Grandace is an artist from Cincinnati who has been putting out music since 2015. Most recently, he dropped the French Vanilla EP in May of last year. He’s released a few singles and teasers since then, but now it’s time for his first new project of 2022, Virtual Memory Unit.

Virtual Memory Unit is an interesting project, in that the inspiration for the EP is largely that of older technology and the escapism it afforded Grandace in his younger days, with songs like “Silvia S15,” “Handwritten Cheat Codes,” and “Memory Card Slot 2.” Where this really get interesting is that while Grandace may or may not have tried for a retro sound to match the subject material, what he ended up making sounds more like this smooth hip hop/R&B from the future that is both infectious and fascinating. What makes things even more interesting here is that Grandace isn’t getting caught up in the intellectual curiosity of these objects, instead choosing to focus on the emotional sense memory of thinking about them, and then just letting the music guide him along the way. It should also be noted that Grandace is once again doing everything himself on this EP, from playing the instruments to production to singing and rapping, coming together to sound like a full ensemble that have been playing together for years. The end result of the whole project is an EP that is really easy to press play and then just let go and get lost in the grooves and the emotion of Grandace’s compositions. There are a lot of layers to what he’s doing, and it’s fun to go back through on repeat listens and pick things apart, but more than anything, this EP is about capturing a feeling, and Grandace did a great job of finding just the right vibes.

Virtual Memory Unit is an excellent project from Grandace. He once again delivers a project that is thoughtful, passionate, and just beautiful to listen to, all while carving out his out unique musical niche.