LISTEN: Justin Hicks Shares ‘Poly’

Meshell Ndegeocello collaborator’s solo debut, Man of Style, out Feb. 6, 2026

November 6, 2025November 6, 2025 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2025, Justin Hicks, Man of Style, Meshell Ndegeocello, Poly, Suicide

Justin Hicks is one of the breakout vocalists to emerge from the recent work of Meshell Ndegeocello.

His work with the legendary bassist as a featured songwriter, vocalist and producer on the critically acclaimed No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin and its groundbreaking predecessor The Omnichord Real Book has garnered two Grammy Awards.

As he began touring extensively over the last three years as a part of her band, Hicks put together a collection of songs written during his time in New York that has grown to become his upcoming debut LP, Man of Style.

Recorded almost entirely across two days in Long Island City, Queens, and produced with longtime collaborators Ms. Ndegeocello and Chris Bruce, the album serves as an autobiography of sorts, one that finds Hicks exploring the boundaries of his own voice through elements of soul, folk and even noise rock.

One song that seems to tie all these disparate feels together is “Poly,” which will no doubt remind some of the industrial R&B of Q Lazzarus as propulsive electric guitars and a dubby post-disco pulse soundtrack the tale of someone looking to step out in a relationship.

“‘Poly’ was written around 2011-12, and was inspired by a brief conversation my buddy had with a stranger at a local bar,” Hicks shares about the song co-written by Jelani Lateef, which Rock & Roll Globe is happy to premiere today. “The encounter inspired him to write a lyric about the crossroads between the different types of relationships that exist — whether the lifestyle of monogamy, polygamy or polyamory is the better choice of approach to loving someone or not. He took a risk with the lyrics for sure. It connects with people in a special and different way. He brought them to me and thought I might have an interesting take on the tune, so I gave it a shot at an arrangement and a track. It ends up being sort of a tragic-disco-Philly soul-meets the band Suicide vibe if that’s a thing!”

Justin Hicks *Man of Style*, self-released 2025

For Hicks, crafting songs like “Poly” is what makes his forthcoming debut such an honest and daring display of self-expression that was instilled in him since his youth.

“I grew up in a college town with very religious parents who were atypically progressive,” he explains. “Dad was a pastor with aspirations of being a visual artist, and Mom was an educator who also sang in a folk and gospel trio. They were both somewhat frustrated artists with limited time and opportunities to share what they did, so art ended up happening at home or close to. Especially music. Self-expression was encouraged, even required in some cases. I try to archive my lineage — honoring it in what I make, how I sing, how I write because it was taught to me that music has a crucial role in bending the arc even if in a low key way. I think there is a limit to what songs can truly do, but I still think it’s worth trying to make them, to make things that a lot of people feel the need to hear and want to listen to.”

Man of Style will be released on Feb. 6, 2026. Preorder here.

Listen to “Poly” below.