We're so excited to share the news that Los Angeles by way of West Texas artist, Plato III (pronounced Plato The Third) will be releasing his stunning new album, Grown, on 09/26. 

You can pre-order Grown on Clear Blue Vinyl now as well as pre-save the album on your platform of choice. 

The latest installment from the multigenre hip hop project of Ryan Silva tackles a core theme of adulthood. What does it really mean to grow up? How do you juggle fiscal responsibility with consumer capitalism? The result is a lush and sparkling "working person's rap album" inspired by the likes of Earth, Wind and Fire, Chic as well as southern rap like UGK, Devin the Dude, and Outkast. 

"Suddenly the music I was listening to started slowing down a little," says Plato. "This Al Green?  Let's throw on this whole album. The Isleys? I don't need the Ice Cube sample. Let's go the original!" Instead of just listening to "September," I would go back and listen to a whole Earth, Wind and Fire record. That was good studying, but also it was soothing. This is what's speaking to my temperament right now. If you want to rage, you can listen to Travis Scott, you can listen to BabyChiefDoit. That's not where I'm at in my life."

After an extended stay at the Dungeon, the studio that birthed game-changing Atlanta rap records from Outkast and Goodie Mob, to celebrate this 30th birthday, a creative outpouring resulted in demos for "Good Problems", "I Want (Money)", "Grown", and "Coulda Died" - visions of vintage '70s soul skewed through the prism of classic Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.

Recalling the more guitar-based Southern hip-hop he grew up listening to, Plato decided to change up his approach, tapping producer and multi-instrumentalist Phillip Odom (Glare, Militarie Gun) whom he knew from frequenting Abilene, TX punk shows as a teenager and session guitarist Lewis Spencer. 

"I wanted to flip the switch to kind of make [responsibility] feel like a blessing. I'm on this emo label, it's still emo, we still got problems — but what if there's a silver lining? This is real shit we're talking about: having to take care of a family, having to struggle to make money, having friends that are struggling reach out for $20. But, let's not dwell on it. Let's try to celebrate being in the situation because, in some ways, this is what we wanted."

Grown is for the cusp of settling down and entering a new phase in life. 

"I want people to feel the realness of trying to make a living in this economy, but I also want them to dance with the ones they love."

Grown Tracklist:
01. Good Problems
02. I Want (Money) (feat. mb3merk)
03. Stable
04. In a Funk (feat. mb3merk)
05. Marissa
06. Grown (feat. Xay III)
07. Coulda Died
08. Stay Sane (feat. Bei Bei)
09. Do You Still Need My Love? (feat. Remi Lėkun, Wonderfox)
10. Let's Get Old (feat. Eli Winter)