Stream: We the Commas, ‘The RZN’

Kevin Bronson on December 5th, 2020

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In October, San Diego County brother trio We the Commas released their debut EP, titled “SARB” as shorthand for the way they describe their music: Surf Alternative R&B. Their new single “The RZN” sounds nothing like it.

The tune, recorded with live brass and strings, finds siblings Cam, Jordy and Lenny Comma, who range in age from 18 to 23, reflecting on their experiences as young Black men (“I don’t wanna deal with this no more / People looking at me like I’m dangerous”) and pleading for a different future (“Can’t you just see what’s in my heart / Or maybe that’s too much to ask”). It speaks to their upbringing in the beach town of Carlsbad, where, as they have said, “there’s not a ton of people who look like us.”

The song was written three days after George Floyd died in Minneapolis at the hands of police.

“This song was our way to express the pain we were experiencing in the midst of the turmoil,” the brothers says. “We never planned on releasing it because it was just a song for us as brothers to hold onto. Long story short, about a month after the song was created, we were getting haircuts and our barber randomly told us he heard a snippet of the song. He said that if even just a few people were touched by the song like he was, then it would have a huge impact. So here we are releasing it.”

The video for the song was directed by Chris Rosa and Josh Sikkema.

||| Watch: The video for “The RZN”