Today, MonoNeon - the bass virtuoso and funk originalist teams up with comedian Katt Williams, the legendary George Clinton and the GRAMMY winning producer, songwriter and rapper James Fauntleroy (Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce, SZA) to release “God Reason” - an interstellar journey out today via Floki Studios (Color Red). Listen HERE and watch the animated visualizer directed and created by Cody A. Banks.
The song began germinating when MonoNeon came across a podcast interview with Katt Williams where Katt mentioned “God Reason” as a sort of catchall explainer for phenomena in life. It was an incredible prompt for a songwriter who is always trying to commune with the ethereal. He sent the track to Katt who immediately wanted to rap on it and came into Court Square recording in Memphis to work with Mono. “The reason… God Reason… makes you question everythang, only to realize it was never meant to understand it, just live it and feel it,” says MonoNeon. Shortly after Katt had laid down his vocals, MonoNeon shared the song with George Clinton who added a more cosmic layer to the intro. Even more fortuitously, MonoNeon ran into producer/songwriter/rapper James Fauntleroy in a hotel lobby in Memphis. They got to talking about what they were working on and when Mono told him the story of the track, Fauntleroy jumped at the chance to add a verse.
MonoNeon is an American bassist and experimental musician from Memphis, Tennessee. He is known for his presence on YouTube playing bass guitar and being one of the last people to work with Prince. MonoNeon is a Grammy Award-winning artist, for his participation on the 2020 Nas album King's Disease. On November 1, 2022, Fender released the MonoNeon Collection, which included the MonoNeon Jazz Bass V Signature.
MonoNeon has collaborated with artists such as Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Pete Rock, Ne-Yo, Mac Miller, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Ghost-Note, and more. Known for his otherworldly live show, MonoNeon has played Newport Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Summer Camp Music Festival, Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and more. Stay tuned for more new music later this year.
