Reuben Vincent’s (@reubenvincent) episode of Shaped by Sound airs tonight on PBS NC (@mypbsnc) at 9:30 PM. We recommend ...

Reuben Vincent’s (@reubenvincent) episode of Shaped by Sound airs tonight on PBS NC (@mypbsnc) at 9:30 PM. We recommend listening to his latest single “Bishop’s Dance” (link in bio) to get a taste of his music if you aren’t already familiar! Vincent skipped his senior prom to meet Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole: it seems he’s always had his priorities in the right place. His parents fled Liberia’s Civil War and raised him in Charlotte. There they listened to primarily West African music – but he soon fell in love with the golden age hip-hop of the 1990s. Vincent put out his first mixtape when he was 13, and its precocious energy caught the attention of famed producer 9th Wonder. 9th Wonder became a mentor, first recording him as a Jamla artist, and continuing to provide guidance after Vincent made the leap to Roc Nation. With his new record Love is War, Vincent does a difficult thing – he walks the line gracefully between hard-edge rhyming and sensitive reflection in a way few artists can do believably. Image: Reuben Vincent on the Shaped by Sound stage