has brought Julian around the country. Today, he lives in the East Village.
“I miss our neighborhood dearly,” said the 24-year-old. ” Especially my cats Ginger and Fireball, meow meow meow. I’m trying to bring our style to the East Village. I have a backyard in my place so it still really feels like mom dukes’ place in Ditmas. It’s my little oasis in the concrete jungle. We get to BBQ and chill in our hot tub and relax like it’s the suburbs and That’s honestly what I love the most about West Midwood and Ditmas Park as a whole. We live in the most gorgeous neighborhood. Beautiful tree canvas overhead and all, yet it’s not the suburbs, it’s smack in the heart of Brooklyn. The way we played when we were kids was such a gift. We all lived so close to each other but had crazy amounts of outdoor space.”
And then there’s the place that Julian loves more than almost anything in our neighborhood.
“There’s a reason why Di Fara’s has the best pizza,” said Julian. “He’s not going ‘slow’, hes methodical and working with love and care. I think that’s what our neighborhood is about. The rush and the thrill of Brooklyn, of New York City, the captivation is here. But it’s not anarchy, it’s not even hectic. It’s really friendly and peaceful.”
You can follow White Rhino as he creates a third album on Facebook or his website. You can hear all his tunes on Bandcamp.
Photos: Facebook