Watch: Luke Cyrus Hunter’s “Old School Jam”

Luke Cyrus Hunter’s “Old School Jam” is pure, old school Toronto in one track that’s brimming with funk and pop. The new single is also packed with classic hip-hop references from the 90s, and Hunter’s unique style.

Hunter picked up his keyboard style–playing digital and analog keyboards at the same time–while he was in the Waterloo band Stereola a few years ago. Since then he’s been developing his sound and for this single, he decided to go back to the early days that influenced him.

“I can remember when Hip-hop was new, and artists like Rob Base, Run DMC, and Young MC were breaking into popular music; it was fun and exciting,” Hunter said. “That was the starting point for this song… and as I was writing it, I realized I wanted to show my appreciation for these artists, and the inspiration that they have given to me.”

“Looking for inspiration, I started listening to some Young Mc tracks.  “Gotta Roll With the Punches” caught my ear, so I wrote the name of the song down.  I also came across an artist by the name of D Train, who I had never heard of, and his song “You’re the One For Me” so I wrote that down too.  Later on, when I looked at the paper I realized I had the first line for my song: ‘D Train, You’re the One For Me/ Gotta Roll With the Punches like Young MC. It was too good not to use.”

And what about the girl in the video? That’s Hunter’s daughter, Rachel, and they shot the video with his wife on a cold day in March.

Luke Cyrus Hunter debut solo album RE-NEW was released in 2017 and this summer he’ll be releasing a series of new singles. Watch Luke Cyrus Hunter’s video for “Old School Jam” below, find out more about Hunter at lukecyrushunter.com, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.