Tommy Richman is going for a new sound in his latest single, “Miami.” As he puts it in the song’s press release: “‘Miami’ is a song to bring in the summer, a fun uptempo pop record expressing the griefs of feeling numb in every romantic scenario.” To that end, it’s a deceptively bouncy track, whose synth-pop sonics belie Tommy’s maudlin musings.
“I don’t wanna be prone to the suffering,” he sings. “Life is a mess, I’m steady buffering / Don’t open up the gates, don’t let that in / I’ll tell it who you are you’re a sex addict / It’s been a long time, don’t let the bad in.” Meanwhile, the video is simple and straightforward, appearing to take a lot of cues from Drake’s viral 2016 video for “Hotline Bling.” It’s Tommy in a lightbox (whose walls are made of shoji, or Japanese rice paper on a wooden lattice), dancing and posing.
It’s fairly in line with the content of his last few offerings, such as “Actin Up” and its remix with Sexyy Red.
After taking a fair degree of flak for proclaiming himself to not be (just) hip-hop, the new single is a step in the right direction for an artist looking to prove he can do more than “Million Dollar Baby.” While it may not appeal to all of his day-one fans, it’s a promising sign of musical growth.
