Hidden Hits: “Cave Me In” by Gallant, Eric Nam, and Tablo

Here at CelebMix, we love a good hit single. However, some singles never achieve the success they truly deserved. Therefore, we present to you our latest weekly feature – ‘Hidden Hits’. Within this feature, we will discuss a ‘hidden hit’, discuss the success it achieved, the success it should’ve achieved and why it should’ve achieved that success.

Unusual combinations produce a masterpiece. No one proves it better than the trio we are going to talk about.

In the year 2017, Grammy award nominee Gallant released “Cave Me In” with Eric Nam and Tablo. The trio had worked on the track for nine months before they finally led it to see the light of the day. But it was worth the wait!

Produced by Lophiile (who also produced “Paradise” for BTS), “Cave Me In” is a R&B slow jam. While the theme is clichéd one, the manner of dealing is not. Instead of presenting a glossy picture of “love”, the song talks about what it really means to indulge in the emotions of “love”. Take a look at the verse written by the rapper:

The lyrics would immediately remind one of the Metaphysical poets who would choose themes from fields like science to talk about emotions including that of love and passion.

The 90s vibes put you in a contemplative mode, calming down your nerves and make you sway along the music. Nam and Gallant’s vocals blend beautifully and serve as a sweet contrast to Tablo’s paradoxical verse. The level of perfection that this single showcases, also brings attention to the creative genius of the people who worked on it.

Tablo, Nam and Gallant did not seem to many like a “usual” combination but to understand the collaboration, one has to dig a bit deeper.

Gallant is an aesthetic artist who has been responsible for introducing fresh music in the industry. His nomination at Grammy makes it quite evident. The same goes for Tablo. For a long time, it was perceived that hip hop as a genre has to follow certain “sound” but when Epik High came on the scene, their very identity was a counter argument to the conventional belief. Tablo along with his members has produced some of the most popular tracks and the group has been one of the few to be featured at Coachella. Nam holds a special place amidst Tablo and Gallant. He is the pallbearer of diversity who aims to bring attention to Asian Americans through his music. The singer has recently released his album and has been promoting it while being on tour. Their passion for music and authenticity brought them together and we feel blessed to experience their work.

For many listeners, “Cave Me In” had been an accidental discovery, a track they found while browsing songs by Nam, Gallant, or Tablo. Amassing about 8M views on YouTube, the song has become a part of a lot of melomaniacs’ playlists but a quite a lot of people are still sleeping on it. In other words, the song deserves a lot more attention that it had in last one year.

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Written by Ayushi

Hi! I am Ayushi from India. The only thing that is consistent about me is my passion for writing and reading. Weaving words to form a story is the best thing I know and the only thing I want to do.
"Writer by nature is a dreamer, a conscious dreamer."
-Carson McCullers

If you want, you can follow me on Twitter using the handle @ayushidelhi1996