SNE - Sorry For The Wait (Music Video) /  by Alex Young

Via  @hackneysgoldenchild on Instagram

Via  @hackneysgoldenchild on Instagram

Catching up with "Hackney's Golden Child," SNE, or Sound Never Ends, presents the visuals to his satisfying track, "Sorry For The Wait."

If you listened to InTheRough's newest playlist, then you are aware of the artists' quality, especially on his latest song, "Come Again."

The pleasant and "trillful," a mix of trap and R&B, intro of "Sorry For The Wait" leads to video of SNE's exciting life as a performer in East London. While he still lives with his mom, his come up is certainly strong. "My life's a whole lot of fun," he raps. "The shows are gold, the flows are gold, you know that."

Also, the song acknowledges the cultural value SNE is to the London borough of Hackney. "They love me here, they love me here, they need me," he claims.

Hear SNE's lovely music with the accompanying visual below.

Party in The 'Burgh /  by Alex Young

Via rbfaresh Snapchat

Via rbfaresh Snapchat

The bartender went to fetch my cold, canned Pabst Blue Ribbon. The walls started to rattle because the bass in the speakers from a Kid Cudi song, like "Girls" or "Burn Baby Burn," was so so heavy. I was a blurred figure in the mirror behind the bar because the bass really shook the establishment, Spirit Lodge, that much.

This was a brief moment away from the dance floor, which I did not leave all night unless to get more drink.

Credit goes to RB of FarESH Brand, the event's host, and DJs EYEJAY and Paizley. In her promotional Instagram post before the function, specifically called "Finesse," EYEJAY wrote "Pixburgh needs this!"

It was a party at Spirit. Pittsburgh rallied around the music, contemporary hip-hop, Jersey Club, and trap sounds boomed and drunken melodies rang out from everyone in the crowd. Couples, friends, locals, politicians, and popular figures found their rhythm together.

I looked to my left and rapper Mars Jackson stepped with pep, influenced by joy from his sister's wedding which occurred earlier in the day, and surely the spirits. Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" ran. "Nigga, we gon' be alright" praised the people on the dance floor. Everything was liberating and fun, turnt. Photographer and lifestyle icon Keep Pittsburgh Dope, wearing a Steelers, Rod Woodson T-shirt that read "Xplosive," stood atop a wooden block where the speakers sat. "Only real niggas keep you float, Only trill niggas I know," sang Travi$ Scott in his song "3500." When KPD was on the floor, grooving next to his business partner and friend Cody Baker, I said, "I'm fucking lit man." KPD, with a slight smirk on his face, replied, "Oh, we're already there."

EYEJAY and Paizley kept things exciting. "I know you got more," I shouted to them over the music. They did have more. Anthems played, and they exposed us to tunes perhaps unfamiliar to some people. In a toboggan hat fit to his head, denim jacket, and tie dye sweatshirt, Choo Jackson floated next to the DJs when they played his "Back From Texas" track. "What you need, what-what you need?" the speakers said. "Racks on racks on racks, racks, Maybachs on bachs on bachs on bachs on bachs," RB chanted the lyrics to Jay Z and Kanye West's "Gotta Have It." Youths loved the Lil Uzi Vert, and spoken word artist Grits Capone reacted kindly to the menacing "Red Opps" by Atlanta's 21 Savage.

We were all dancing circles around each other, and mean mugging at every bass hit and raw lyric from the musical artists we appreciated most.

Smiles were felt too because we partied as a community, we were nothing but ourselves and nobody looked at us differently (until I knocked a drink out of some lady's hand from my flailing dance move).

Most importantly, genuine experiences such as the one at Spirit Lodge on July 23 are happening with more frequency around Pittsburgh and that alone means more fun, happiness, and culture.

InTheRough - Max Out (Playlist) /  by Alex Young

Via meaxwelly Snapchat

Via meaxwelly Snapchat

+ "Max Out" is a playlist inspired by a twin who has more money than the other twin.

+ Pittsburgh representatives will feature on every InTheRough playlist, duh. Livefromthecity is a new addition, and Slicky Williams and Eight by Two accompany him.

+  "They think I need to refocus/ They think that I'm smoking" ~ Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers running back, in "Focus."

+ RB of lifestyle label FarESH Brand knows good music. He put me d to "no no" by Monte Booker.

Slicky Williams - Ain't Nothing /  by Alex Young

Via @slickywilliams Instagram

Via @slickywilliams Instagram

Part of Slicky Williams' "#SaturdaysWitSlick" campaign, during which the musician of rap crew The Company Only releases new music, he presents "Ain't Nothing."

The new song follows Williams' run of pleasant tracks like "Eastside," produced by Madeintyo and K Swisha, as well as "Here" with Pk Delay, who features on Slick's latest record.

Creating and building out of Pittsburgh, Pa., Williams looks to attract support for his forthcoming extended play, "The Slicky Williams EP." The collective creative effort of everyone in The Company Only, Deem Trill, Fat Corey, Joel Kellem, Pk Delay, and Seas Supreme, by default promotes Williams and his future endeavors.

Listen to "Ain't Nothing" from Slicky Williams below and keep tabs on #SaturdaysWitSlick

Astonished by Eight by Two /  by Alex Young

"Bedouin" by Eight by Two

"Bedouin" by Eight by Two

A text message read an invitation to a house party in Friendship, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh's East End. The Snapchat geo-tag for the area near Bloomfield depicts a bed of flowers with "Bloomfield" text, a nice compliment to the section of the city described on Wikipedia as "a neighborhood of large Victorian houses."

At the gate leading to a green yard with a tree house tucked in a corner, I was charged $5 for entry. Completely unfamiliar with the artists about to perform, I looked puzzled at the young man at the door who referred to himself as Dutch Master, or Flying Dutchman something like that. He stared back at me and nodded his head as if to say, "do you want in or not?" With a couple of friends already inside, I gave him my five.

People gathered around and in the modest, Lincoln Log-like tree house. I met up with Amani Davis and Hannibal Hopson, students of knowledge and artists working in Pittsburgh. Amani's younger brother, Keanu, produced the musical project everybody would eventually hear, which is the reason all were there. "You two are the biggest Internet niggas I know," Amani said as he introduced me to his brother.

Thanks to the Internet, specifically SoundCloud, and loyal friends, Eight by Two, a rap collective, hosted a house party to unveil and share their debut project, "Bedouin."

Too many people were wandering around the yard and coming in and out to smoke. A person warned the partygoers, "the homeowners are inside and they are getting upset." The house party was one of those types you throw the summer after you graduate high school and your parents chaperone as you practice for college life to come. The parental guidance, however, did not disrupt or takeaway everyone's energy and excitement for Eight by Two's performance.

"We're about to start! Everyone go to the basement," Wathan, the Eight by Two cameraman, yelled.

Down a steep flight of cement steps, 30 people strong huddled in the muggy, dark cellar. There was red mood light, consistent flashes from people's iPhones, and a white sheet hung from the back wall with video of various landscapes passing by like out of a car window.

Shabazz of Eight by Two opened the set. He asked for a moment of silence to pay respect to those who have lost their lives to senseless racial violence. "I'm going to turn all this negative energy into something positive for my performance," he said.

The volume was not at its peak, and some white noise came from the speakers maybe due to poor wiring. "Turn it up," the crowd shouted.

8x2 got through the first track fine and cranked the volume. In each song they performed, the bass hit heavily. The group rapped over their playback so the audience could get familiar with the new music. Their concert doubled as a listening party for their latest extended play.

Then the title track came on, "Bedouin." Jono, a rapper in the crew, removed his shirt, and his partners followed suit. Shabazz removed his do-rag to show his crisp cornrows. All of 8x2 was jumping up and down, shouting the lyrics, pausing for breath, and sweatily bopping through the packed crowd in the nearly cramped space.

Their music is at times introspective, menacing, stylish, and thrilling. "Sets down in the basement, fuck your playlist my shit banging, with my crew you best behave from 'less a clip neck is what you craving," they rap in "Part 2 (Best Ever)." "Pray I make it out of this high tonight, yeah hope that I'm gon' wake up alive, if 12 pull up know I'm down to hide," are some lyrics of Eight by Two's song "No Plan."

People were most active when the upbeat "Henne Man" came on. "Why you won't sip you some Henn? I got that shit tell me when" as a bottle of Hennessy was raised high to the ceiling. Listeners enjoyed the song so much that they encored Eight by Two into playing it again.

The group's talent and people's reaction to the music surprised me and caught others off guard. We were impressed at the live quality of 8x2 because up to that point their work existed on a computer on SoundCloud. "All of this was on the Internet, but we just heard it live," Angelo, an audience member, said after the show.

But, witnessing Eight by Two perform gives greater appreciation to the music once you hear it on a mobile listening device.

Give "Bedouin" a play below and follow the rappers on SoundCloud here.