Saint Cassius is an old soul. It presents itself in his music and worldview. The artist born Khalil Walton is the product of a kaleidoscopic upbringing. His grandfather, a pioneering Black education administrator from Harlem, christened Khalil as “Cassius” based on the Julius Cesar character with a sly gift of gab. The formally trained pianist and drumline member added the other moniker in time. “We’re all sinners trying to become saints. I felt like if I made ‘Saint’ my name, I’d have to live up to it.”

2020’s Balloons Don’t Sink reflects Saint Cassius’ wisdom. “The whole philosophy of the album is there’s nothing in the world that you could do, no amount of money that you could earn, or success that you can have that’s more important than the way you feel about yourself,” he says. “That determines how you project on everything else.”

In the centennial year of the Harlem Renaissance, Cassius aims to celebrate Black Excellence in the tradition of his ancestors. Recently acquiring real estate in Harlem, Saint Cassius is bucking the trends of gentrification. The newlywed hopes to raise his family in the classic section. “Brown Skin Girls” and “Hell to Harlem” merge history with the present, all through an artistic lens. “This is where we belong—where I belong.” As a veteran Black entrepreneur, Saint Cassius promotes circulating dollars and opportunities to those with respect for the culture.

Saint Cassius made big waves in music during the 2010s penning Bruno Mars’ debut single “Just the Way You Are” and contributing to J. Cole’s single “No Role Modelz”as a publisher. In the new decade, those waves will continue to rise, but with his music as the driving force. Balloons Don’t Sink is a story that pulls from the past, celebrates the journey, and finds new frontiers in sound, substance, and fly style. Jadakiss, Jim Jones, Mick Jenkins, DJ Toomp, and Macy Gray join Cassius on a project that became an introspective journey, made piece-by-piece over time.