Emmy-winning Hip-Hop luminary Devine Carama and producer Amadeus360 have taken up the mantle as the Guardians of the Boom Bap on their new collaborative album of the same name. It’s a concise body of work dedicated to the bare essentials of Hip-Hop’s Golden Era. Consistent with this theme, album standout “The Essence” gets the visual treatment courtesy of cinematographer Shooter McGavin. Unveiled today (8/1/2025) via YouTube, the music video was shot in the East End and downtown area of Carama’s hometown of Lexington, Kentucky.
“The song and video were meant to capture ‘the essence’ of an MC driven by culture, not commerce. 15 years separate those two clips in the opening scene, both with me wearing the shirt of my day job. It encapsulates how long I’ve been grinding to make a better life for my family.” – Devine Carama
Following his 2021 full-length collaboration with Termanology 360, Amadeus360 firmly etched his name as a modern torchbearer for raw, gritty Boom Bap with his 2023 magnum opus The MPC Jedi. In contrast to the throng of cross-generational spitters featured across that album’s 18 tracks, the self-proclaimed “Beat King” has, once again, locked in with one MC for Guardians of the Boom Bap. “I am a sucker for a real lyricist, and Devine is an animal on the mic!”, says Amadeus.
Released on all major digital streaming platforms via Soulspazm on June 13, the new album follows the fourth installment of Carama’s critically acclaimed Kingtucky series. As an activist, youth advocate, published author, and college professor, the rapper’s socially conscious tenor shines throughout the album. “We want listeners to get that same feeling they got listening to Hip-Hop in the 90’s”, Carama explains. “Just beats, rhymes, and life.”
