New York-bred singer Colarte releases u the one today alongside a new video directed by Sage English. The track opens vo1ume one, the first instalment of his planned 123 trilogy, and introduces the project with a mix of pop and R&B that moves freely between singing and rap.
It started last winter when producer Destyn Hill played Colarte the beat for the first time. Working in New Jersey alongside De’Tale and the late Justin Love, they recorded different melodies and flows until the song began to take shape, even finding room for a callback to his earlier track dandelion. “I wanted u the one to feel like one continuous vibe that naturally evolves as you listen,” Colarte explains, describing it as possibly his favourite song he has released so far.
Lyrically, things are considerably more straightforward. u the one captures that moment of seeing someone you want and deciding to say exactly what you think without analysing it too much. Sage English takes a similarly restrained approach with the video, filmed around a secluded cabin in Upstate New York and relying on natural light and smaller gestures to tell the story.
The release also comes at an interesting point for Colarte, who signed with Pengea in 2025 after spending six years working independently. Along the way, he has opened for The Kid LAROI in Syracuse and appeared on On The Radar Radio, while continuing to build the material that would eventually become vo1ume one. We still know relatively little about where the complete 123 trilogy will take him, but u the one gives us a first idea of how Colarte wants to begin it.