Debuts in Time for Mamba Day and Kobe Bryant Day
Blessed with a gift that no one could contest An angel with rings yes you’ve earned your wings A husband and a daughter gone too soon
Martin Luther, “Kobe Moon”
San Francisco, CA (August 21, 2020) - Fans of the late Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant now have a tribute song to help them celebrate his honor. Respected singer/songwriter, soulman and actor Martin Luther McCoy releases “Kobe Moon” on Bryant's birthday, August 23, on his Rebel Soul Records.
The San Francisco native joined the world in January as it mourned the tragic death of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant and seven other people killed in an airplane crash in Calabasas, CA. Then, Martin Luther began writing and producing a song reflecting on Bryant but did not complete it until recently.
The touching lyrics will surely resonate with Bryant’s fans:
Blessed with a gift that no one could contest
An angel with rings yes you’ve earned your wings
A husband and a daughter gone too soon
A conversation with Martin Luther’s friend visual artist Justin Bua inspired him to finish the song. “I was talking to an artist friend of mine Justin Bua who had created some fabulous paintings of Kobe Bryant and he was letting me know about Mamba Day and what goes on in Los Angeles,” Martin Luther says in a video posted on his Instagram page. “After we had a few words about Kobe’s impact on both of us, I got off the phone with him and just started picking up the guitar and started working on it.” Martin Luther enlisted some of his producer friends -- Pascael Arceneaux, Paisley Hinton, Stic Man from Dead Prez and Don Ray Von -- to help him with the project.
A song was the best way for Martin Luther to convey his emotions. “When [Kobe] died, I was hurt. A lot of us, we was hurt. It was personal for some reason,” he says. “I don’t know the dude. But I had to write a song about it because that’s the best way for me to do what I do when it comes down to expression and sharing and making sure that this gift is being used as a weapon in the right direction.”
“Kobe Moon” is a metaphor. “So ‘Kobe Moon’ is taking all of his greatness and making that like the metaphor that you are going to shine your light in the Kobe Moon and there were no lights brighter. He did it. It’s my honor to put a song together that recognizes him. Shout to Los Angeles,” he says.
“Kobe Moon” will also appear on Martin Luther’s anticipated forthcoming fourth studio album, The Warmth of Other Suns.
Photo credit: Lisa Keating
About Martin Luther McCoy Actor, guitarist, singer/songwriter, producer, soulman. San Francisco native Martin Luther McCoy refuses to confine himself to any one creative pursuit. An essential catalyst on the Bay Area’s fertile 1990s neo-soul scene, he continues to serve as a conduit for socially conscious music. On the cusp of releasing his fourth full-length studio album, The Warmth of Other Suns focusing on original material, Martin Luther also tours as lead singer with the interdisciplinary alt-art-rock performance group Moon Medicin, a project led by keyboardist and internationally acclaimed visual artist Sanford Biggers. In some circles, Martin Luther is best known for his work with the seminal hip hop collective The Roots. Many others discovered him through his incendiary performance starring in Julie Taymor’s 2007 film Across the Universe. He’s performed with Dave Chapelle, Dave Matthews, Jill Scott, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and many other marquee acts. In 2018, he played the role of Musician, a griot sage, in Yale Repertory Theatre’s production of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks’ Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3). If there’s one thread connecting all of Martin Luther’s endeavors it’s his grounding in the verdant soil of African-American culture, a soul-steeped presence that leaps off of stages, screens, and bandstands.
Connect with Martin Luther Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martinluthermccoy/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MartianLuther Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MartinLutherMcCoy Bandcamp: https://martinluthermccoy.bandcamp.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/martinluthermccoy Media Contact: Media & Repertoire (661) 607-2610 contact@mediaandrepertoire.com