Paul Josephs is a New York City artist whose sound carves a molten-hot channel through hip-hop, funk, blues, rock, reggae, Afro-Cuban music, and jazz. Think: if Gil Scott-Heron smoked out with Hendrix, passed the mic to Fela, then handed it off to a beatboxing street prophet with a lion heart and a blue jay’s bravado. That’s Stone River Soul.
He grew up in the grime and gold of New York City—immersed in cassette tapes, vinyl records, 90s hip-hop, and skater culture. His early musical roots stretch from early blues and 60s rock to golden-era hip-hop, late 80s pop, roots reggae, and boogie piano. By sixteen, Paul was fronting his own blues band, opening Tuesday nights for stand-up comics at the legendary NY Improv, while also playing with older cats in Moose and the Bulletproof Blues Band, who dubbed him Young Blood. Somewhere in the noise and neon, he got deep into the MPC, chopping samples and recording his own demos from the age of seventeen.
Paul is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, MC, beatboxer, and producer who’s recorded and toured internationally, performing with legends like Pharoahe Monch, Jean Grae, Beyoncé, Citizen Cope, The Roots, Maceo Parker, Idris Muhammad, and Nikki Glaspie. His own music has been described as “cinematic soul with teeth”—gritty, psychedelic, and spiritually urgent.
He’s also the founder of MetroSonics Arts, a streetwise education project that drops full studio setups into classrooms and community centers across NYC. Paul has helped hundreds of students transform their environments and emotions into original songs—real music, not music class bullshit. His work is about giving young people the tools to tell their own stories through rhythm, rhyme, and raw sound.
At the core of Paul’s chaos lies transformation. Whether on stage summoning thunder, in the lab making beats that slap and soar, or in a Bronx classroom guiding kids through their first verse, Paul Josephs brings full-spectrum soul, with no apologies and no off switch.
He is currently preparing a slate of new releases and music videos, including his highly anticipated single "Bird's Eye View," already dubbed "one-in-a-million" by peers in the industry. With a war chest of unreleased music and a mad-scientist energy that refuses to sit still, Paul Josephs stands at the crossroads of rhythm, resistance, and revelation.
“ Soulful and smart music, bouncing along on bluesy guitar and a rock/reggae beat, Strong World would be at home in any record collection that stretches from Santana to the Clash to Arcade Fire. Paul Josephs and MetroSonics pack a small world into each tune.”
“Psychedelic blue-eyed soul that rocks.”
“If there’s one thing Paul Josephs and the Metrosonics’ Strong World isn’t, it’s your average background music self released indie album. Several tracks stand out from this fresh and contemporary—yet at the same time still beholden to classic sounds—record. From the smooth, bluesy “Mystics” to the reggae and brass laden “Heal Me,” Josephs makes his way from genre to genre establishing the eclectic nature of his writing and composition. In one of the louder and in your face songs of the record, “Upstream,” Josephs blends a groovy rock feel and guitar solo with big band horns while weaving rap vocals in and out for a unique, catchy track you’ll want to play over and over. An album easily appreciated by both casual listeners and musicians alike, Strong World demands the listener’s attention, curiosity and most of all, enjoyment.”
“Rootical Lyricism”