BLESSED NOT LUCKY is an album that unapologetically reps East Atlanta. Buddha’s storytelling abilities use various similes and pop culture references in order to convey his narrative. Throughout the album Buddha references several Hip Hop veterans and/or legends in his lyrics. He is also very apt at mentioning historical sports moments and figures in accordance to thoughts, feelings or the innerG of Buddha’s life. I was initially drawn to the album because of the cover art. The imagine above shows: Buddha smoking, wearing a Michael Vick jersey standing in front of the Big Boi portion of the Outkast mural in L5P. Hella Atlanta. The album begins with production by Rudeboii — slight sirens, a deep bass and Buddha in the background loosely singing the hook until the beat builds up and he comes on the track commanding: “I’m on Runtz and D’usse, D’usse and Runtz/tell me what you say you want/ this ain’t no game, Jayceon/ I want that blunt and the bong/ passed a backwoods to my momma/ I’m getting high like Obama/ I don’t gotta hide like Osama/ my shit a new groove like dat llama” Initially, I felt it was too simple and was like, “wow another one of these youngins rappin’ about runtz and D’usse.” Hype…but as I listened to the project a few more times through I found myself singing the hook and looking deeper into the lyrics and found multiple meanings within the lyrics I initially found simple. The Obama aspect of the line has 3 meanings I was able to identify: “getting high like Obama” — a simile referring to the infamous picture of Obama smoking weed, “getting high like Obama” — rising in social rank and importance to a particular community, and “getting high like Obama” — could be a direct correlation to smoking on Obama Runtz. It also feels as though the alternating line, “I ain’t gotta hide like Osama” could refer to opps but seems connected to Buddha smoking with his momma; that the woman that gave birth to him knows the ins and outs of what he’s pursuing. There’s a certain pride one can carry themselves with knowing that one or both of their parents are somewhat fucking with the aspirations, dreams and means to get there. Familial support is important even if it’s represented as smoking a blunt with mom. The last section, “my shit the new groove like dat llama” — love this simply because The Emperor’s New Groove is a Top 10 movie from childhood but also because BLESSED NOT LUCKY does have a different groove to it. The second track, “Vibe Check” is upheld with a smooth and clean production by Banbwoi. In the song Buddha questions various situations and people tryna understand where their innerG at, “vibe check; where the fuck are the vibes at? After a vibe check you’ll find Buddha using similes to express and harness his own vibe with likeness to the determination of Tom Brady and ruthlessness of Tom Chambers in his line, “Do whatever to win, like Tom Brady/ Put my foot on they neck like Tom Chambers” After “Vibe Check,” BirdieBands brings us into a more playful and fun production with “Slip N Slide.” This is one of my numerous favorite tracks on the album because Buddha was able to catch a balance of declaration and celebration. “I saved the day and I paved a way/ I made a play but I can’t fade away” In this line Buddha is taking credit for the path he is forging — a slight flex of personal capabilities and taking his dreams into his own hands (despite the path others may have wanted him to take.) This was a track that I could hear features from other Atlanta artists like KEY! or Young Nudy (although the track is great the way it is.) BLESSED NOT LUCKY then slows down a little in the next song, “I Know a Girl” where Dylan Furai creates a smoother and daintier production that still has a consistent hitting bass. In this song Buddha speaks on the balance innerG he receives from women in his life. For every woman that loves and supports Buddha there’s a woman or two who may be waiting on his downfall. The following song, “Check In My Name” has such a beautiful production by Crackgod that rides the line between R&B and Hip Hop/Rap. Definitely a production that you cruise to late at night looking at city lights. The song features Cluu (also from East Atlanta) and DAVESTATEOFMIND (who laces the track with gorgeous vocals.) I LOVE this song purely off of the vibe and the texture both of the features add to the song. After a more sentimental song Buddha gets back to drawing a line in the sand between him and whoever believes they’re in his league with, “We Don’t Relate.” And if I’m being honest there’s not more I can say about this song besides Buddha’s lyrics: “we ain’t run the same race/ we ain’t playin the same game/ we don’t wear the same thing/ we don’t think the same way — we don’t relate… goat shit call me LEBRON BRADY” Yeah, bars and confidence. Besides that great production by Miles650. We get back to another dope production by Dylan Furai (Dylan Furai hoe) on “POP.” I didn’t like this song too much (not because of content or sound but just how the song/content was laid out.) But what I do appreciate about the song is all the geographical references such as: Marta, Smyrna and Turner (which I probably wouldn’t have not recognized if I didn’t live in Atlanta for a couple years.) Then we get to the track, “Dr. Dolittle” with production by Danny1of1 that sounds like a combination between drill and trap (which are kind of cousins.) The song features Jourden who just magnifies the track to the 1000th degree. Her entire verse has so many dope punch lines and references along with a laid back confident delivery. My favorite line is below but y’all just gotta really tap in with the project and hear this song and verse for yourself. “I’m bumpin’ that Wu/ this how a Ghost talk” Again, I just appreciate how many Hip Hop legends made it into conversation in this album in entirety. The next two songs, “Stuck!” and “Misunderstood” are great tracks with production by OVRCZ and Devin Leavell. My only comment about these two tracks is that they are the two shortest tracks on the album and are lined up back to back. I’m not too fond of that layout. I do wish they were separated or even made into one song like how they did in the early 2000’s (having 2 different songs be one.) Although, I do understand that that’s just how things work out sometime maybe the sounded best by each other when creating BLESSED NOT LUCKY. Dylan Furai may be one of my new favorite producers. Just off this album he’s already produced 3 of my favorites and the next song, “Gresham Road” is one of them as well. I always love when artists genuinely represent where they are from and don’t shy away from the realties of where they come from. “I got a backend I ain’t tryna reverse it/ I am who I is/ I ain’t gotta rehearse” On “Gresham Road” Buddha tells us a little more about what it means to be from Zone 6, East Atlanta. He also makes a reference to Sean Carter and aspirations to be on that level one day. After Buddha’s verse we get to the chorus that is signified by the bass picking up, dropping a little harder and Buddha coming more dominately, “Say he got smoke on Gresham but nigga I post on Gresham/ I blow zaza, no regular and I’m smoking some pressure.” This song reminded me of Zone 6 (Remix) by Young Nudy — not in the sense that Buddha was copying or that the songs sound similar (because they don’t,) but both artists in both songs are representing and celebrating where they are from at the same time. “GO BIG” produced by Diitii was one of my least memorable tracks but when I asked my girl (who is from Atlanta) to spin the album this was one of her favorite songs so I paid it more attention. The chorus stood out to me the most, “Shawty want tits, I’m with it/ shawty want ass, I dig it/ shawty want lips, I get it/ shawty want dick, she get it” This was dope. Buddha ain’t policing his woman and the way she wants to present or enhance her body. There seems to be a double meaning here; that his girl(s) want all these aesthetic/body type enhancements and Buddha acknowledges it because he got it (or will in near future) to provide her with the resources/money to get it done. It also sounds like he’s simply just supporting and acknowledging what his girl(s) wants/envisions/how she wants to claim her body — there’s a pattern of Buddha supporting his girl and friends in this song… he states what his girl or friends want or talking bout then he follows up the rhyme/bar/line by giving his response to it (in support of.) The final track , “Defrost (outro)” is a genuine outro track. Wakai’s production slows down and makes it feel like a wind down/end of album/but we’ll be back. This was the song that had me spinning the album over and over and it was specifically for this line: “They ain’t just killin these sons they killin these daughters/ I know we lambs of God — is that why we slaughtered?” Not very often do rappers talk about that reality for women too and this was my first time feeling like an artist genuinely cared about us in that way. Shoutout Buddha for thinking about us women beyond attraction or family. Besides this line I really fucked with the chorus too, “Back and forth road trips, Atlanta — B.R./ I bring my strap for protection not tryna be hard/ I do this shit cuz I’m chosen it don’t be hard/ they say once your heart frozen it won’t defrost.” There’s a theme here of our reality as Black people and what’s threatening our lives but also how we can protect ourselves (the best we can.) BLESSED NOT LUCKY is an impressive debut album from Atlanta artist Buddha. He has impeccable beat selection and is able to tie in many references and similes that tells us about him, the world he’s living in and where he is going. If you enjoy hearing what’s bubbling in the undercurrents of Hip Hop in the South (specifically Atlanta) this is a great one to tap into! Available on all streaming sites: https://album.link/BNL

“Is this what Heaven like? I feel like I’m living in Paradise,” Jimmy Golden sings in his opening track, “Paradise!” off his new album, At Heaven’s Gates solely produced by Acr0bat. The hook creates a dichotomy in a time period where we find ourselves weighed down by the current factors facing humanity and the world — in different countries, various cities and towns, and in an array of languages. Knowing, seeing, hearing, feeling our reality right now I wondered: what is it Jimmy Golden is experiencing that has him expressing innerG of a heightened state? As I moved through the album several times over it became apparent that the “Heaven” and “Paradise” Jimmy captured in that song is stemming from actively staying in the present (a very difficult task when everything around you is constantly moving and changing.) The second track, “I Can’t Decide!” represents being present with a bit of indecisiveness. Acr0bat, of course, laces the track but this time with a more playful trap/pop influence that gives the song an ambitious innerG. The transitions throughout the song were very enjoyable — Jimmy is able to switch between rapping and falling into melody quite effortlessly. The song also represents an urge to MOVE, see, feel… like a yougin’ is really just tryna live. Truthfully, Jimmy Golden has provided the best line to sum up how many of us feel, “I don’t even know what day it is / Quarantine got a nigga bent / bitch, I’m lit I’m tipsy — you know I get jiggy, yeah.” We get to the third track on the album, “Baby Tesla?” which sounds exactly how the album cover looks — shooting for something, reaching for stars, immense symbolism that can be decoded in time. Around the one minute mark Acr0bat switches up the beat to a smoother sound that feels as though you’re on a space cruise navigated by Acr0bat and Jimmy Golden. One of my favorite lines, “I’mma stay with it no matter how sad I get — bitch I am the best I am far from the average.” This line is an affirmation — a moment where Jimmy exhibits belief and faith in self through his acknowledgement/awareness of feelings or thoughts. There’s a knowing that his pain or sadness is inevitable but so is growth, love, light and happiness. Then, At Heaven’s Gate pivots a little in the track “4 the Old Heads.” This was one of my favorite songs because Jimmy shows his rapping versatility using a reggae/dancehall influenced flow with how he breaks flow patterns to rap from the back of his throat. With the different flow it makes it easy for the listener to hear his rawness and confidence using a more slightly aggressive flow. A notable line from the song that exemplifies Jimmy’s intricate rhymes, “And don’t you fuck with a vet/ runnin your stairs like Artest / they barely playin Harden defense ain’t no way I get checked / or get a foul, foul out, then I’ll plow the ref, get me a tech, flight the desk, get the team jumpin…” Then again, Jimmy and Acr0bat switch the sound and flow up a bit more on, “We Are Golden!/Wrestle With Jah!” where Acr0bat gives us production that feels/sounds like galaxies speaking in a grungy basement. Additionally, Jimmy comes rapping at a higher velocity and punk appeal that you can feel reverberate through his throat chakra. The second half of the song, “Wrestle With Jah” holds strong symbolism of God/Jah/Allah and an internal battle of what can be perceived as good vs. evil. “They gonna say that I’m lucky but I’ve worked so hard/ I just be talking to God, He is never too far/ I give to Allah, He talkin to me — I just be talking in all of my dreams/ Allah told me to go shoot at you geeks — wait that was a demon/ talkin to me for no reason/ I need a date with the deacon/ really been looking for Jesus — please tell me why I can’t see him” I found this part of the song interesting because “Wrestle With Jah” feels like a direct reference to Jacob wrestling with God: “And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day” (Gen 32:24.) For some of us who aren’t too familiar with the Bible — Jacob wrestles with God (mentally but feels physical) at Jabbok. It’s a place that is lonely and must be faced alone; a private war between you and God/Allah/Jah/The Creator. Ironically, physically, Jabbok is a tributary of the infamous Jordan River. In Hebrew it means, “to empty itself” and is known as a place of total surrender. The theme of Jacob at Jabbok mirrors Jimmy Golden in our current world and possibly even where he’s from, Tampa, Florida. Regardless, the theme is constant throughout At Heaven’s Gate — Jimmy searching for God/Jah/Allah and wrestling with his own existence and the factors that may threaten it but still proceeds to come out on top. Below you can watch Jimmy Golden’s performance for “We Are Golden!/Wrestle With Jah!” on ByteTV for one of their #Crispy Sessions. His innerG is off the charts! “I Vaguely Remember” is my favorite track from At Heaven’s Gates. I love it because Acr0bat and Jimmy’s chemistry is undeniable and really dope — they compliment each other’s style and versatility well. It was nice to hear Acr0bat vocally on a track juxtaposed with the texture of Jimmy’s voice/tone. This track has a real laid back, almost “West Coast” vibe to it with unique vocals. Also, this is a song where Jimmy touches on the reality of being Black in the United States. Subsequently, Acr0bat provides beautiful production on the song “Witch Prollems” featuring Cosmella Sol. This song was my least favorite song but also is the song that peaked my curiosity about Jacob at Jabbok; “I think this is the battle that Jacob had dreamed at Jabbok.” In this song it felt as though Jimmy is battling in a different conflict than what was expressed in previous songs. This feels like a conflict more intimately connected to lust and how it’s hard to identify lust as a conflict when it provides so much pleasure. Lastly, “GO!” serves as an outro, summary of topics (in a sense,) and intermission until Jimmy Golden goes on his next mission and shares it with us. He adds one a couple more affirmations to the track, but I’m partial to to the positivity, “I gotta glow I don’t care how dark it get.” Overall, At Heaven’s Gates is full of symbolism ranging from God/Jah/Allah to sports and our current state as humanity. The album is a testament to Jimmy Golden’s obstacles and triumphs — a telling of affirming where one is going despite the pain, hurt and confusion. Most importantly, At Heaven’s Gate reinforces the importance of having fun and finding enjoyment in the moment you’re in. I look forward to more work from Jimmy Golden and Acr0bat (both separately and collectively.) If there’s anything more I could ask for it would be to have more music videos to experience Jimmy’s visual storytelling alongside his vocals. Be sure to give the album a spin! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4eby0qCeDeq5bm0S2uXZuX?si=_u3knPmBQQuF6HsDGzy6SA Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/at-heavens-gates/1533285533

CROWNTHEM Newsletter| Issue 7, Vol. 1 featuring Atlanta artist VEGA & Inglewood artist KIIIA. 25+ Recommended albums & EPs from April 2021.

The artwork for RNR, Vol. 1 by Malcolm Eppz has hues of pink, purple, blue and you see Eppz on the cover with a city scape below — while this cover is beautiful, artistic and shows us that there is something to know about this artist (what city is below, why did he choose those colors? are the colors indicative of the content?) When you hit play on the album it does not give you pink skies or colorful tones but a story of grit before luxury; a telling of getting it out the mud. Cleveland native Malcolm Eppz that now currently resides in Hawaii created an album of raw testimony without an obsession of self but celebration of the oppositions and obstacles along his journey. In RNR, Vol. 1, Eppz uses subtle self-references that also highlight where he has been and heading towards. Throughout the album you’ll find soulful production with some dusty loops that sounds like a contemporary boom bap sound. Within the first few songs, “Beijing Reyjene” and “Good Lord,” we learn intricacies about Eppz hustle and what he did to set himself up for success and away from a rougher environment of Hough Heights. In “Beijing Reyjene” Eppz notes, “in the military, 20-somethin, I tell you I was on a mission, buzzin / I wasn’t goin to be a statistic” This line infers that at a young age Eppz came to terms of his reality as a black man in the United States and wanted to avoid that statistic that is known and apparent everywhere. The second track, “Good Lord,” opens production by Sheed The Buddah and Eppz lacing the track telling us about his rise from Hough Heights in ’89. Eppz has great storytelling ability that often leaves the story up for interpretation on whether it is a personal lived experience or another’s experience that he noticed — or maybe it’s both. “Eppset Bomb,” is the third track on RNR, Vol. 1, with production by SAV that brings this aspect to the forefront, “I rather play chess with frenemies than be some ordinary nigga pickin through bud stems simpin’ over underwhelming women” While we can wonder if Eppz is talking directly to his life or not it does allow us to understand how one can take control of their destiny even in the presence of fear or uncertainty (playing chess with frenemies.) Either way the lines serve as a statement to get out and go get it regardless of the opps/obs (opposition and obstacles.) Additionally, the line infers that it is often easy to sit in despair or lack of ambition out of fear, but you must proceed anyways. As we fade out of that track a more political statement is made on “Panoptican.” On the first listen of RNR, Vol. 1 this track caught my attention because of the politics embedded within and my own knowledge and weariness towards the concept/theory of the panoptican. I was instantly interested if Eppz would expand on how the concept/theory is used in prisons, our communities, schools, virtually/digitally and essentially everywhere. In the track Eppz raps, “eat your turkey burger — play with your watches, the panoptican / watching us through binoculars / it’s more than cops tryna stop ya, the panoptican / surrounded by opps with no other options” This was a pivotal moment in the listening of RNR, Vol. 1 because the line represented that Eppz is far more than a wordsmith but a wordsmith with content that many rappers are not necessarily engaging in. There’s a lot of dialogue about what the cops are doing to us as “black” people (it’s more than cops tryna stop ya) but hasn’t quite expanded yet to other ideologies that allow for continual state violence of civilians but specifically “black” civilians. Additionally, when actually listening to “Panoptican” there is certain tone that Eppz holds that signals that “We The People” can also use the knowledge and awareness of the panoptican to our advantage. After a track that advises you to look beyond the politics and realities in our face the album transitions into a real player-esqe production with a smooth hook, “we want the chips and the paper.” Another strong suit of Eppz is his use of double entendre. As you vibe out and want to take a cruise with the track “Chips & Paper” playing, Eppz shows us his skill in the very memorable line, “I rather ride the Cadillac / wave out the top like JFK / I just want the paper — give me the masters, fuck bein’ a slave” This line serves as a social commentary towards record labels in relation or comparison to similar ownership portrayed in slavery (master/slave.) The line also is a self-declaration or vow of independence to keep/own one’s masters to not become a slave to someone else’s ownership. Also, throughout the album you will hear Eppz call himself “Malcolm Eppz” and some references to Detroit Red which then alludes to a double entendre on his name. Is he calling in the ancestral spirit of “Malcolm X,” is he calling on himself, “Malcolm Eppz,” or is a combination of both? Does his elevation of self resemble the transformation of Detroit Red to Malcolm X to Malik el-Shabazz? “The POP” has a very gritty, underground/basement type feel and production. This was a track where I wished the vocals were brought forward a little more but was still a great song regardless. A notable line, “masculine, fashion-forward, Gucci slippers with the ankles out” I enjoy this line because it expressed that Eppz isn’t afraid to be him despite opinions. It represented that he is comfortable in his masculinity and it can look like whatever he wants it to — don’t take his fashion-forward appearance for more than what it is. A declaration of “being fashionable does not make me any less masculine.” Next on the album was “Popular Slut Club” which has a beautiful sample that contributes to the flawless production by Racks Nicholson. This is the only track that I can say was not my favorite but nonetheless was still interesting and valuable towards understanding aspects of Eppz. What was initially interesting to me was how the title is somewhat vulgar, but the actual contents of the song are not very vulgar at all. The most vulgar part is the line, “she put the pussy on my mustache / now I’m in a trance,” which is modest considering countless other vulgar Hip Hop lyrics. A very memorable line because often sexual lyrics point to the woman doing something to please the man (not saying that eating pussy is not,) but the lyrics often denote submission instead of assertiveness of what may please her instead. I expected the song to be vulgar or a pussy-popin’ anthem but it’s more of a recalling of a one-night stand while out with the crew (you hear their voices and laughter come in and out of the track.) On “The Glow” Eppz shows us more of his entrepreneurial free spirit that points at his evolution. “I burn one, I used to move them by the pound now I smoke them by the O.Z.” Additionally, he has other lines that speak to finding independence when it comes to the weed or in general to be more mindful of certain products you use, “all the new flavors I don’t trust ’em / only like the calm shiht / if you grow your shiht that’s boss shiht.” Another moment of political commentary that points to holistic health. The commercialization of weed and how processed and detrimental it can be — an advisory to grow your own if possible, you never know what could be done to the flower you ‘bout to smoke. On “Dunder Butter,” Eppz is very reflective of where he came from but also tells us how he is presently moving into his future created by his ambition and hustle. “this that dunder butter / we break shiht down / move racks to pounds / we losin count.” As we move into the last two tracks of RNR, Vol.1, “Volumes” has gorgeous production and the song serves as a thematic wrap up of the album. But, again, Eppz does it in a manner that doesn’t come off redundant. He makes a couple references in the hook, “stay tuned for the next volumes” and surely, I’ll be looking forward to the next releases of this series. The final track on RNR, Vol. 1 is “Late Night Cruise” where the production puts you in the mind state of cruising beach side through a city at sunset. The chorus of the track, “late night cruising/ we all under stars, palm trees and bomb weed, speedin,” enhances the mind state with your crew and celebrating wins but figuring out how to level up again. I found RNR, Vol. 1 to be a cohesive project that was sequenced very well to tell a story through several stories and experiences. I appreciated the space in his story and how he doesn’t give us the same stories or part of him repeatedly. Instead, he offers controlled doses of his story — every track there is story of where he comes from and what he’s doing it for. Eppz has a strong voice and confident delivery that has you wanting to catch every line. It’s very obvious Eppz is an authentic artist who delivers a rawness that is only present when it’s brought out the mud or through gritty circumstances with soul still intact. I look forward to see/hear what Malcolm Eppz delivers next and how he levels up and makes his next moves. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2D2yi5ImbbQ2gWgTpGTLiL?si=apm-T_OkQxSNAr2-t1jkdA Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/rnr-vol-1/id1522051469 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kxZb0JtOrQ1wvmhLTSmBqeq7m57TCqe04 11 songs, 31 minutes

Young yet mighty was my impression of Trilly!'s latest EP, Awaken from Reincarnation. Hailing from Smyrna (right outside of Atlanta,) the 18 year old is nothing short of a poet. Many of his interludes, songs and verses reflect the pain of his youth - from loss of friends, suicide, lack of familial support for his dreams and the forging of his own path of success. Trilly! defines success for him as, "waking up everyday being able to do what I wanna do and change other people's lives." Awake from Reincarnation is a very cohesive project without one skip. Trilly! is on his way of being a master at telling his story, thoughts, dreams, feelings and ambitions. A couple of my favorite tracks were, "Don't State" and "Doubt It." Both tracks highlight pain and trying to find footing/grounding in different ways and somewhat along similar topics. "Don't Stare" serves as Trilly!'s critique of the supposed leadership figures for the youth. He points to different ironies in lyrics like, "parents wanna lie to me, teachers keep on doubting me, counselor think he counselin, thinkin gas as loud as me, pastor know everything like he born in B.C., everyone think I'm ignorant because I was born in the century, be little me…" It reminded me of Tupac's song "Ghetto Gospel," where he states, "we've left them a world that's cursed and it hurts." Trilly's lyrics represent the symptoms of the cursed world that has been left for the youth to deal with and part of the curse is not respecting and valuing the youth goals and dreams. The track "Doubt It," points to the lack of familial supports with lyrics like, "fam fucks me over the most, trust NOBODY." Simultaneously, Trilly! provides lyrics of, "I'm just tryna get my mom right." These almost opposing lyrics made me reminisce on the similar relationship I had with my mother in my youth and still currently but also how the youth often have to put on for their parents. It's ironic because because the youth do this through their creative means that their families do not often support. Even when the parents or family aren't being supportive there's always an inkling of, "getting your moms right" - that's a lot of weight and worry to carry but is very much a reality for a majority of our youth. Another interesting aspect of Awaken from Reincarnation is, "Wise Words from Lisa" and "More Wise Words from Lisa," where this Lisa character's voice and support is woven in thru the intro and interlude. Her voice and support represent the opposite of what Trilly! shows us/tells us within his other tracks. Although Trilly! seems to be yearning for his mother's support of his dreams, Lisa seems to be that figure delivering that support and love. I'm excited for what Trilly! does and how he continues to enhance and elevate with his craft. He is a definite underground Atlanta gem moving in the undercurrents similar to his predecessors like JID and Grip. Tap in! Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0ZkliB7XBUC62k8qDsEC7O?si=uHL_JobjQSW6bw2RPzw3vQ Apple: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/awaken-from-reincarnation/1474113121?uo=4&app=music SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ohwowtrill/sets/awaken-from-reincarnation YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kqhsaVRUKKoOs_UzNmwi7wIsrhubFim6o

It's been more than a few months since March Madness but somehow Charlie Wayy's Sweet Sixteen is right on time. With The Bronx being the birthplace of Hip Hop and Wayy also hailing from there commands a certain level of pedigree and expectations for an artist. Fortunately, Charlie Wayy more than rises to the occasion on his first full project since 2019's Sidewalk Chalk. “Vancourtland” produced by Swedish Prodigy sets the tone. If they were making modern day film noire based in NYC, this is what I would imagine it would feel like. Over the sinister backdrop Charlie Wayy unleashes a flurry of observations and affirmations. "We clean up nice, even though we got it out the mud Shit, we never confuse love for daps and hugs" It's a potent 16 bars which reminds me to mention the interesting choice of format for this album. Charlie Wayy made it a point to only bless these songs with 16 bars each, no hooks, and even set the same limitation for his featured collaborators. As a result the listener is treated to something I feel is rather unique. The curation of the beats and the sequencing is done with great care and effort. Even though 12 producers lent their skills here, it feels like one person produced the whole thing. There is a drawback to such brief song structures because you'll definitely want to spend more time with some of the offerings but that quickly fades because the next one is just as good, and it's a lot of next ones. It can feel like a sampler, but if you were in the Sweet Sixteen restaurant all of the bites could be main courses. It's an interesting strategy in an era of short attention spans, and Charlie Wayy just may be ahead of the curve. Charlie Wayy's style is a confident combination of streets, stream of consciousness, bravado, with a dusting of sports and pop culture references that add some fun to offset the intensity of his delivery. On the Ethan Stoutt produced track, “Armageddon 2000” Charlie Wayy and Yon Cash trade WWE inspired bars that mention Bobby "The Brain'' Heenan, and wrestler finishers like the Diamond Cutter and Razor's Edge. On the Erra produced track, “Capital Grille,” Charlie Wayy calls in an assist from one of Portland's finest rappers, Milc. It's a match made as their styles compliment each other, it feels like they've done this together before. The Alesandro Barbosa produced track, “God's Work” brings Sweet Sixteen to its conclusion, it's one of my favorites. Over a simple, dusty sounding loop Charlie Wayy proclaims, "this style is an acquired taste, 10,000 hours and a hundred thousand takes". The way the horns drop on the tail end of the song is magical, it's also my cue that it's time to run the whole thing back! I definitely give Sweet Sixteen a recommendation. I know we're all tired of the heat but summer is just gonna drag out a little bit longer with fire projects like this coming out. Charlie Wayy has worked hard to get to this point, he's disciplined, poised, polished and this album feels like an indication of great things to come. I'll definitely be keeping my ears open for what's next. Check out the interview below for more insight. The interview below has been edited for quality and coherence. Hip Hop as of late is going through a robust DIY phase. All over the nation talented, resourceful and determined individuals are getting things done in their own way, on their own time. In this interview we talk with The Bronx's own Charlie Way about his process, motivations and influences. We also get an inside view of the creation of his latest project Sweet Sixteen. Monk: First of all man introduce yourself to the people. Charlie Wayy: I go by the name Charlie Wayy, I'm from The Bronx, New York by way of Charlotte now. Oh you in Charlotte, North Carolina? That's crazy, I got people down there! Yeah Charlotte is cool but I lived in The Bronx all my life, so October 31st makes a year I've been down here. That's what's up man, let's get into this music. Why rapping, it's interesting having The Bronx influence all around you but what else made you wanna pursue the craft of rapping? I've always been into music, and I just wanted to be around music any way possible. Initially, I started engineering. My brother was always into music, he was rapping. You know, you always freestyle with your friends, I really wasn't worried about it, I tried to make beats and help my brother make beats, I was enjoying it. At one point in time I was helping him with lines every now and then it was like I just felt like I could do this myself. I wasn't too fond of the way my voice sounded, so that's one reason why I wasn't doing it. And then you get over that a bit, and then you start spitting your raps for people. You say it to somebody and they'll be like "yo who that?". I would say it was lines from somebody else and they'd be like "yo that's fire!". When you say it's yours it's like "awww I don't know, I ain't really messing with it." But at one point in time I felt like "yo, I can do this." That is one of the biggest hurdles when you enter these spaces. Even when I started doing my podcast, I had issues with my voice. You get used to it the more you do it. It's funny, I felt like that before I even recorded my voice. And then I started to record my voice and other people liked the way my voice sounded cool, I guess. The shit I was so hard on myself about, nobody ever cared about. So sometimes it'll be funny how you stand in your own way with these things. Long story short, I always had an affinity for music and how music was created. I was always one of those people that read the credits and track listing. I have an extensive vinyl collection that was passed down to me. One of my favorite artists is Rick James. I'm very much into music. If I wasn't rapping I think I'd probably be managing music, or helping others write music like I do now, or just any way I could be around it. So how long would you say you've been doing music seriously? I've been at it with music for maybe 12 years. But seriously like putting things together properly, making sure everything has that proper sound, I would say six years. I've really been driving properly, putting things on Apple Music, Spotify, making sure it sounds right, contacting producers, making sure my BMI is proper. So what are some of your influences from the past that you draw from, artists that inspire you? Rick James, Prodigy, Ghost and Rae, Meth, Jadakiss, Styles P, Jay Z of course, Nas, Eastsiderz, Snoop. I'ma bring that back around, what about people now that are putting out stuff now? Kendrick, Jay Cole, Freddie Gibbs, I like Gibbs a lot despite how people feel about him. Even though he does a lotta lame duck stuff, The Game, he's very talented with the music. Game can really rap and put projects together. He's a really strong artist, it's sad that his antics really overshadow how good of an artist he really is. I like Griselda. Sometimes I draw from producers themselves, Alchemist, Madlib, 9th Wonder. So do you also do production as well? I would love to produce a little more, that's something I would want to get into in the next stages of my music obviously, engineering and other stuff like that. I can sit down with a producer and get what I want. If we sat down and they opened up their DAW, I could tell them to play this sound, quarter step this, half time that, aight lemme get an 808 here, a synth here, tweak this a lil bit, maybe reverse this sound. But doing it by myself, I don't think I have that confidence yet, or that patience yet. If I'm with somebody who has the awareness of what's going on, I can get a beat out of them. My man said "you're producing right there, you may not be producing but you're doing it". Sounds like you're really hands on, more so than I think most people are during the process. They just contribute their bars and hand it off. I like to be hands on, I feel like it's my art and you can't really claim art unless you're wholly in it. Even down to the engineering, I try to sequence my stuff, I record myself, I got my equipment here. Then I'd send it to my engineer, with as many notes as possible. We were working up close but I knew I was gonna move, so I started prepping, I started recording myself. Even though we were a ten minute drive away from each other, I wanted to get in the habit of doing everything myself. I can say the last year and a half of my releases are all things that I recorded and sequenced myself. My engineer Blessed By Saint John, I send him the files and he does what he gotta do. But I leave him with enough notes, I drop out the beats when I need to, I tell him I might need a filter here, or a lowpass there, and I let him do what he gotta do. So it seems like you were developing a shorthand form of communication with your engineer before you left. So how has doing things remotely impacted you? Have things been more difficult or have they gotten easier? Things got easier, I feel like it's almost machine-like now. If I'm in a good space I knock out features the same day, or 48 hours. Sometimes I write them and they'll be done, and I'll sit with 'em and then record them the next day to make sure it has the same feel as when I wrote it down. But it's so good to be able to do these things myself, because now you don't feel handicapped, you don't feel locked in or bound to a particular way to create. I can take this anywhere I wanna go, If I'm on vacation with my lady or family I can take this with me and do what I need to do. I got my MacBook, my rogue, my interface, I pay for my Pro Tools, and I record. If I feel something I can just fire this up. Getting this project together, I completed it while I was moving. I started part of it in New York, obviously out of my house, in my bedroom, while I was moving to North Carolina. Shout out to my guy Ricky Mapes, he's the executive producer on the project, he hit me up and said he wanted to EP my project. He sent me 40 beats and we narrowed it down to 24, came back and narrowed it down to 16. I sent out my verse first on everything. The only one I didn't send out my verse first for was Neako, the track called "Penn Station." We were talking back and forth, I got some production from him and he said, "I like you a lot and I wanna give you a feature". He gave me the beat and it fit what we were trying to do so it's the only feature on the project that I didn't send out my verse first for. What's behind the name Sweet Sixteen? I saw the cover art, and it's interesting looking at your bio, you got the sports podcast, there's a lotta sports commentary on your twitter feed, how did that play into it? I'm a former athlete, I watch sports everyday, doesn't matter what it is. I golfed in high school, in the offseason from football. Sweet Sixteen is obviously from the NCAA, it's always one and done. In college with basketball now a lotta players don't stay around for a long time so they're one and done. So that's kinda what we thought about, project wise, like Sweet Sixteen, these are all one and done tracks. Every track is sixteen bars, and the feature gives 16, there's no hooks, no bridges no nothing. That's why we named it 16, and there's only 16 tracks so it's a lotta 16s in there that we were working with. That's interesting because one of the trends I'm seeing lately is just shorter songs, people are not even bothering with a 3rd verse anymore. Was that a factor in creating this? That's kinda the thought process to a lot of short form content. That's what people are liking with their attention spans. If I'm rapping at the highest level possible and I'm condensing it down you'll be more likely to replay that and it's gonna be shit I say that makes you wanna replay it along with it being so short. Some people hit me like, "yo, I like this why'd you cut this record short?". When I do drop my projects that are full length, it's gonna make you wanna tune in. If I did this with sixteen, what would I do with a hook, and a bridge attached to it, a second verse or a third verse? So that's kinda where I came from with it, and we just wanted to adapt to short form content. Let them know you can still be lyrical as hell, and you can still paint pictures in small spaces of time. We're just adapting to the times, trying something different. The cats outta the bag, I'ma make this a yearly thing, and i'm looking to have the best artist from around the country on this. I have my man Def Soulja, he's from The Bronx, my boy Ricky Mapes, he's executive producer, he's on there as well on "Kumite." I got LOS on there, he's from Mississippi, Milc from Portland. My man J NICS is from Miami, so we moving all around, we had a lotta different people, all dope spitters, all doing their own thing, all in the culture, all moving properly. We're gonna do Sweet Sixteen '23 for 2023, and we're gonna try to get that out there by March Madness. How were you able to the project to have a cohesive sound with so many different producers? Shout out to Ricky Mapes, he did a hell of a job executive producing, and getting the beats. I just had to do what I had to do and make sure I brought it on every record. Every record sounds different but it's all still cohesive. None of the flows are really the same and none of the tracks sound the same but they fit well together. You spoke about working with some of the homies but how did the Milc collaboration happen? How is The Bronx connecting all the way out to Portland. Again shout out to my brother Ricky Mapes, he had a relationship with them. A lot of them were on a tape due to him and then they heard my music and were like "Oh I'm really, really in, this ain't even a favor no more, he's like that!". That was cool and we've established lines of communication, now creating a bigger web and network of artists to work with. It's so cool that everybody is doing their own thing and they're really great artist. That's what makes it better, great artists find great artists and make magic. What can we look forward to in the future after Sweet Sixteen releases? I'm working with every artist possible, If you get a chance to see this contact me. I'm not Hollywood, I'm ready to work at all times, let's rap, let's make music. I feel like a lotta times there's too much Hollywood stuff going on. Let's just rap, let's do that, make dope records, and get 'em out to the people. Ok man I don't really have anything else for you right now, so tell the people when they can expect Sweet Sixteen to drop for them and how they can connect with you on social media. Sweet Sixteen is dropping August 31st. The first video off the project will be "Webside Weber," that will drop the same day the project drops. You can find me on all social medias @ CharlieWayy_, It's also my gamertag. Also check out CharlieWayy.Com. I'm easy to reach, tap in with me! https://soulspazm.ffm.to/sweetsixteen https://linktr.ee/monkeyblood

The Blue Hour by Berkeley, California's Rexx Life Raj is an island of introspection in a sea of braggadocio. It’s rare that an artist really opens up and invites the listener in to watch them navigate pain, grief, solace, and the cycle therein. But yet this exact formula is what made artists like DMX, Tupac, Lil Boosie, Mac Miller, etc timeless staples in people's lives to always be remembered for helping them out of a hard place. That's exactly what Raj will be immortalized for with The Blue Hour. Having lost both his parents within months of each other his latest offering plays like a live therapy session going through the rollercoaster of emotions between grief and healing. The project is narrated by his mother through pre-recorded phone calls, her prayers and messages take things to the next level of personal. On track 2, “New Normal” Raj toils with the idea that this pain is something he’ll have with him forever. Something that he has to find a way to normalize in order to attempt to heal. On songs like, “Hands and Knees” and “Balance” he details remaining calm to the public while being torn on the inside. Something we all can relate to. Looked in the mirror and realized I was all I had Had fam and the gang as a landing pad But if I don't steer the plane it then this still crash I had to leave you in the past, I don't feel bad Know it's still love, ain't no ill will fam I just had to stay around people who wanted it real bad Or at least as bad as I do - Rexx Life Raj, Save Yourself A well rounded offering, songs like, “Beauty In The Madness” featuring Wale and afro-beats star Fireboy DML have the potential to be worldwide hits. But this album will be remembered most for helping anyone dealing with loss realize that they are not alone. That healing is a process that some say is never complete. That there is always light at the end of the tunnel and The Blue Hour held your hand and walked you toward it. Released: July 15, 2022 https://www.rexxliferaj.com/

Hip Hop has had an undeniable influence on the world. It's no surprise that it's reach has inspired people worldwide to try their hand at making their own Hip Hop projects. Portland isn't as far away as the Ukraine or South Korea but it can feel equally as distant because it's not a place one thinks of first when it's time to go down the list of Hip Hop cities. Reminds me of LL Cool J as God in the movie In Too Deep. One of my favorite lines is when he tells the undercover J. Ried, "I didn't know they was getting money in Akron." Well I didn't know they was rapping like this in Portland. Low key the city has cultivated a formidable and prolific community of MCs and producers and they've been really busy lately. The subjects of this review include one of Portland's finest MCs Milc, and Seattle based producer Andy Savoie. Their latest project Windbreaker XL, is actually an extended version of the Windbreaker EP which released in March. It includes 5 new songs making it a full length project. The EP was a nice enough meal but the extra tracks are like that plate a good host packs for you to take home so you can continue the experience. The Bandcamp page says the bonus songs were pulled from the original album sessions but they don't feel like throwaways. Milc definitely doesn't come across as the kind of rapper that's about wasting bars. Each line in his laid back, effortless, stream of consciousness flow feels like it matters. He's got bars that emphasize the slick talk, blended with some of that good ole street talk. He's definitely had some experience with the shadier side of his city. Windbreaker XL is a mostly mellow, but driven affair with Andy Savoie's lush production providing the perfect backdrop for Milc's observations, bravado, and razor sharp wit. Milc brings along some friends like Blu, Greg Cypher, and Soop Dread to give you an even broader picture of what's happening in Portland. "Citgo" is the posse cut that welcomes more of his fellow MCs like Chima The Stubborn, C'estla, and Farnell Newton who all take turns spilling over a beat that bounces effortlessly between a hard charging main and the smoothest jazz horns on the chorus. Perhaps my favorite offering on the project is the aggressive "Blue Faces." Milc is in his bag as he rides this beat and humble brags with the utmost confidence. It's a shift of tone from the rest of the project but it's interesting because Milc doesn't hurry his flow to match it, he just finds his space and gives it to you just as laid back and as easy as he does on the rest of the album. He's like a sinister surgeon with words as he matter of factly, delivers lines like: "Life is foul, I tried being a righteous child But the evils come out when I write shit down I don't need a piece of the pie, just need a piece of mine Everytime they increase the rent, we increase the crime" Technically this is Milc's 3rd project in the last 12 months if you count the two Windbreaker drops as one, and he shows no sign of slowing down. In my experience this can be a magical time for artists who are putting in this kind of effort back to back. Windbreaker XL is good but I think Milc has a few more gears he can hit and I'll definitely be checking for future releases. Released July 22, 2022 https://smarturl.it/windbreakerxl

The Grand Nationxl collective is doing the groundwork and becoming some of The Bay Area hip-hop scene’s standout artists. One of the men at the forefront of that is Richmond’s very own Mani Draper. He kicked July off with Communion: Book 2, a follow up to his EP, Communion which dropped earlier in the year. With a run time of just over 17 minutes and features from Rolanda D. Bell, Brookfield Duece, Dame Drummer and Kevin Allen not a second is wasted, from beat selection, flow pattern, skit placement, everything serves its purpose. Mani’s baritone voice, variety of deliveries, and range of beats make him like a center that can dominate the post but still bring the ball up court and shoot the 3. The intro track, “Bright Side” produced by Jay Anthony is reminiscent of OutKast, with a hook and beat that I wouldn’t be surprised to hear placed in a T-Mobile commercial. A notable thing Draper remains consistent with throughout the project is his lyricism. On one of favorites tracks, “Kush/Gospel.” he raps, “Red beans and rice on Granny life n****s been prayed over unsigned hype, box for the likes was sposed to get you closer would future me had relayed this sober? in the main sanctuary reekin no sense in tryna mask the odor.” Mani Draper is staying true to himself, creating a lane, excelling and it's not going unnoticed. Communion: Book 2 is the perfect soundtrack for that quick commute. A complete product from content, tone, structure, production, and sequencing. If you appreciate hip-hop in its purest form then you’ll have no choice but to enjoy this EP from start to finish! Released: July 1, 2022 https://manidraper.lnk.to/c02

While recording, transcribing and editing this interview all that kept poppin’ up in my mind was the alchemy of the notorious Nipsey line from “Overtime,” they say it’s 6 degrees in life / opportunity, preparation - they meet it’s nice. It’s fair to say that the independent route has numerous challenges and benefits for various artists. Sometimes the benefits outweigh the challenges and sometimes the challenges outweigh the benefits. At times you have access, support and resources and other moments you’re without. But in the midst of it all how do you define your success? Is success a singular never ending goal post -or- merely a myriad of moments where your opportunity and preparation align? Below is an interview that serves more as an inner view into how Aj Snow’s consistency and perseverance put him in position to release one of his best albums to date, NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL. Throughout the interview Snow speaks on his craft, the creation of the album and how the album also allowed for him to gain a deeper connection with producer Jansport J. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Aj Snow: How long have you been doing this? Jameka: Uhm, I’ve always done music shit but as far as starting my own thing and having my own independent publication and stuff - this is my 2nd year doing it. It was just me doing shit for the longest time and I was just recently able to get 4 or 5 other writers on board so hopefully shit gets going to a different level here soon too. Aj Snow: That’s nice, congrats. I been seeing you guys gettin’ to it and consistently how y’all have been tappin’ in with me too and I just wanted to reach out, thought it made sense. Yeah! I love it, I appreciate that. It’s crazy y’all just put out this project together. I’ve followed Jansport J for quite some time and he retweeted or engaged with one of your projects awhile back - OR - somethin’ like that and around then is when I tapped into the music. It’s really cool that y’all are on this now. Aj Snow: Oh damn, that shit crazy. I didn’t know Sport was on board like that. When I met him for the first time he was like, “yeah, I’ve been hearing about you for a minute,” and I’m like, “damn, why ain’t you say nothin’?” That’s too dope. So, how did y’all’s relationship form? Aj Snow: So, he was tellin’ me that Dom Kennedy told him to start workin’ with, you know, the newer talent than what he was workin’ with. He was workin’ with the top of the top artists. I had a show in L.A. in January and Sport’s manager came out and then I performed and then the next day after that Sport had followed me on Instagram. Then, after a couple days later I reached out to him to get 1 beat or 2 beats or somethin’ and he was like, “man, I’ve been thinkin’ bout doin’ a whole project.” Damn… Aj Snow: When he told me that I was like, “ahhh damn, that’s hard,” but you know how the shit goes when people tell you they wanna do somethin’ with you. You know, they say that but they don’t ever follow thru on it. So, the next day or later that day he sent me like damn near 30-40 beats. He was serious. Aj Snow: So, that album, what we did - NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL... those were like the first songs, the first 10 songs we did. I’m real big on just droppin’ what I got. I feel very confident in what I make. I don’t need to go in the studio and make like 50 songs to make 1 project, like nah. I’mma grab these 10 songs and we gonna put them together and make it like that. And that’s how NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL came. That’s pretty cool - so, what type of time frame did it take to come up with the tracks? Aj Snow: With the tracks, shit - when he sent me those beats I think we ended up doing our first studio session at the end of January. I know by then we had done the intro, we had “How I Make It Here?” and that was like the first record we did. Even the first time we went to the studio he gave me some more beats to go home with for NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL. Ideally, we already knew exactly the title, we had everything kinda in play by the end of February. Wow. Aj Snow: Yeah, we were really reachin’ to drop the album in May but Sport he had BudaSport and a few other things under his belt and he was like, “man, lemme give this some space to breathe,” so we pushed the album back to June. Makes sense, so how did the title come about? What does that mean - NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL? Aj Snow: So, "NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL" - with the outro record, when that song came on I was sittin’ and when I was listenin’ it gave me like award show vibes. That’s why I said, the real don't get awards but this is my speech if I did. What I’m rapping is like what I would say if I won an award. That’s why the first bar too is, I Sport fly shit, I got that shit from a Jay-Z line when he said, “I sport fly shit I should win an ESPY,” and that was kinda the direction I wanted to go with it but I ended up playin’ around with it. So, with the “NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL,” I said that in a bar and then Sport was kinda like “let’s make that the album title” and I was like, “let’s run with it.” It seems like it came and flowed pretty naturally for y’all. Aj Snow: Oh yeah yeah yeah, this was really my first time workin’ on a full project with 1 producer and this was really my first time in a professional studio. Oh wow. Aj Snow: Most of the time before that I’ve just been workin’, you know, just home studio. Really just knockin’ out the records from home and send it in to get mixed. This was really the first time I sat down and listened to the album get mixed, mastered and really put my input on stuff too. Man, it was a whole team effort. You can hear it too, in the actual album. I enjoy your work that’s why I stay up with it but there’s something different about this album. This feels like a huge stepping stone. Being in the professional studio do you feel like it affected your craft or did it bring something else out of you? Aj Snow: It was very fun. It felt like I was supposed to be there, you know what I mean. That’s the best way I could put it. And the relationship with me and Sport - I always say it’s like a training camp. Like yeah, I’ve been rappin’, I’ve been doin’ this, I’ve been doin’ that, I’ve had this success, I’ve had that success but now I really got someone who’s really been in the game. That is really in the game and really done and got his achievements and stuff so I’m just sittin’ back soakin’ up everything he really teaches me. So, it’s all training camp. You know, if this is the only project we do and we split our ways and everything I learn from him is going to add to my formula. Yeah, that’s real and real universal alignment. Aj Snow: No, fasho fasho, and those are the types of talks me and him be having. We sit down and we be talkin’ about this, this and this. We definitely feel that. Do you feel like there were any challenges with making this album? Or new challenges? Aj Snow: Nah, not really. My only challenge I would say I feel like I was stuck inside my box. I feel like I’ve developed more as an artist and my challenge was seein’ how the fans were goin’ to react to it. Because you know, when a lot of artists try new stuff a lot of fans, you know - they try to put you in a box. And I have had some fans be like, “where’s the car music at? Where’s this? Where’s that?” And it’s just like - man - this is my best project I ever did. It’s touching the people a lot more so I feel like it was the best for me. That’s so interesting because I definitely would’ve not thought that. It’s a different type of music, you stepped out a lil but at the same time this is still something you can be playin’ in the whip, like fasho. Aj Snow: Yeah, I don't take offense to this shit I just scratch my head. At the end of the day this is my art, you know. That’s how I look at this. This is my art and I’mma give what I feel comfortable with. If my name is attached to it I believe in that. 1000%. About your name tho - where’d it come from? Aj Snow: Man, it’s funny. You know Snow On Tha Bluff ? When that shit was on Netflix and everything I used to tweet Curtis Snow on there and I’d be like “hey unc,” messin’ with him and shit and he’d be responding’ to me and shit. So, that’s where I kinda got it from. Then also, Pimp C was one of my favorites and his nickname was Tony Snow. That’s kinda where I got it from too. That’s dope that it was all your doing. Aj Snow: I hate explaining it but you know that’s where I got it from. Yeah, it comes when it’s supposed to. Where are you based? Aj Snow: I’m in Los Angeles right now. But you're from Illinois? Aj Snow: Yeah, I was born in Dallas. So, it’s very interesting. I was born in Dallas, I grew up in Springfield, Illinois and then I moved back to Dallas and I was there for like 7 years. I been in L.A. for a year. I’ve been out here since last May. So, I just been out here workin’. You like it out there? Aj Snow: I love it. The weather, palm trees, food - man, actually I stopped eatin’ meat not too long ago and I’ve been losin’ weight like a mug. I had gotten a little chunky out here eating all that. That’s what’s up, see, that’s what happened to me when I came down South. I’m from out West and came down here. Aj Snow: Oh okay, what part are you from? I’m from Washington, spent some time in Oregon and spent some time in Oakland too. Aj Snow: Okay, what part of the South? Right now I’m in Memphis but before Memphis I was in Atlanta for a couple years. Aj Snow: Oh yeah, you probably gettin’ all the BBQ out there in Memphis. Man, they got a lotta good food out here fasho. It’s dangerous but the pace of life is so different. Like I miss the West in those terms. And the options, it just seems like there are more options or opportunities out West too. Aj Snow: Oh yeah, most definitely. Man, it’s crazy out here - I ran into Hitmaker, Yung Berg, that nigga was leaving the elevator at my crib jus like damn. You don’t get this type of shit in Texas or elsewhere. Like I saw Casey Veggies at the smoke shop by my crib and if I wasn’t out you know walkin’ the dog then I probably would’ve chopped it up with him. You know, that might’ve been a record. It’s the access, you know. Yeah, a lot of opportunities. Aj Snow: And everybody knows somebody, you know. My bad, I feel like we’re having so much a conversation that we gotta get back to the questions. It’s all good, for real. How would you describe your sound? We’ve heard people call it car music, player music… Aj Snow: It’s more lifestyle. I feel like I became more personal. As I’m gettin’ older, I’ve been rappin’ for a minute but now I kinda look at it like if I’m rappin’ makin’ sure I’m sayin’ something. You know, inspiring people. I say more lifestyle, I’m sharin’ what I see, what I hear, you know, my thoughts. You know, grindin’ for the hopeless. You learn that there’s a lot of people who don’t get to see or even see the stuff I’ve been able to see. I just want to be the reporter and let people know that there’s more out here. If anybody feels stuck or feel like shits not goin’ - there’s more to life, don’t trip. Yeah, I feel it fasho. You’re sharing your experiences with people. Aj Snow: Yeah, you know, I was born in Dallas but I grew up in Springfield which is like a population of 100,000. There’s no music outlet, no nothin’ and now I’m here and I got an album with a Grammy nominated producer under my belt. It’s like, “how I make it here?” That’s where that record came from. I was like, “damn, I’m workin’ with Sport on an album,” and it’s like, “damn, how’d I make it here?” Shit, then you start thinking about all the odds that were up against you as long as you keep goin’ like really just keep goin’ and it’s gonna get better. That’s so beautiful, for real. Aj Snow: It’s been so many times when I would want to quit. Now, when I look back and I might say that shit on a Tuesday and look down 3 weeks later and I’m like I’m glad I didn’t because look at where I’m at now. Of course, it’s not that quick of a return but man there were so many situations and times when a nigga wanted to give up. Now, it’s like glad I didn’t give up. Just out of curiosity what type of things were bringing you to that moment of almost calling it quits? Aj Snow: Looking back - well, I saw Sport tweet this the other day, “if this shit was easy everyone would be doing it” or some shit like that. I feel like where I’m at right now everything is more pressure. Sometimes I feel like I put the pressure on myself because I feel like how Kobe feel with basketball. I just want to be great and I don’t think a lot of people have that same ambition. Maybe they don’t go thru the shit that I go thru but I literally love this shit. This is really what I want to do. This is where my passion is at but sometimes I get discouraged. Certain things happen but then you get that validation, you know and sometimes that’s for you to keep goin’. It feels like as an artist it’s all just kinda part of the journey. Like every once in awhile you’re going to have your doubts - you just grow thru it. Aj Snow: Yeah, for sure. I feel like it’s a cycle to be honest. Man, when you elevate to another level it’s just - man, I felt a little pressure after droppin’ NO AWARDS FOR THE REAL. In my head, I’m like, sonically this is the greatest fucking album. You know, I’m thinkin’ in my head and of course we’re workin’ on album #2. We pushin’ thru the pressure. But you still have these moments as an artist where you’re like, “man, what if they compare or the fans don’t fuck with this no more.” I be puttin’ all types of pressures on myself and I’m learnin’ just to go thru it and that’s why you get these moments and you cherish it more. You really learn to appreciate a lot of shit. I feel like it’s natural for people to fall at the wayside but at the same time I feel like with working with Jansport J a lot more people are getting to hear your music. With that comes new fans and supporters. Aj Snow: Most definitely, I’m real big on paying attention to numbers. I just feel like music is a business, you know, being and artist is a business. I don’t think a lot of people understand that. I pay attention to numbers. I worked jobs where we sat down and looked at numbers. Little did I know - at the time I didn’t think I really needed that shit but now doin’ my own thing it was definitely an honor to learn that and see that shit. Daily, I look at my numbers. I look to see where my music is going. Those type of things help me add to the formula or calculate and put shit together. Where to tap in at. Did you notice quite a number change in this last release? Aj Snow: Oh yeah, most definitely. One big thing was with Spotify. I remember just a couple months ago I was about to hit 2000 monthly listeners. I remember when I only had 3. Now, that shit hit up to 4100 but I think it’s down to 3800 which is natural for an album release. If I could stay in that 3000 realm that’s way more than what I was gettin’. Just a couple months ago I was thirstin’ to hit 2000. I remember one month in and I was right there at 98 or 99 then it dropped down to 60-something or 1950. And I was just like, “fuck,” you know, those little milestones niggas trying to achieve. Definitely understand but I'm sure more numbers are to come. So, there is another project with Jansport on the way? There’s been quite some talk about your latest release by people who really listen to Hip Hop, you know. People who are tapped into the likes of Roc Marciano and that kind of sound. Aj Snow: I didn’t expect you know - we’ve really been building a great friendship. We damn near talked everyday. He kinda just told me his role - and he was like, “I see a lot of me in you and my position of being an OG in the game is to really help groom and shape you. You already got it but I wanna just come in and help polish you up more.” Man, how’d that make you feel? Aj Snow: Man, it’s great. When I quit my job I played one of his productions, that Dom Kennedy, “Life.” I’m takin’ the chances, I want it all. I’m takin’ a risk, I want it all. That’s another thing too, just to finally meet somebody solid and genuinely wants you to win it’s an amazing feeling. It’s like sometimes I still get my little moments like, “damn, niggas is really in the game, this shit crazy.” Or just to have that backing, you know. Really backing you and supporting you. Everything is genuine. If I posted that I’m doing a show right now - he’ll retweet it. You know what I mean. It’s the most authentic, genuine artist-producer relationship you can have. With this game, and I know you know - there’s a lot of people tryna get over and tryna use you to get where they want to go. And with him you can just tell it’s not that. We in the studio and he be playing me unreleased Big Sean and Nas records. Just to be sittin’ in the studio or the car with him playing these unreleased records… it’s just like bro, this shit is fucking amazing. That’s really beautiful. You deserve it. That’s alignment, that’s really for you. Aj Snow: I feel like before I met Sport I was kinda in the headspace of giving up. I feel like this is kinda mine for not giving up, you know. With life man, you just gotta keep mashin’ thru whatever is throw at you - you gotta keep mashin’. I think that’s kinda one of the rewards of putting my head down and still working. I said it already but it’s a stepping stone. You bout to see levels - I’m excited for you. I hope that we’re able to build an artist/editor type relationship so I can continue to check in with you and write about what’s goin’ on. Aj Snow: Fasho, and that’s just another learning experience too. You gotta fuck with who fuck with you and that shit is way more authentic. I’ve been peepin’ that y’all been fuckin’ with me, postin’ me, y’all been on part of the journey. A lot of people would’ve ignored that and they try to go chase where the love ain’t at. I rather build with the people that fuck with me and that’s where I’ve kinda been takin’ my time and really just build in-house and with the people that support me and wanna see me win. Everybody be tryin’ to chase the support that they don’t have and that’s why shit don’t be workin’ out like that. Yeah, or they expect something else from the support they’re receiving. Or they expect something else and so they overlook the actual support they’re receiving. Aj Snow: Yeah, transitioning to live in L.A. I’ve leveled up to a whole other level and I look at a lot of shit differently now. To see even how the people react or other people have their motives and try to use you and be around. So I’ve been able to experience a lot of more shit. You can sit back and you can hate or you can be upset about how the way some shit went or you can just really appreciate it. That shit’ll change your formula. That’s kinda where I stand on it. I was able to see a lot of shit I was blind to. That shit just helped me become a better person and a better artist. That’s why I say now - tap in now, fuck with who fucks with you. That’s always been my type of thing. Niggas be chasin’. It’s funny though because Sport’s brand, All Attraction, No Chasin’. So many people get caught up with the chasin’ - when you attract shit it’s way more genuine. Man, that’s so real. All Attraction, No Chasin’. I’m not trying to bombard you about this new album or anything but what can your supporters and new fans expect from this new project? Like have you began working on it? Is it part 2? What’s going on with that. Aj Snow: I feel like the first album we were kinda introducing you to this new sound. Me and Sport we are about to go crazy. This ain’t the stop, I think we really found our pocket. He even said when the album dropped, “man, Snow helped me become a better producer.” But, we just shot the “2ND II NONE” video on Friday and Sport was DJing while we was shooting the video. What’s different with this album than the first one is that we both sat down and we’re both into the creative process of creating ideas or even samples and shit or changing the format of the records. We both workin’ on it. When it says Aj Snow and Jansport J, it’s really Aj Snow and Jansport J. It ain’t just like I rap and he produces. For instance, the outro I laid a verse on it and sent him a rough draft so he could see where I’m goin’ with it and he’d be like, “man, this should be the hook,” and he’d throw the hook idea. Then I might switch it up a bit to throw my own spin on it. I be tellin’ Sport he need to rap because he be comin’ up with some ideas. That’s another thing though, that’s just me learning from his creative style. He sat down and told me stories about being in the studio with Hit-Boy, being in the studio with Nas, so it’s like I’m really soakin’ up a lot of shit. Like the intro, “MADE BY OGs,” like how we got the hook and shit. Sport was like, “nah, you should make this the hook.” I had the bars and the verse, if I said it I’mma stand on it, found a new wave then I put my man’s on it, he was like, “yo, make that the hook and go back in to add a verse, add a 16, then we’re gonna throw the hook there.” You know, havin’ that coachin’, havin’ that support. This album I’m bringin’, I got a couple of my partners, my brothers - we’re more brothers than rappers. I’m trying to get them in the mix and spread light with them, you know. Plus, they got their shit goin’ on but just to add somethin’ more to their belt. This one gonna be a nice vibe. The last one was too so I believe it. Aj Snow: I think me workin’ with Sport it’s really showin’ my versatility. You know, I’m gettin’ off on some Griselda type beats on this muthafucka, you know what I mean. Ayyy, yeahhhh. Aj Snow: Here, I’ll play you one right now. Mannnnn, y’all comin’ with the clip loaded. Aj Snow: Yeah, we already got the album placed I just gotta go in and lay some verses and shit. We plan on droppin’ it here real soon. We just want to run it up to be honest. That’s the whole motto. He’s independent, I’m independent. Why not. Aj Snow: Why not. We get to control this shit. Man, this is exciting. *plays unreleased record* Yeah, that shit is raw! I like your voice on that type of production a lot. Aj Snow: Thank you, I appreciate that a lot. I’m learning and last time we talked and my fans were like, “that’s not car music,” and that’s another thing that adds pressure. But fuck it, this is my art, I’m going to create. Man, so many people want to limit you to one thing and it’s like nah, I’m an artist and I can jump on these different types of records. That shit be pressure but lowkey I might gain a whole other range of Hip Hop fans on that grimy rap shit. Or shit, I might link with Roc Marciano or some shit and do a whole album. It’s facts. Aj Snow: I’m more thinking bigger than just right now. That track done gave me goosebumps. Aj Snow: Oh man, that’s hard, that’s crazy. It’s still classy, it’s still your real suave type demeanor but the beat brings out a whole other side. Aj Snow: What’s crazy is Sport told me the other day, “I’m glad you jumped on that beat because I didn’t really like the beat,” but that’s one of his favorite songs right now. I’m excited for y’all. Aj Snow: Just to give you a time and you ain’t gotta put it in the interview but we thinkin' late some month. Wow, that’s really exciting. Definitely looking forward to that. On a day like today out there what music are you playin’ in the whip? Aj Snow: Let me check I’ve been playin’ a lot. Oh shit, this is funny. I was just playing Adina Howard, “A Freak Like Me,” G Perico, “Half a Bird,” Keni Burke, “I Get Off On You,” I played Jon B that, whatcha say booooo. That and just played them in the whip. I’ve been listening to full bodies of work from artists. You know you gotta have hits and good singles but I like to listen to a full body of work. I feel like that’s where I specialize at is giving a full body of work instead of one or two singles. I really don't like droppin’ singles unless it’s part of the album. Unless it’s part of the rollout. Aj Snow: Yeah, unless it’s part of the rollout. I probably won’t drop another record until I’m well on another project. It’s kinda like changing scenes… you ain’t gonna change a scene and go back to the last scene. When you change scenes in a movie, you know. Outside of music you also have your own brand - “Made by OGs,” tell me about that. When did that begin? Aj Snow: “Made by OGs,” - I dropped my first project in December of 2015 and you know, I just made a dad denim hat. This was right before the dad hats really started poppin’, you remember that… like 2016. I had made a little hat to just help promote the album. I wasn’t really thinkin’ nothin’ of it. But you know, the response that I got back from it and it did very well. So, I just kept going - and it’s so crazy that I’m doing clothing now because when I first started I was like, “man, I’m not going to do clothes because I didn’t want to deal with the sizes and everything. You know I grew into it. Right now I feel like I'm in a rebuilding stage because you wanna better. It’s like you buy a crib and the crib is cool but then you wanna remodel, you know. Yeah, yeah, evolvin’... Aj Snow: It’s gonna keep changing. So, now I’m at this point and I’m in L.A. too and there’s the fashion district just trying to put the pieces together. I want “Made by OGs” to stand as its own street wear or luxury brand. There ain’t’ no limit to where it can go. That’s facts, you have some cool pieces. Like the Crown Royal version of the Made by OGs hat. That shit real cool. When I saw you put that out I was like yeah, he’s leveling up in everything. Aj Snow: Mann, I’m learning, I’m learning. I’m more than a rapper. I’m an artist. I’ve been learnin’ Andy Warhol, Basquiat, you know. I’ve been learnin’ like, payin’ attention to Frank Ocean. To them, he might just be seen as a singer but he’s an artist. I look at where all these people stand and they're more. I feel like I’m a lot more. I wanna be considered an artist. Like Westside Gunn, he’s an artist. From his music to his clothes, he’s an artist. He’s not a rapper, he’s not a clothing designer, he’s an artist. That’s kinda where I wanna be remembered at or known for, as an artist. If I go design a car people will know, “ayy, Snow designed that,” or if I go design a house like Virgil did, you know. I feel like that’s where my style and my music come from. I’m an artist, I’m decorating it the way I hear it in my head. I’m not copying, I’m my own leader into this shit. PHOTOS: Jehn.w.a - https://www.behance.net/jehNWA PHOTO 1 & 2 Andrew Diego - https://www.instagram.com/drew_v600/ ALBUM ART PHOTO 3 & 4 Freddy Dubon - https://www.instagram.com/fotofreddy_/ PHOTO 5 Andrew Quesada - https://www.andrewlquesada.com/ "2ND II NONE" VIDEO "'83 EL CAMINO" VIDEO PHOTO 6 & 7 https://madebyogs.com/

The 6th Letter has been cultivating his craft for a good while now. After catching the attention of Jonny Shipes of the Smokers Club early, he went on to drop two projects on Toronto’s BKRSCLB, NorthernPlayalisticGetHighMuzik Vol. 1 and A Bathing Ape in a Hotbox. These established his spot nicely within the label’s universe: the fly guy who loves to get high. That first tape is especially significant, because this is the latest in a series of spiritual successors, this instalment 8 years removed. Plentiful streetwear bars intertwine seamlessly with lyrics about his love for the herb. Working alongside Raz Fresco for so long here has been beneficial: the label founder and prolific spitter has hunkered down on the production side of things recently, amassing new hardware and mastering it in what seems like the blink of an eye, and dropping beat tapes as well. This latest offering, Get Baked, is entirely produced by Raz, with appearances from Chicago’s Vic Spencer as well as the ever-impressive local Daniel Son. A steady growth is visible now just as it was on last year’s Coneman, which is another project fully helmed by Fresco. The soundscapes bring out some of his most confident flows (see "Chain Smoking Part II"), and that chemistry they’ve shown together in those past collaborations is on full display here. “That’s a cool lil brush, But you paintin the wrong picture, Look I give em sumn to feel, That’s sumn for real For the seeds it’s on me, It cost nothin to build Long as you got ya mind right, You ain’t stuck in the field You ain’t gotta be slangin, robbin or clutchin the steel…” - The 6th Letter, Sincerely While Get Baked isn’t a big sidestep thematically, the maturity that’s present here is hard to miss. He’s focused. He has his family to take care of, and that’s at the forefront in his mind. You can catch the children at the end of "Sincerely," telling the people about their love for their dad and BKRSCLB. It’s sort of similar to the Westside Pootie appearances on Gunn albums, albeit lacking that signature family braggadocio. "Poison" is another one of the more impressive tracks here. While discussing his kids, he’s also laying bare generational trauma and curses, and pledging to beat them. It’s a powerful manifestation, with a recognizable little clip to end the song off. He discusses how “the jealousy changes their perspective”, but doesn’t sound jaded in the least. It’s just the reality for rappers in this current landscape, where clout rules and they can’t help but be paranoid about people’s real intentions. Despite the occasional heaviness of life seeping in, they’ve excelled at making an album to smoke to; even the "Get Baked Interlude" is a decent addition to the canon of rap album radio skits. The standout track might have to be "Hands Clean" though. Daniel Son brings that trademark vicious presence, and some bars to make you chuckle too. “Gotta destroy in order to build, you know the deal, Keep it real with yourself, they gon’ feel how they feel, 10 toes on your square, put some weed in the air, When you play this shit here, it be taking you near.” - The 6th Letter, Hands Clean The beats are real crispy whether in your headphones or the whip, a gift from Raz for him to slide over. They range from classic boom-bap to the real hazy and almost psychedelic. The 6th Letter slips between dropping various sorts of wisdom and straight-up gliding over those pockets. Minds are melding here, and the BKRSCLB vision crystallizes a little further. While they might still be “too raw for the Junos” (When the Smoke Clears), the underground is catching on quickly to the heat that doesn’t stop coming out of Toronto. If in the last decade they’ve been laying a foundation, this is where the structure becomes impossible to miss. Released: June 16, 2022

A master class in “use what you have to make your own magic.” Recorded in his living room on a cheap mic over 3 days. Lupe delivers on his first LP after 2018’s Drogas Wave.10 tracks as an homage to Illmatic by Nas, complete with its own Halftime record in “KIOSK” on track 5 in the middle of the(m) all… Lu’s pen is sharp as ever, all records produced by Sountdtrakk, only credited features on the record are his sister Ayesha Jaco opening “THE LION’S DEEN” intro with her signature poetic style. As well as Lu’s SOSA guild protege Nayirah. A talented rapper in her own right who provides melodies on lead single “AUTOBOTO,” the slow, haunting “PRECIOUS THINGS,” and Alt-Rock inspired “SEATTLE.” The standout track is of course, “MS. MURAL,” a cerebral and layered concept record on the frustrations of being an artist forced to entertain a hapless patron. Beneath the surface is a very real history lesson on the means of production and subjects of artistic expression, complete with an Edgar Allen Poe-like macabre plot twist. Released: June 24th, 2022

Deniro Farrar's latest EP, Spook By The Door takes it's namesake from the 1969 Sam Greenlee novel The Spook Who Sat By The Door. The book later became an Ivan Dixon directed film in 1973, and is highly revered as a jewel of the Blaxploitation film era. In the story, after realizing he's just a token hire, a Black CIA officer quits the agency. He then uses his training to teach Black men from the streets how to get the man off their neck, and become freedom fighters. Deniro opens Spook By The Door with a song that shares the same title as the EP. A Cenobite produced track is the back drop for Deniro's raspy voice as he tells you what he's about, and how he moves through the streets with both eyes open for these pythons(snakes.) The next track of the EP is LT produced "Mafia." It's a more mellow mood but Deniro is not letting off the gas. What stands out overall in his music is the skill at which he executes. This isn't his first project and it shows. He's an expert rapper who is adept at crafting his bars and delivering them in a way that's convincing and also keeps you on your toes as a listener. He's a strong songwriter and you'll be chanting along to these choruses before the songs are even over. Last but not least, is my favorite, the high energy and infectious "Run It Up." Shaq Gonzoe and Don Kevo share production duty on this certified banger. This is the one that's gonna get you through that last stretch on your run or make you feel like you can lift the whole gym. Deniro's razor sharp wit and delivery are on full display as he gives you the streets in a way that only someone who has lived it can. Spook By The Door is a great project, especially if it's your first time listening to music from Deniro Farrar. I wish it did have an extra song or two. Fortunately he's got a lot of material readily available for that inevitable deeper dive you'll wanna take into his catalogue. Release date: May 13, 2022

It’s Saturday in late May, and the eve of PhoeNix’s latest, an EP titled Walkthru. In the past year, he’s released an album Redbird, as well as the second in the Crybaby Soprano series. When he picks up the call, he’s sparking a blunt, the smoke tinged pink from the lights above his head. We start by talking touring with Jack Harlow and Babyface Ray alongside Mavi, but quickly move to discussing it all: his beginnings, story, thoughts and goals. When I ask about the music that shaped him, he laughs, grumbling out, “I guess I’ve been influenced” before generously listing out tapes that he grew up on. He’s been in this game for a while, beginning in Texas as K. Mitch. He had a few small projects out under that name before adapting the moniker he’s got now. The story behind this one? “I overdosed, twice, actually died. My mama was there. Shit. And then, I felt like, oh, I need to let my old ways die. Phoenix, life and death, all embodiment. Closest thing to having a pseudonym that’s not a pseudonym.” He’s gracious, honest, and open, smiling as he reassures me not to worry; “Drugs can’t kill me, and these fuck n***** can’t either.” I believe him. He’s at The Bridge this evening, a studio in Charlotte he describes as “a creation hub that also serves as a catalyst to get paid.” It’s an easygoing, lighthearted atmosphere, and while we talk, various folks pass through the doors. This space became his second home when he linked up with his manager Cody, who runs the spot. He tells me the story of that day: “Mavi dropped me off here. I ain’t really have nowhere to rap yet, I wasn’t really rapping yet. And, we was really just kicking it, it was on Thanksgiving! And I was kinda lowkey fake sad, because n***** wasn’t out there with their families and shit. But, you know. So n***** was here. My n****, we went and got some soul food, and shit, n***** just let me rap. If not all day, close to all day. And, let that shit happen for a week, two, three, got turned into a month. And we just got so cool, and then he turned into my manager. And I can honestly say bro, it’s been the most beneficial shit in a bunch of different ways. Even outside of directly music, you know, we’re real good. I like the team I have. And it’s not a huge team! It’s really my manager Cody, my partner Jo. Shoutout Sean Stanley, who’s recently been added because when Jo’s not around, he’s like the n**** who shoot all my shit. But he stay in Atlanta, and I be out here in Charlotte. I met Sean through Cody. But that’s it, as far as intermediate team of curation of content. Outside of that, of course gang is gang. Shoutout Backkkseat, KS, etcetera. But it ain’t no million people that we got involved in this. You know, real home, ground-up foundation type shit. Really, I put a lot of that on the Bridge. Shoutout to the Bridge, man. This is a wonderful studio to be able to come to and create man. A lot of good things happened here.” A lot of good things indeed. TheBridgeCLT’s channel is home to a number of session videos from some of the brightest talents around. Among two from PhoeNix, you can see the likes of Fetty P Franklin and 10Cellphones, as well as his friends/contemporaries Mavi, Ahmir, Messiah!, Marco Plus and more. He never hesitates to shine a light or heap praises on the people around him. When I ask for recent album recommendations, he immediately names the latter four’s latest, and then mentions Smiles’ D.E.M.M.O tape a few minutes later. The Houston native has found community in Charlotte with the members of Killswitch and Backkkseat, and when it comes to his people he’s all the way serious. Today happens to be his longtime friend and cameraman Jomir’s birthday, and everyone is showing love. There’s whoops of welcome and cheer when he’s let in. Jo filmed a number of his older videos, as well the Redbird documentary, but as PhoeNix explains, he wasn’t just a videographer. “Bro, that’s my twin. Me and Jo was homeless together bro.… hell yeah. Me and Jo got evicted out of one of his spots together, we had to sleep in the car for like a month. And was just jumping from hotel to hotel. And that was like, the whole time period of making Redbird.” Redbird is the project that I fell in love with, and I expressed as much when I reached out to organize this interview. We agree it’s overlooked; he even confesses he started to doubt the quality, before we both laugh about that. It’s full of twists and turns, and serves as a great introduction to him as an artist. The Houston roots are made clear early through the chopping and vocal sludge in this collection, but there’s the breakneck euphoria and rush of songs like "Cellphones" and the heartbreak in "Fly High" that make it impossible to pin down. "Homerun" is a BeatsbySav canvas, so you know the drums are knocking. "Truestory", the intro, is devastating, and he breaks it down for me: “To this day, [Redbird] has my favourite intro. I don’t think it’s my best intro no more, because this shit, you know what I’m saying? But, it’s my favourite intro. That Truestory song is about my best friend getting killed in college. And I had came from this girl house, and pulled up on him and I seen that shit. I pulled up, and the cops had the shit taped off at my brother’s house. Just the whole situation, I remember going to therapy for like three years, and I had stopped outta nowhere, because it got to the point where they tried to force me to write a grief letter about the situation, and I couldn’t. So that was like my own form of that.” Grief might loom in the music, but it isn’t at the forefront. He’s truly versatile, able to ride a hazy blunted beat and skip right into the pocket of trap heater next. Switching cadences isn’t a problem, and free association makes way for vivid tales. "Sky" has a jaunty piano central to it that’s reminiscent of Kevin Abstact’s "Empty." His philosophy about song length and curation is fascinating, and best understood by listening to his projects. They’re short, yes, but as a whole, “very complete, in sonic and sound, and conveying the story. I feel like we’re really in and out… It’s gon’ really frustrate people, because it’s good music but it’s over really quick. And I like that. I want that kinda sensation with desire, where people are like I want more of this. And then, if people don’t feel that way, then I kinda did my job wrong. Back to the drawing board, you know.” He’s devised a formula as well: “I try to always master having a really good three track run, having a good intro, and having a good outro. And if you follow that equation, successfully do it each time, 60% of your project gonna be good every time. Because, the first impression, the last impression, and that three song run.” Even with a clear formula and a vision like his, luck never stops playing a part. Having fallen in love with the sonics, I had to ask who’d been producing these songs. He mentions himself, Wulf Morpheus, Malik Burns, Jaylace and inFull, before dropping a surprising anecdote. A YouTube producer, ProdByNev, contributed almost half of Redbird without even knowing. As he tells it, “it was this n**** on YouTube, beats I was ripping. I ain’t even remember that I was ripping them, Produced by Nev. and I used like, 4-5 of them hoes for Redbird. And so, shit, I think.. Which music video was it? I forget which one exactly, but I was running Instagram ads… So one of the people that liked it was him, he swiped up and said like “Bro, you know I produced like 4 songs on Redbird?” Like, this one, this one, this one. I was like, no way, bro send me your YouTube page, send me the beat links. Sure enough, he sent me the page and I was like “Oh shit!!!”. Even more lit. It was so cool that he was cool about it; he could’ve definitely got my project pulled down. But he was like nah, you’re fire, I like your rapping, and sent me more beats! So shoutout Produced by Nev, I really gotta love it.“ No formula is going to be able to account for all the variables. I reached out to Nev, and he told me how a copyright strike led him to finding the album: “I remember making that beat [Greyfeel] and hoping someone would do what he did on it. I loved the song, the direction and I listened to the whole project and I heard "Feel Something," which is another song I produced on Redbird. I was going through a lot at the time and beats were the last thing on my mind, but it brought me motivation again. I reached out to him in maybe mid-December of last year, and I’ve been sending new beats every month hoping something comes of it. He’s got a refreshing sound that I would love to help build and be a part of as a producer.” The urge to build is strong in his presence. On top of fostering the community around him, he preaches forever motion. He’s constantly making plays, on the move and working at his craft. In the weeks since our call and the EP releasing, he’s teased a few different songs, with new rapid-fire and staccato flows over a whole different range of beats. He’s not prominent on social media; in fact sometimes it seems like it’s ultimately a distraction to him. His Twitter disappeared early this year, and his Instagram went with it sometime this month. He doesn’t plan on stopping this pace; Walkthru is just one more step along the road. But he’s proud of this project, and it shows. After listening through the EP a few times in the week before we talk, I can’t help but be convinced of his ascent. Redbird hooked me with its honesty, and Crybaby Soprano 2 made me double down, maybe even off American Gangster alone. But Walkthru is where he steps into an entirely new level. He’s confident, composed, and in charge of the story. It’s undeniable. During our chat he makes an offhand reference to a collab project with the relentless Marco Plus, to expand upon their song Walk Hard on CS2. If all goes as planned, it could be a breakthrough. But what does that even mean, when so much is happening at once in the scene? From all the fresh collabs and posse cuts, to the classic albums dropping, we’re watching in real time as this movement expands and the collectives grow. They’re doing their thing down South, representing hard for the region. I consider myself lucky to witness. As for the rest? Fuck em. *** This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. *** Sai: Damn, you were on that tour with Babyface Ray, right? PhoeNix: Yeah!! I’m not the biggest into Jack Harlow, but I loved how he put you guys on that. P: *laughing* Ayy, look bro. Shoutout Jack Harlow bro. Jack.. Shoutout Jack Harlow bro. Okay, if he’s got your stamp of approval that’s all I need to hear. P: I’m definitely part of the Jack Harlow agenda man. He’s a really nice young man. Especially even beyond putting Mavi on tour, allowing Mavi to bring n***** like me and his friends, putting Babyface Ray and all of fuckin’ Daisy Lane on that bitch too. That’s turnt man. Shoutout Jack Harlow. I’m tryna catch them in Toronto. They’re here next week, I love Los and Nutty man. [this got cancelled, they didn’t let Face in] P: Bro! On the tour, they was actually supposed to do a Toronto date. But Babyface Ray nor Mavi could make it. So I think Toronto, for the Jack tour, was just Jack and the homies. Like, who he grew up with, honest where he’s from. They didn’t get the full Toronto crème de la crème tour experience. I gotta see Face next week then man. (nope) P: Oh yeah, facts. Fun fact: I’m opening up for him in Charlotte! That’s crazy. You’ve been holding it down in Charlotte, you and Mavi, Ahmir and them. P: Shit, trying to. I’m really not even a native from out here, I’m really really, like really really a Houston n****. Even to this day, my home is still out there. I’ve just been grateful to come out here off the strength off my partner Mavi. ‘Cause, the way me and Mavi even met is wild, bro. For the first two years we knew each other, we didn’t even rap. Like when he posted my shit, when you seen Redbird, we hadn’t even rapped together. Damn! P: Nah, for the first two years we knew each other we didn’t even rap together, it was just like oh you rap really well, and you rap really well, and I like you. And I opened up in his first show in Houston. Pandemic happened; everybody’s life went to shit for like a year and a half, two. And I remember one day, just randomly, he was calling my phone like “Mitch, how you been?”. *laughing* I was like *confused* “Mavi??”. Like, it was just so random and odd. It was in the middle of the pandemic, the last thing I expected. But shit, we just got to talking, and I flew out to Atlanta, probably three weeks after that conversation. And we ended up playing another Houston show. Because like, after a year and a half had passed, it was like shit, time to be back outside. Jack Harlow tour happened. Hop off that, come to Charlotte. Crybaby Soprano 2. Then what we’re doing now. Jeez! I love that tape. P: Man! It’s - I love it too, it’s one of my favourites. It’s just, I shouldda mixed it better. *laughing* but I like it for music’s sake. Out of all my projects.. I don’t know, I like all my projects a lot. They like kids bro. I love all my projects. I don’t even got no favourites. But I can honestly say - ever since you and me had talked that first time, through DM.. I went back, and I’ve been listening to Redbird. Because I’ve been sleep on Redbird. The fact that you even knew something… like, everybody be like nah, Redbird really the sleeper of all of them. Because of how long it is, I guess it feels more complete. It’s not like, a little in-and-out. It feels like a full on experience. So, I appreciate that. Nah, I meant it. P: And I think Redbird does a good job of showing, like, at least a sneak peak of what my range is. Oh yeah, for sure. I was going to say, you definitely rep for the South hard. I can see that Houston influence just from the chopped-n-screwed stuff on Redbird, sounds incredible. P: Born and raised, man! All I know. That’s the- man, Screwed Up tapes, Z-RO, Big Hart, Moe. Shit, even my father grew up in the scene. Slim Thug. Mike Jones, Paul, everything! All of it! It’s all I know. It’s really what I was raised on. 8Ball, MJG. Like, all that Southern soil man. I think for Crybaby Soprano 1, and Redbird, you got lil glimpses of it. You know, how I get into pockets that are kinda confusing, like “I don’t know where this n**** from.” But I think on this one, the shit that drop tonight at 12AM, it’s no debate. It’s like, “Oh, this n**** is from the South.” Southern, like, if you don’t understand what Houston or the South is, I think this do a real good job of conveying that. I love that Southern talk man. I was going to say … I wanted to ask about Southern influences, how you linked up with Mavi. But yo, it’s honestly just really nice to sit and talk to you and hear all this. P: Aw man. Well, just to give a brief bit about Southern influence. Honestly bro, I’d have to say, the biggest one out of allll of them: Wayne. Wayne. He ain’t like everybody else bro. You gotta understand, Wayne really ran a whole generation. Like, it was a point in time where Wayne would get on your song and it’s not your song no more. Bro, what Youngboy is to the kids now, Wayne was to us. I say, Wayne, 3 Stacks, and then.. Houston is so big, I can’t even name one collective, it would be so many like - I said Screwed Up Clique, then you got UGK, and you got, shit, more modern shit like Travi$, Maxo. Fun fact, in high school, when I was a freshman in high school.. nah, middle school bro, 7, 6, 8th grade, we was all listening to - transferring outta that DatPiff mixtape era, going into like, beginning Soundcloud era. Maxo Kream. He had a tape in the city call Retro Card. And he was still in high school at the time. Deep in the swamp, which is like the southwest part of Houston. And shit. I ain’t going to lie, that kinda influenced a lot of everybody’s shit. You have to hear Maxo to kinda understand the ways, but it’s definitely there. And of course Sauce Walka. Duh. *laughing* I gotta go back to that Maxo tape, thank you for putting me on, damn. P: Nah, nah, Retro Card, definitely. He did a remix, a remix to "Rigamortis" by Kendrick and that shit was so tough. Like so so tough. To hear somebody Southern, with that kinda dialect and cadences similar to mine from an area I’m from get on shit. But to me, influences, I don’t know. Specifically Houston influences. All them mixtape CDs n***** used to play, we’d get em at the barbershop, slide in my uncle truck and listen to all the time, and then blended in between that would be some Wayne. And a lot of more shit too though. A lot of more shit too. Like, Jay was played heavily throughout - Jay and Pac was probably played a lot a lot a lot. And Young Jeezy. Cause my momma favourite rapper was Tupac and Young Jeezy. She got a thing for bald n*****. Them n***** was played a lot. So that’s why I think I got.. it’s certain ways I rap that n***** kinda, it be hard to identify exactly, region-wise where I’m from. Until I let that shit out. That’s why I lean into it so much. Cause I love being such a Southern man. The South is the best place to be bro. Yeah! I know I’m from the North, but I love how hard you rep for the South. P: Aw, bro! South man, that’s where all my shit be popping. Like, we the south, and etcetera etcetera. I don’t know, it’s a large stereotype in hip hop with the whole “Southern people are dumb, or slow, or we draw our words out like this”, and it’s so.. Nah bro, we really the coolest. We set all the trends. Like, Atlanta been running the rap game for the past 10 years. Bro, everybody and their mama started saying drip, when Sauce came through on his way. So I don’t know, I don’t be understanding too much of that. N***** let A$AP Rocky make a whole project off of literally our sound. We take a lot of ownership and claim to this Southern shit, because we where this shit started. I love that, I love that. I noticed guitars play a role in your music, you might pick some beats that other folks might not. Is that a Houston, Texas thing? P: Uh, not so much. My thing about guitars really be bro, sometimes when I’m rapping, especially when I get in that singing-rapping bag, I feel like drums’ll condition me to rap a certain way, so most times if you listen to shit like “Serious”, “Speed”, where it’s bare minimum drums and just guitar and synth looped, it’s cool little sounds in the background… I get to walking in that bitch. It’s no debate. I can dribble whatever way I want to, and so it be a little more fun. That’s what that shit be about. The only shit I say bleed into my influence from the city, it’s kinda more like, if you hear on Redbird, all of the songs that are slowed, double time, chopped, and then of course it’s naturally how I talk, but that’s gonna be like, in my music regardless. I don’t ever have to make it a point to show that. I have no choice but to talk like a certain person, because that’s, shit, all the language that I have access to! *laughing* That’s where I’m from, that’s where all my friends from, where I grew up, so. I just try to, if anything, add other pieces into this. Because I feel like the main foundation, I’m already a Southern man, so what other little shit can I figure out and add on to make it different? That nobody else has done here. I’m just trying to figure it out. I feel like each project is me getting closer and closer to figuring it out. We almost at album time! It’s almost album time. So, Walkthru, is this an EP then? P: Yup. 8 songs, it’s an EP. So, after the tour, once I touched down in Charlotte and got acclimated.. I can actually trace it back to the exact day! My mans just walked in, his name’s Cody. I was out here in the studio I’m in right now. It’s called the Bridge, in Charlotte. And Mavi dropped me off here. I ain’t really have nowhere to rap yet, I wasn’t really rapping yet. And, we was really just kicking it, it was on Thanksgiving! And I was kinda lowkey fake sad, because n***** wasn’t out there with their families and shit. But, you know. So n***** was here. My n****, we went and got some soul food, and shit, n***** just let me rap. If not all day, close to all day. And, let that shit happen for a week, two, three, got turned into a month. And we just got so cool, and then he turned into my manager. And I can honestly say bro, it’s been like, the most beneficial shit in a bunch of different ways. Even outside of directly music, you know, we’re real good. I like the team I have. And it’s not a huge team! It’s really my manager Cody, my partner Jo. Shoutout Sean Stanley, who’s recently been added because when Jo’s not around, he’s like the n**** who shoot all my shit. But he stay in Atlanta, and I be out here in Charlotte. I met Sean through Cody. But that’s it, as far as intermediate team of curation of content. Outside of that, of course gang is gang. Shoutout Backkkseat, KS, etcetera. But it ain’t no million people that we got involved in this. You know, real home, ground-up foundation type shit. Really, I put a lot of that on the Bridge. Shoutout to the Bridge, man. This is a wonderful studio to be able to come to and create man. A lot of good things happened here. Yeah it looks really nice. I’ve seen a few videos of the sessions and stuff like that held there. P: Oh, you tapped in! Turn up! Nah, I had to! P: Yeah! Fetty P Franklin’s shit was here, Mav had one here, Messiah! had one, Ahmir, Marco. 10cellphones has been here if you’re hip to him. Woo! Marco Plus, that guy is nasty. P: Yeah, Marco Plus. Hard!! Oh man. Bro I’m biased, because Marco is literally one of my favourite human beings, but Marco got one of my favourite ones. That shit was tough. And because, you had to be here while bro was recording. Bro was really on walk-down type shit, because you know Marco don’t write? …No way. That’s crazy. P: Oh no. Marco don’t write. That’s what me and Marco have in common. That’s wild, I would have never guessed. Nah. P: Nah, he’s probably going to walk through this door within the next 10-15 minutes. Today Jo’s birthday, and that n**** coming out here because we about to work on this collab project. Damn bro! You’re really dropping all of this heat right now, I can’t believe you said collab project. This year is going to be crazy. P: Oh, bro, I’m trying. You gotta keep in mind, I did Redbird. And we waited liked, what, 4-5 month stretch. Crybaby Soprano 2. And then shit. Yup, you had last year in the bag. P: That’s what I’m saying. So, now I just wanna go into overdrive bro, I really need to drop mad good music though. And none of it’s forced. I promise it’s so calculated, and put together. Like, this Walkthru shit, I really really feel like people gonna love it. It’s very complete, in sonic and sound, and conveying the story. I feel like we’re really in and out. None of the songs are.. I don’t think… yeah, no songs are longer than 3 minutes, and it’s only one 3 minute song. It’s gon’ really frustrate people, because it’s good music but it’s over really quick. And I like that. I want that kinda sensation with desire, where people are like I want more of this. And then, if people don’t feel that way, then I kinda did my job wrong. Back to the drawing board, you know. But I don’t think I did my job wrong. Definitely not! That’s the thing, it’s got hella replay value, because it’s these moments of brilliance, super gorgeous production. And you have.. I meant to ask you this later, but you have great choices in production. You gotta tell me about some of the producers you work with too. P: Aw man. Well, shoutout to myself, because I produce. Shoutout to Wulf Morpheus, he’s super hard. Let me not forget nobody. Shoutout my n**** Malik [Malik Burns], he did the intro and outro on this joint. I know so many more producers… Shout Turk Money, I haven’t got no beats from him yet but he’s super fire. I also wanna shoutout inFull, dumb fire Charlotte n****. Jaylace, dumb fire.. Oh my god, I smoked too much weed, now I can’t remember everyone’s name on the spot. Mad producers, and I’m very thankful for all of them. I don’t wanna leave anybody’s name out, and exclude them. I’m thankful for everybody. It’s a lot of people, over the little span I’ve been rapping bro, in these lil nooks and crannies of the world, know about my shit and just be like “Nah, let’s work”. OH! Main one. ProdbyNev. He’s so fye. And let me tell you why he’s so fye. Because he made probably 40% of Redbird, and we don’t even know each other. I didn’t even know he did it. What? That’s insane. P: So, it was this n**** on YouTube, beats I was ripping. I ain’t even remember that I was ripping them, Produced by Nev. and I used like, 4-5 of them hoes for Redbird. And so, shit, I think.. Which music video was it? I forget which one exactly, but I was running Instagram ads. And, this n****, you know, was one of then like, 13,000 views, 1000 likes, whatever whatever whatever. So one of the people that liked it was him, he swiped up and said like “Bro, you know I produced like 4 songs on Redbird?” Like, this one this one this one. I was like, no way, bro send me your YouTube page, send me the beat links. Sure enough, he sent me the page and I was like “Oh shit!!!”. Even more lit. It was so cool that he was cool about it; he could’ve definitely got my project pulled down. But he was like nah, you’re fire, I like your rapping, and sent me more beats! So shoutout Produced by Nev, I really gotta love it. Nah, that’s a really crazy story, I gotta check him out for sure. P: Nah, he’s super hard. A lot of them beats where you be hearing, it’s just them synths and like, maybe at most a little bass in the background, no heavy drum, snare kicking on that.. That be him! And I be walking them bitches down. The outro track, Crybaby Soprano 2. That’s got a crazy beat, crazy instrumental at the end, you know what I’m talking about? P: Oh, this how you know I do too much drugs. I gotta think about what the outro track on Crybaby Soprano 2 is. Haha, it is- P: OH! Serious!! Serious! No, no no no no no no no. Bro bro bro bro bro, listen. “Serious” is literally one of my favourite song ever, like, period. You gotta understand wy it is though. It’s not even about the quality of the song. When me and this n**** Mavi was on tour bro, every, like every long stretch of drive - because we didn’t have no sprinter, we was in the Denali going state to state. So, certain shows, we’d have to perform and jump right in the truck and drive for like 2 days. So that’d be the anthem, *starts singing* “Put a big body on road,” that’s where that whole thing came from, big body whip Denali, like, facts. That’s one of my favourite songs. But, yeah, I don’t know. Don’t put this in there, but I definitely ripped the Serious beat. That’s another Youtube. I don;t even know. But shoutout to them, cause that beat OD hard. Haha shoutout to them for real. You’ve got a thing for outro tracks too, you got a good outro on this one as well. P: I try to bro! Like, that’s how you stay good on your projects. I try to always master having a really good three track run, having a good intro, and having a good outro. And if you follow that equation, successfully do it each time, 60% of your project gonna be good every time. Because, the first impression, the last impression, and that three song run. Because, if your first three songs are good, chances are, people not gonna.. Nobody wants to keep going. I’ve never heard of a project that had three bad songs first and then the last eight was good. N**** know, that is not how that works. *laughing* but, hell yeah man. I try. I’m tryna get better at it. It be a little - I be hard on myself bro. For a minute, it’s crazy, you wouldn’t believe it. I started thinking Redbird was bad. Oh man, you’re straight tripping. You gotta be kidding! P: Have you seen the Redbird documentary? ..I did not know that existed. You just blew my mind. P: Oh, bro! There’s a whole hour documentary on it. On YouTube. It shows like, the whole buildup making Redbird. Type in “PhoeNix, Redbird The Conversation”. You fully put me on, I didn’t know this existed, thank you bro! P: Oh nah, bro it’s okay. It’s really one of them gems in the cut, but the fact that you appreciate Redbird, you’ll see that and appreciate that a million times more. Jo shot that though, Jo definitely shot that one. Shoutout to Jo again, that guy is real as fuck. It’s his birthday today right? P: Bro, that’s my twin. Me and Jo was homeless together bro. No, not really my twin, but figuratively, without being born from the same mother. My twin.We was homeless together, hell yeah. Me and Jo got evicted out of one of his spots together, we had to sleep in the car for like a month. And was just jumping from hotel to hotel. And that was like, the whole time period of making Redbird. Oh wow. P: and then n***** just stumbled into some pretty good money that got consistent. And shit. I was going to say, a lot of your music, I wouldn’t say it’s driving music but you talk about cars, being on road and moving around a lot. Like, the experience. P: Nah, I do! Cause I be on road a lot. I uh, you know, I’m on the road a lot. Yeah, I hear you. I listen in the car a lot too, I feel that. P: So that’s where a lotta that comes from. Just a lot of traveling, and having to get it in anywhere, at random moments, anywhere. That’s what I feel like all of the team be good at. Bro, the Bridge, what the Bridge is, is literally like a creation hub that also serves as a catalyst to get paid. That’s it, like, for real. That’s a great name for it then. P: The Bridge? Oh yeah, facts. Shoutout to him for that. Yeah man. This is the guy man. Cody’s the man with the plan. *turns camera around* Ayy, he’s the one I emailed right? P: Yeahhh!!! He the one that told me - look, when he told me, he showed me the email, he was like bro, look at this! I was like no way. And he was like nah, I think it’s real. *laughing* I know, Canadians sound fake! P: Aw, I been a felon for the last three years. But my shit gets expunged this year. So I’m getting to touch road - I get my passport and shit, n***** definitely gotta come to Canada. I wasn’t able to come to the Canada show when they was about to go. That had me sad. So when it got canceled, I wasn’t happy, but I was like yeah, I ain’t gotta miss Canada. I was feeling super OD depressed when everybody was about to go to Canada and I wasn’t. *laughing* Nah, you gotta come here. I’ll catch you. P: Oh yeah, I gotta pop out. I heard you guys got the real island tings!! Pretty pretty island tings. *laughing* You aren’t lying. There’s a big West Indian and Caribbean diaspora here, pretty dope culturally. P: I’m fucking with Canada already. But nah bro, this shit super fire. Like, the fact that you knew about Redbird.. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it. Because the time period it took to go through making that bro, it was a really really, like, murky part of life. And I like that project a lot! I feel like it fell upon deaf ears, but it’s one of the ones, as my shit go up, when you go back catalog, it’s like.. Cause Redbird, to this day, has my favourite intro. I don’t think it’s my best intro no more, because this shit, you know what I’m saying? But, it’s my favourite intro. That Truestory song is about my best friend getting killed in college. And I had came from this girl house, and pulled up on him and I seen that shit. I pulled up, and the cops had the shit taped off at my brother’s house. Just the whole situation, I remember going to therapy for like three years, and I had stopped outta nowhere, because it got to the point where they tried to force me to write a grief letter about the situation, and I couldn’t. So that was like my own form of that. So that’s probably like, my favourite intro. Oh wow, I love that song, but that story makes it a lot more powerful. I think that’s what hooked me as well; you were talking about the importance of a good intro, outro and three song run. That record’s basically - however many songs are on there, it feels like a run all the way through. The flow of it is crazy, the storytelling is crazy. It touches on so many of the sounds you expand upon later. P: So how’d you - you got put on through Mavi tweeting it or Instagramming it or something? I think - yeah, it was Twitter. I don’t know if it was Redbird, or when you dropped American Gangster with him, but I know he was tweeting about you a bunch before that dropped. P: Nah, yeah! Shoutout to Mavi. Mavi’s been putting me on his social media for two years now. And the world is finally listening. He’s like the best A&R ever. But not A&R, he a rapper. That’s really my guy, it’s really a family-knit thing over here. One thing I could really say, none of it was forced. Like, even from my relationship with Cody, my manager, it was like at first it was like aight, we just two n***** chilling in the studio on Thanksgiving. Aight, you rap cool so you can rap on my shit. To aight, I actually fuck with you. All of them too, same thing with Mav, same thing with.. A lotta love, a lotta love man. What are you most proud of off this new stuff? “2step” hit me really hard, and I keep going back to all the features too, everyone brought their shit. P: Ooh, most proud. Uh, I’d say.. What I’m proud of, I’d say is the completeness of it all. You know like, I feel like it’s no filler, I feel like I tell each point pretty bold. And, full course meal wise, it doesn’t feel like it was lacking this, this, this, and I get out of there. So I appreciate that. And my standout favourites bro, I been listening literally three times a day, every day since I finally got it sequenced inside of the lil Apple Music shit on the computer. And it changes by the day to day bro. I’d say this: I like “Floor Plan,” a lot a lot, because I feel like bro, that’s the best rapping I’ve ever done on an intro from like, beginning to end. Like, it just like, “Oh okay, this is why no one can fuck with me.” Yeah, you gotta notice. Love your intros man, you don’t let them enter without noticing. P: And I like the outro a lot. But that’s biased, because I be making intros and outros to be that! But, if I had to pick outside of intro and outro - what you would say Cody? I say “Off the Head.” Yeah. “Off the Head.” It’s always fun rapping with my friends. I would say Fuck Em. “2step” is hard too. I don’t know bro!!! My first favourite, Imma go ahead and cash in my vote on “Off the Head.” Nice. P: But if I had a sleeper pick? “Choreo” for sure. I feel like, I be fucking with “Choreo,” like damn. Yeah! “Off the Head” is a good one. You and Mavi always sound so good together man. P: Yeah, I like rapping with him! It’s funny we ain’t rap that much together. Like, me and that human being have like 3 songs, 3-4. Nah, 5 now. Eh. we got… we just started though. But this is like the first year me and him started rapping, so I guess that’s why it don’t feel like that much. But then this year… yeah we got a few. *laughing* we got a few. Yes, we got a few. I’m excited for this shit to come out man. I’m anxious. We finna be in a lil hotel, it’s finna be cool. We got a lil penthouse, it’s my patna - it’s Jo birthday! Yeah, Jo! Shoutout to Jo!! Send my regards to him once he pulls through. You told me he shot a lot of your stuff right? *(Jomir) P: Man. What!!! He shot River Turn. he shot Homerun. He shot Fuck Em. He shot.. You don’t even know about this song, “22.” That’s some mad old shit. I don’t even think it’s out no more. When did you start? … Like, how far back should I be going? P: Oh, nah that not out no more. You wouldn’t be able- but, I dropped my first three songs in high school, but deleted them. But they went viral when I was in juvenile. That shit was turnt. And when I went to college, I dropped like… I wanna say I dropped a tape but I pulled that down. But I dropped four songs that are still there. Because I can’t even find out the login. They got like, mad views. But they hard. Like, them are like the songs I want to still be out from me being a super young n****. Did you always go by PhoeNix from back then? P: No. I used to go by my name. Like, Keegan Mitchell. K Mitch. And so, I dropped Mixed Emotions and Babyboy, two projects under that. One got pulled down because I had a popular feature on there, and the label wasn’t fucking with that. So, that had to come down. And one got pulled down.. Because I wasn’t seeing the money from it. Because I had bad business with one of my first managers, it sorta frustrated me and I stopped rapping for like 2 years. Damn. P: I was off that shit. But, nah, you starting at a good point. Redbird is the only traceable start on the internet of my existence. Okay, I thought I was tripping. *laughing* from my view, you came outta nowhere and I had no idea how. Like, Mavi just found you. P: Nah, I like that! I like how it feels - I feel like the city’s best kept secret man! I be feeling like I came outta nowhere. You really are. And, Charlotte in general, all them guys are way underrated nationally. P: That’s the only thing bro! I need people to stop associating me to Charlotte so heavily. And I love Charlotte. At least stop associating in the extent of like - that I’m a Charlotte artist. ‘Cause that do so much discredit to like, my Houston upbringing and how far it’s pushed me. But yes, Charlotte is like - bro, my number one streams are in Charlotte. Bro, Charlotte.. I feel like backwards Drake. I love the city bro. I definitely love Charlotte. I can’t find no negative words to put to it. I only have love for Charlotte. But, I am a Houston Texas artist, a Houston Texas man. But shoutout to the 4! I love the 4. Like I really do. And it’s so much good shit out here man. And I couldn’t dare take credit for none of the good shit out here, you know. I just come out here and appreciate it and integrate with it. And let it nurture me. This isn’t really a music question but I gotta ask. You’re in the South, I’ve always wanted to come out there and just try a bunch of different food. The culture seems incredible. P: Yeah, come to Texas! Go to Houston, Texas. Go to Dallas, Texas. Charlotte food… Nah, Charlotte got some spots, I’m capping. *laughing* But it’s a growing city bro, that’s what it is. So they got a lot more on the way. And I think that’s why I love it so much. Because it’s growing real fast. They on baby Atlanta time. And I think if you get them in like 5 years, with the help of my boy Mavi, and the rest of Killswitch, and [Lord] Jah-Monte, and their just, cultural life - ‘cause it’s a lot of culture out here bro. They’re their own people, you know. And they have a very beautiful and rich culture as far as even in the South, they own food, what they do… it’s Queen City man! You just gotta come out here and experience it. I definitely got a nice love for it. It’s real hilly, as far as the terrain. They got pretty colour, uh, they leaves on they shit. In the seasons, you can actually see the change of seasons. In Houston, the biggest thing for us in fall, some shit might be all red, all yellow, but it don’t be like multicolour palette and shit. I came out here, and looked at this and was like, oh shit, shit really beautiful!! I love it. I love it, I can’t lie. Good people too. I’ve got some music questions, about stuff you grew up on, mixtapes you ran the most in high school. P: Um, mixtapes.. I don’t even wanna shout a lot of these lame ass n***** out. *laughing* Okay, let me rephrase that. P: Nah nah, it’s cool. I’m… I’ve been influenced (grumbles the word out jokingly). Wayne, the whole the Drought series, No Ceilings, and Sorry for the Wait. Chance, 10Day, and Acid Rap for sure. Damn, real high school mixtapes for sure. P: Isaiah Rashad, Welcome to the Game. Mick Jenkins, The Waters. Mac Miller, Faces. What’s the name of Kendrick’s shit, I can’t remember. Overly Dedicated. All of Drake, literally. Comeback Season. The other one, So Far Gone. Bro, mixtape runs are so big ‘cause I really lived through that era. Wiz Khalifa for sure bro. Taylor Alderdice. Kush and OJ. He has one of the more classic mixtape runs. Curren$y too, Meek Mill shit, Lil Snupe, the RNIC one, before he died, RIP him, rest his soul. Kevin Gates, “Satellites”. Bro, I was a real mixtape junkie bro. I was listening to everything. I may be Southern, but for real for real, everything. I love that. P: Like, you probably don’t even know who Short Dawg is. You caught me, I’m lacking. Do I need to know? P: Okay, he’s popular in Houston. And he was signed to Young Money later on. But the most notable verse you’ll probably remember him last for, is, do you remember the Ab-Soul tape? That had.. Not tape, second album, that had “Stigmata” and shit on it, had Dash and em? The song.. "Waverunners." "Waverunners" had a verse from Short Dawg on it. That was probably the last mainstream notable things from him. He definitely was - in middle school? Mixtape series? Yeah. Before he got signed to Young Money? Definitely was listening to Short Dawg. And like I said, Screwed Up Clique tapes, etcera etcera. Who’s someone you listen to heavy that people might not expect? Something you don’t tell people often. P: Yeät. *laughing* You’re tapped in with the new stuff too huh. P: Boy what?? I listen to everything!! As long as I like it. And as long as you not doing a whole bunch of cap. Alright, alright. In that case, let me ask you, what are your three favourite projects released this year? Or this year and last year. P: End of the Earth. The Souf Got Sum 2 Say. and PERFECT 7. Aw, that’s not fair, you gotta give me 4. And Timeless, by Ahmir. That Messiah! project is crazy! P: Bro, Cody. we was at Baby’s Alright, New York, when bro performed it all the way through for the first time. Ooh. Hard. Down to the art and everything, yeah, definitely one of the best of the last year. P: Bro!! The best thing is, we’re all friends. In real life. That’s beautiful. I can tell. Well. I don’t want to say I can tell, I guess I could have been wrong, but I felt like I could tell when I was watching the videos, seeing you guys rap and have fun with each other. P: Aw yeah, nah. You definitely, like - the chemistry is there. When can like , call each other and you understand each others’ art, it be like literal layups. Like, I could pull up, like aye I got this, and I already know one of them gon’ go on there. Or if we all collabing on some shit, it be like boom, here you go, and then here you go. It’s very efficient, I like to say. Oh!! Fun fact. My manager Cody bro, he’s an engineer. He engineers the Bridge and owns the Bridge. Like, this is his shit. Like, this is his place, all of that. Bridge is him. Damn!! Nah, he’s doing work. I’ve seen the Bridge stuff, I’m a big fan. P: I know!!! OH! OH! I can’t hang up on you, but Jo’s outside, I gotta get Jo and Marco Plus. I’mma keep you on the phone though. Aight, say happy birthday! P: Hell yeah, the Bridge!! *as he walks to the door* TWIN! This is him. I’m in the middle of an interview. This is Jo. This begins a brief, surreal bit where PhoeNix’s phone gets handed around. He extends me over to Jomir, and we exchange pleasantries, me telling him I love his camera work and wishing happy birthday. Then, he gets the phone back and proceeds to introduce me to Marco Plus, telling him he’s in an interview. Before we resume talking, I’m convinced of the magic that is inherent to the Bridge. P: It’s my first interview. See I got famous friends man. Marco Plus be stunting on me, you know what I’m saying. He got classic albums out and stuff. I just got here to Charlotte myself. N***** is here. *to Marco as they enter the studio* I know you wanna get high. Aw bro, I just got finished telling him my favourite projects of the year. End of the Earth, Souf Got Sum 2 Say. Timeless. Perfect 7. But he only gave me three, four, and I really wanted to keep going. My n**** Smiles dropped some crazy shit this year too. Are you hip to Smiles? I’m not, but please keep putting me on. P: You gotta get hip to everybody. That’s Backkkseat. There’s more people, another collective. Like, that’s Marco’s shit. How’d you choose the name PhoeNix? What about it sticks out to you? P: Really easy. I overdosed, twice, actually died. My mama was there. Shit. And then, I felt like, oh, I need to let my old ways die. Phoenix, life and death, all embodiment. Closest thing to having a pseudonym that’s not a pseudonym. Wow, yeah, that’s very literal, I can see why that means something to you. I’m really glad you’re still here. P: Aw nah, it’s good. Drugs can’t kill me, and these fuck n***** can’t either. Why’d you call it Walkthru? P: Oh shit. The literal definition of a walkthrough is just the demonstration of an area or a task. And I’m just demonstrating to these n***** how to be that n**** while existing. My whole life is a walkthrough. *laughing* that’s dope P: Deadass. Like, I’m not laughing. I’m so serious. I done a lot of shit that I don’t think these n***** could do. Yeah, it’s not funny, just makes sense honestly. You don’t mince your words. P: Yeah, I be tryna keep shit simple. Jo dropping phones and shit. But nah, that’s definitely it. That’s why I named that shit Walkthru. It really wasn’t nothin’ too complex. And I tried to play with the names, to keep it, you know, playing around like, anything that had to do with feet, and “Floorplan” taking up space within that regard. So, “Choreo,” “2step,” but then after a certain point I started running out of words. So I just started naming them shits. Damn, I really didn’t even realize … with the names and feet and all that. P: Nah, facts. And “Decorated,” just by chance started to work out. That song is beautiful. P: Appreciate it! That’s Ahmir on that joint. Marco Plus would’ve been on that tape too, but.. I tried to tell you. I need to hear more PhoeNix-Marco Plus stuff, you guys are killing it together, just fire. P: See, Marco Plus! INTERVIEW BY SAI. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF PHOENIX. EDITS & DESIGN BY J. https://music.apple.com/us/album/walkthru/1626224672 https://open.spotify.com/album/68zK8JqchF9hd5ZcmZUgil?si=F-T7HupjTR6bcIcKitrB5g

"I create what the future sounds like" is the statement that greets you in the first line of Namir Blade's Twitter bio. Shortly into the Nashville native's latest album Metropolis, one realizes that he's not messing around. The album draws its namesake from the films Metropolis, one being a silent film from 1927 and the other being a 2001 anime film. Both films tackle utopian futures, which hide darker realities just below their surfaces. The first thing that grabs you is the production of which Namir Blade handled 100%. Throughout the 16 tracks of the project we get a diverse wall of sound. Everything here sounds familiar but next level at the same time. A lot of albums try to cater to all the ears of hip hop and fail, Metropolis is the exception. We got trap bangers like "Cain and Abel" that have you ready to ride out, afro-beats inspired dance grooves like "Boa," and "Mephisto" is something you imagine Benny or Westside Gunn going off on, and there's ultra mellow lo-fi style rhythms as well. I can't harp enough on how seamlessly it's sequenced and blended. We're actually getting more than one beat and style on several of these songs and it's all silky smooth. Lastly, much respect to Namir Blade as a rapper, he's just as comfortable going in and out of various rap styles and singing as he is doing the production on this project. These bars are potent when they need to be and introspective and personal when it's time for those quieter moments. It is amazing to hear him jump from street bars, to referencing One Piece and Kevin Feige, to crooning about a hopeful future. Namir Blade is the real deal. This is easily one of the best of the year! I Looking forward to what's next! Released: June 3rd 2022