Mississauga artist Ramriddlz—he of “Sweeterman” fame—is back with a new track, “Xbox.”
It’s the lead single from his long-awaited next album, SD2, the sequel to his 2017 breakthrough LP Sweeter Dreams. Featuring sun-baked keys and uptempo, ’80s-indebted drum machines, “Xbox” is an electro-pop jam about… well, we’ll let Ramriddlz explain it:
“This song is about me remembering my ex’s box and how she had the best box but now I’m onto the next box!” he tells us.
The track boasts a stacked list of producers, including Jaegen, Waves, Matt Kahane, and Quin Kiu.
“Xbox” comes with a music video that sees the artist walk into iconic Toronto counter-style restaurant Mystic Muffin, and proceed to fall in love with a server. In a seeming attempt to win her over, he then cartwheels down the street performing good deeds for people, like rescuing a baby in a runaway stroller. At the end of the video, the shop’s notoriously eccentric owner Elias Makhoul makes a cameo, hawking some of his patented blueberry muffins. Anyone who’s visited Mystic Muffin has received an upsell spiel similar to this from Makhoul. Bless his soul.
The last couple weeks, Ramriddlz has been building up hype for the release with a series of ridiculous TikToks about pining for one’s ex.
Ramriddlz was recently announced as one of the performers at Rolling Loud Toronto, which takes place Sept. 9 to 11 at Ontario Place.
The artist first made waves in 2015 with his debut single “Sweeterman,” which Drake liked so much he recorded his own version of it.
SD2 will be Ramriddlz’s first project since his 2020 EP Ain’t Shit Sweeter. Speaking with Complex Canada that year, he said his goal with the next album was to make less depraved music that his parents could vibe to.
“[My parents] are like, ‘Oh cool, you’re making music? Maybe make something that my friends could listen to.’ They’re like, ‘All my friends follow you on Instagram. It’s fucked up. All you do is post fucked up things. What the hell?,’” explained Ramriddlz. “And I’m just like, ‘Damn, I didn’t know I was doing this for your friends.’ But yeah, that’s the ultimate goal: to be able to appeal to more people. That’s what I’m attempting with the upcoming album. We’ll see if people gravitate towards that.”
We’re not quite sure we’d describe “Xbox” as mom- and dad-friendly, but it’s undeniably catchy. Stream the song below:
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