(December 1, 2025) Scottie Barnett possesses a gigantic heartbeat for the Atlanta urban music community, especially for Outkast, a duo that forwarded the Southern hip-hop landscape through both historical pieces (“Rosa Parks”) and funk party jams (“Hey Ya”) starting in the mid-90’s. And the love for Outkast inspired the Columbia, South Carolina-based Barnett on “Mercury’s Milk,” the new single from his second project, The Necessity of Infinity.
“Mercury’s Milk” expands the neo-soul territory into what Barnett deems Cosmic Funk/Hip-Hop. The extremely inventive storyline is told by Nigerian based artist, Victoria Sola, who contributes additional production and vocal arrangements. And Sola’s invitation inside a 1964 Chevy Impala guides the listener through the hypnotic stratosphere, passing down kudos to Barnett’s spiritual heroes:
Sittin’ sideways, leaned back in the cosmos
Chrome rims spinning through the Milky Way
Andre 3000 wisdom in my headphones
The higher the elevation, the better the view” they say.
Through Barnett’s musical map of heavy snare beats and spacey layers of keyboards, Sola’s narration – which echoes Erykah Badu’s soulful chill – encourages us to fly way above the worries that consume us. Let the ride begin in that vintage Impala and listen up to “Mercury’s Milk.”
By Peggy Oliver
