Rising hip-hop artist Hollow Profit, the moniker of Brody Lee Burke, releases the emotionally charged new single, Mortal Men.
A reflective meditation on violence, mortality, and the fragile promise of a better future, Mortal Men serves as a lyrical eulogy for lives lost too soon — both within the hip-hop community and in Hollow Profit’s own life. “We are here today and gone tomorrow,” Burke says. “Let us build a better future with the time we have.”
Burke, who was raised in Duluth, Minnesota, first discovered his passion for hip-hop at age 14 after hearing Eminem’s ‘“’Berserk’ during a family road trip. But it was Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly that sparked something deeper — a transformative moment that inspired him to begin writing. That turning point eventually led to the creation of Hollow Profit, a project grounded in raw emotion and unflinching storytelling.
Produced by Be Franky and Katsuro (Alberto Salinas), Mortal Men channels the introspective honesty of Kendrick Lamar, the grit of Wu-Tang Clan, and the enigmatic edge of MF DOOM. Through a poignant lens, Hollow Profit examines the repeated pattern of violence that has claimed countless young rappers and ties it to personal tragedies closer to home.
“I read that hip-hop artists are something like 30 times more likely to be murdered than those in other genres. Whether that number is exact or not, it rings true to me,” Hollow Profit says. “This song is for all the lost ones. For my cousin’s brother who was killed at 19, and for my wife’s co-worker who died in a quadruple homicide. It feels like we’re surrounded by death, but I’m not afraid of it — I just want a safer world for my kids.”
With sonic echoes of 2Pac, Joey Bada$$, and early 50 Cent, Mortal Men is both a tribute and a reckoning. It captures Hollow Profit’s emergence as an artist of substance, a voice defined by grief, truth, and resilience.
Listen below:
