We just recieved an email blast from our old friend, multi-instrumentalist/rapper/singer, director/editor/engineer/mixer, etc. and modern day Renaissance Man Steve "Sulu" Mallorca. Steve is a de facto one-man band operating, recording, and performing as Sulu & Excelsior (XLCR) since about 2016. Sulu & XLCR have since released two full-length albums, Eddie Romero (2016) and The AntiMatter Suite (2019) both of which we personally enjoyed and covered at length here at The Witzard. Additionally, through COVID-19 restrictions and Pandemic-related Lockdowns Sulu has recorded and released two Bandcamp-exclusive albums, as well, for various Bandcamp Friday festivities: 2020's Refinished (Remix Album) and XLCR Instrumentals (Instrumental Remix Album.) Now, Sulu & Excelsior have returned once more to share their annual NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission.


If we're counting correctly, this will be Sulu's FIFTH Tiny Desk Contest submission (come on, guys, award this man a winner already!) since he's started sending in contest submissions in 2018. For his 2022 NPR submission, Sulu has decided to perform an as-yet-unreleased new song, "A Penny for You." It was entirely written, performed, directed, shot, edited, engineered, and mixed by Steven E. Mallorca. "I did it Solo Sulu-style on a new song entitled "A Penny for You," doing the rapped and sung vocals along with piano and sampler. Inspired by the standard "Pennies from Heaven," I go back-and-forth between fast rhyming and Jazzy scatting, talking about being broke in the bank account, but rich on ambition," Steve "Sulu" Mallora writes within the video description. "Over the course of our first two albums, I've explored the idea of a [being] "Hip-Hop crooner" and I think this song and performance captures that—as if Nat King Cole & J Dilla were fused into one," Sulu continues.


"A Penny for You" will be featured on Sulu & Excelsior's upcoming third album, So Ends The Honeymoon, which he says will be out sometime during Summer 2022. You can stream Sulu & Excelsior's music on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, and all other streaming services. We strongly recommend checking out Sulu & Excelsior's Eddie Romero & The AntiMatter Suite, if you haven't already, as soon as humanly possible! Steven E. Mallorca's latest documentary film, A PELOTON OF ONE, which recently had its theatrical premiere, is now available to view from the comfort of your own home on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Roku, Google Play, YouTube Movies, and like-minded platforms! Stay tuned for additional updates on Sulu & Excelsior's So Ends The Honeymoon.