The Second Transgression Album Description
Installment two in a series of five EPs, "The Second Transgression" explodes into a dark, hyper-modern yet lo-fi aural landscape Tunde Olaniran has carved out as an artist. Blending dance, electro, hip-hop and rock, the Flint, Michigan native transgresses against the boundaries of pop music. Traveling from the dark club bass of "Kill or Be Killed" to the sinuous avant-pop breakup song "Autonomous," Olaniran’s self-produced EP is the next evolutionary next step in a longer musical narrative that clamors and rocks as hard it pulses and undulates. Flobots frontman Johnny 5, makes a cameo as a guest emcee holding down the introductory track, "2.0."

2.0
Cymbals and kick drums explode and when the dust settles, Tunde begins The Second Transgression with a dark stream-of-consciousness melodic verse, contemplating his own evolution into a better version, a version "2.0," of himself. Eschewing harmonies, the vocals cut through a primitive bed of rock drum samples and an ever-ascending synth line. Flobots lead emcee Jonny 5 adds his resonant baritone with a crackling feature vocal.

Autonomous
Love is a battlefield, and Tunde Olaniran sings about denying lingering love after a breakup, even though the tears he sheds are "Autonomous," taking on a life of their own and flowing against his will. “Every night I fight a battle with these tears/they filled an ocean so a bridge I’ll engineer,” he sings, determined to traverse the dangerous emotional land-mines in this sinuous guitar-tinged pop balled until the pain retreats.

Sun Goes Down
The track begins with a clattering sped-up latin drum beat, then dives deep into an ominous synth line. The call-and-response afro-beat rhythms in the verse unfold into thunderous and sprawling dance-rock, replete with live guitar, bass and soaring vocals. “Don’t point over there/it’s because you never like what you see in the mirror,” Tunde sings in the hook, seeing the shades of paranoia inherent in self-reflection, as well as the duality of identities that can be revealed when the "Sun Goes Down."

Kill Or Be Killed
The sexiest of tracks on "The Second Transgression," "Kill or Be Killed" tells the story of a relationship at a critical point of either ending or healing. Tunde’s refrain of “love kills” is sung with a break in his voice as the pulsing synths hint at the disco and house influences hidden below the surface. The bridge warns the listener to not conflate “love with lust” and “faith with trust,” while the drums build to a blistering frenzy.

Brown Boy
To begin the first single from The Second Transgression, Tunde Olaniran flipped samples of singing Chinese school children and a police chief’s retirement speech into one of his catchiest productions. An unexpected and refreshing vocal delivery mixing song and rap creates a raucous celebration of “The Other,” and invites the world to dance on the margins as a "Brown Boy."