keith.wav - snips n scraps

keith.wav | Illustration by Yung Mulatto #StillSaaling

The ‘vibe avenue.’ SoundCloud account that is dedicated to uploading "good undiscovered/deleted music," like rare Gravez or Monte Booker cuts, released a collection of snippets and scrapped keith.wav songs.

The five-song compilation keith.wav record dubbed "snips n scraps" is just a sample of work before the Pittsburgh rapper releases his future mixtape. You should hear "die," "mortal combat," and "come." A friend and fellow local rapper blackboi features on the keith.wav sample too.

Stick to keith.wav's SoundCloud for updates here.

blackboi Seems Restless in New Song

Via blackboi's Instagram

The one with a world of potential, blackboi returns with new music. blackboi's new record "i dont wan n a." makes him seem restless, and not for the obvious "I don't wanna sleep, if I ain't got you by my side" line. The 18-year-old talks about "bouncing off the walls," death, and "putting up walls," while knowing his music needs to continue. "Imma keep 'em going 'til I'm on my last breath," blackboi said.

Keep up with the young 'Burgh rapper on social media.

The World Is Tedy Brewski's in "Blue Blockers" Video

Tedy Brewski photograph by Maxwell Young

From iconic catchphrases to quintessential Nasty Nas and even silhouettes of Vlone wear,  Scarface --the 1983 American classic film--has made an indelible mark on popular culture. 

What boy, or girl, hasn't envisioned themselves as Tony Montana trying to woo Elvira Hancock?  This is rhetorical, of course, because Tedy Brewski has done just that in the music video for his hit bop, "Blue Blockers."  On the track off Connecticut raised, Maryland-transplant's 2017 EP, Platinum Beach, Brewski raps in self-actualization, "Imma get my money up/ We gonna earn the dough/ Nobody said that this would be easy."  At the same time, his head is photoshopped onto the body of Montana who's quickly becoming enchanted with the power and sexual trappings of the drug trade as he hustles through Miami. 

Brewski's four-minute video takes us back and forth from The Babylon Club where actors Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer build up sexual tension to other iconic moments in the film, including the part where Montana acknowledges his success gazing at the passing air blimp that flashes the message, "The World is Yours..."  The lyrics and visuals are quite symbolic of a fast lifestyle defined by sex, drugs, and rock & roll as well as the depression that results from such materialistic wants. 

Check out the music video above and familiarize yourself with Team Brew's latest releases.

Sir E.U Pays Homage to Late, Great Avionadramida

Sir E.U inspects the microphone at Studio Ga Ga. Photographs by Maxwell Young

"Avionadramida - Looks Are Deceiving, You can be the reason that you don't even get to see the world" by Sir E.U pays homage to Avionadramida, the late, great member of the Kool Klux Klan--a trio of DMV hip-hop emcees and producers (Avionadramida, Sir. E.U & rMell) who made a name for themselves traversing a fluctuating underground community in the early 2010s.  Both the Kool Klux Klan and Avionadramida are enigmatic figures when thinking about the context of music culture in the DIstrict.  Sir E.U has served as the historical link to the members, especially for those, like myself, who would have a later introduction to the city's creative scene.  Yet it is evident through the lasting visuals and local lore how much talent the group had and how fond music heads were of Avionadramida.

"A.V and E.U were like Goku and Vegeta, the Red and Blue Dragons, fucking Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, man, back-to-back," said Nate G, another DMV legend in his own right during his Uptown Interview last November.  "When you talk about two phenoms who really fed off one another and really pushed each other creatively and in competition--formed a brotherhood--they were fucking lit."

You may have already heard the DMV native's latest track.  He's played it live a number of times, in particular at his 25-hour rap marathon--a world record by the way--and he's adapted the partial lyrics, "I'm in U-P-T with a new PT, we cruise, we don't fucking play around" into a catchy hook for house sets at Studio Ga Ga and Backbar.

If music is Sir E.U's product then wordsmithing is his manufacturing process.  It's interesting how he delivers his good, it's about control.  Instead of using social media to gauge the reception of a song snippet by likes and retweets, Sir E.U goes through a phase of beta tests trying out lyrics with different rhythms or performing a track live to see how the crowd engages with it before it's consumed by the internet.

"You just go crazy if motherfuckers hear the shit and try to tell you what to do and make that shit better, like shit ain't intentional," he said on an episode of Late Bloom Radio.  "And that's what everybody goes through as a person, you know.  'Cut your hair.  Ain't nothing wrong with you just shape your shit up.'  I want to control who's telling me to get a shape up."

This is one of the reasons why the DMV rapper released his latest album, Some Friend You Are via compact discs.  Sir E.U's music went from a public good available on SoundCloud for free, limitless streaming to a private good, which not only created a real market demand for his product but it also deterred the casual listeners who felt like they had a valuable critique on his craft.

The three-minute track is produced by Tony Kill who also created the visuals for the DVD version of Some Friend You Are.  Listen above and get to know more about the DMV's hip-hop scene here.

Listen to the New Singles From Rob Stokes' Album Live at the Heartbreak Hotel

Rob Stokes’ Go-Go inspired cover art.  

There's a playlist in my Apple Music library called Hedonism and Psychedelics--sort of an ode to the sounds of the 1960s.  It's comprised of Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, Nico, and Gillian Hills' "Zou bisou bisou," which you can hear Megan sensually sing to Don Draper in the Season 5 premiere of Mad Men.  From Love Was Made for These Times to his band's upcoming follow-up album, Live at the Heartbreak Hotel, Rob Stokes' music belongs in this playlist.

Today you can listen to the singles "Diamonds" and "KO" that tease Rob Stokes' (formerly known as Rob Smokes Funk Disaster) album debut in mid-April.  The single cover art is evocative of 60s culture as the faceless Go-Go dancer with the clunky platform calf boots and retro patterned mod dress with bell sleeves places you right back in an era where music was becoming more experimental and loosening its constraints.

This vintage aesthetic is quite prominent in modern culture.  Whether that's amplifying fashion trends or celebrating historical figures and moments that were conceived during the decade like the Grateful Dead, Playboy and Rolling Stone magazines, or the Civil Rights Movement--there's an emphasis on nostalgia.

What drives Rob Stokes to call on these influences in his music?  Find out next Wednesday on Late Bloom via FullServiceRadio.org where he will guest star.  In the meantime, enjoy the sonic trip of "Diamonds" and "KO" below, and if you're in the District this Saturday, Rob Stokes' band will be hosting a single release party at Safari D.C. with special guests Ledroit, Sir E.U, Crackspliff, FootsxColes, and the Bird Hour who hail from Pittsburgh.

$5, 10pm-2:30am

Safari D.C.

4306 Georgia Ave, NW