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“Wahid’s unique reference points and experiences provide nuance and taste that sets him apart from either end of the spectrum.” — Pigeons & Planes
Orlando-based rapper Wahid releases his new EP, THEY ALL GO MAD!. Reflecting an ongoing quest to find peace and stability in a world riven with malice and flux, THEY ALL GO MAD! is thematically a partial extension from Wahid’s last release, feast, by ravens. Over eight tracks he presents windows-down anthems reverberating with atomic energy and pulverizing drums, dazzling aerial cadences and subtle moral clarity.
After the breakup of his vaunted nine-person collective, seeyousoon, Wahid found personal catharsis in creation. If feast was slightly experimental in its lyrical and production choices, THEY ALL GO MAD! revels in its confrontational sensibility. The first words on “GENESIS!,” the EP’s lead single, are “watch your step, kid.” A sly allusion to the opening salvo on Wu-Tang’s first hit, “Protect Ya Neck.” The intention is clear. No quarter will be offered. Wahid aims for the jugular, but he’s still got jokes. The beat from his long-time collaborator, Vitamn (who produced seven of the eight tracks) sounds somewhere between a celestial coronation and a lost outtake from Illadelph Halflife.
As a simple declaration of lust, “ILLUMINATED!” is effortlessly seductive. But on a purely musical level, Wahid nimbly levitates between dancehall toasts and red clay melodies rooted in sweat and soul. “MAD” finds Wahid at his most meditative, confessing to his own hurt and shame. With lurid evocative language, he ruminates on racial inequities, the South’s blood and soil legacy, and the betrayals in his own life. But from this “catacomb wasteland,” we hear the inextinguishable desire for redemption, and the possibility of transcendence – lord willing.
On the finale “GOOD GAME,” Wahid spits with his own neck-snapping new rap language. A psychedelic bricolage painted with meticulous precision. He conjures a landscape of stick ups and set affiliations. He’s chased by hellhound determination of Lucifer and buoyed by the spirit of ‘Pac. It’s the sound of a ticking time bomb, bristling with anger and astonishingly under control. A performance that leaves Wahid in the conversation of the best of this new generation of rising stars. This is what it sounds like when you’re ready to blow up.
Raised in Central Florida, Wahid was steeped in rocksteady, dancehall and reggae dubplates by his father, a Jamaican-born DJ. As a teenager, Wahid’s older brother exposed him to the classics of hip-hop’s second Golden Age. As he describes it: “Nas made me want to rap, listening to the GZA’s Liquid Swords made me good at it, and Black Thought helped me refine my skills.”
In another life, Wahid could’ve been the fifth member of TDE’s Black Hippy: a Swiss army knife capable of merging classic MC traditions with forward-thinking flows and melodies. With his double-time acrobatic patterns, he’s distinctly post-Kendrick Lamar and Lil Wayne – blessed with a novelist’s eye for minor detail and a virtuoso’s gift for ransacking hidden pockets of a beat. He can turn a warped post-Dilla instrumental to ashes with 16 bars and croon a plaintive falsetto wail on the hook that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Jeremih album. These vaunted gifts make THEY ALL GO MAD! the rare modern record that rewards careful listening.
“Green Ivy Tapestry” was written in a petite 18th century hotel room in London. The curtains and bedspread atop the dark mahogany bed were made from a green ivy tapestry, and the love stories were woven deep.
La Mer is a mesmerizing portal. It's impossible for it to exist outside of the modern moment, but it floats on the gilded dust of the past. At times, Fontaine channels Jane Birkin as backed by Jorge Ben. Françoise Hardy locked into sonic reverie with Mulatu Astatke, or Margo Guryan making lovers rock.
“embodies the living, breathing Brazil of 2023, smolderingly intense, captivated by the bustle of life, and determined to be heard far and wide.” - Bandcamp Daily
"With its assemblage of slouched vocals sparkly electronic flourishes, and breezy guitar, “Ô Lulu” is as laid back as it is endlessly replayable." - The FADER
“at once alien and delightfully inviting” - FLOOD Magazine
"A dazzling collage of baile funk, hip-hop, and jazz that runs on an adrenaline rush fit for a cinematic heist scene as ambient pop songstress Bebé and Alceu come along for the joyride" - Remezcla
“Paying homage to samba and bossa styles, Joãozinho sets modern production elements to his work by sampling the band he assembled, tearing it up, then chopping and flipping the arrangements” - KCRW
Dadá Joãozinho has shared his debut album tds bem Global, an album that unfolds like a genre-agnostic mixtape, shoplifting from dub reggae, hip hop, punk, and samba, all while inventing a few future styles in the process. The recording alias of São Paulo based artist João Rocha, the debut is his first for Los Angeles-based Innovative Leisure, and chronicles his move to the biggest city in South America during a time of intense isolation and toxic politics. “Desire for freedom was the north star of this record,” dadá insists. He explains that he needed to “feel free about artistic decisions - that I didn’t have to play the instruments in a certain way to sound good, I didn’t have to sing in a certain way to sound good, and I didn’t have to write in a certain way to make sense and reach people’s feelings.”
Alongside the album release, dadá Joãozinho is sharing a new video for album highlight “Habitual,” a driving, atmospheric track full of production wizardry and a compelling performance. He explains, “I wanted to raise more questions than give answers about what's going on. On the song I'm singing about a state of habitualness from relationships and crisis within it. The video takes from there and expands its meanings, contextualizing infinite possibilities of narrative, relationships dynamics and fantasy.”
After breaking ground in Brazil’s music scene as a member of ROSABEGE, an electronic music collective that fuses the sounds of bossa nova with sprawling synth pop, dadá Joãozinho puts Rocha’s star potential on full display, flexing his experimental muscles and showcasing the breadth of his talent. Lead single “Cuidado!” is tour de force of bombastic MC energy, while “Pai e Mãe” is a reimagined take on traditional Brazilian samba, and “Ô Lulu” infuses classic Música Popular Brasileira with experimental flourishes. Watch the videos below, and listen to tds bem Global HERE.
"Each song offers a different look at Joãozinho’s singular talent, and on “Pai e Mae” the artist introduces an entrancing samba with delightful lo-fi effects that meld with a renegade organ sound and the pulsing underbelly of bass-heavy percussion. The concoction is at once alien and delightfully inviting." - FLOOD Magazine
São Paulo based artist João Rocha has shared “Pai e Mãe,” the third and final preview of his upcoming debut album as dadá Joãozinho. Where lead single “Cuidado!” flexed his hip-hop chops with invigorating bombast, “Pai e Mãe” is sweetly melodic, infusing classic Brazilian samba with experimental flourishes. It’s another excellent preview of tds bem Global, out Sept 1st, an album that unfolds like a genre-agnostic mixtape, front-loaded with irresistible and effortless rhythms, careening across musical universes like a psychedelic fever-dream.
On the video Rocha explains “For this samba, that carries so much of our music’s tradition, and still sounds fresh, I wanted to strip things down and communicate through the rawness of the body language. Had my parents join the studio session, that was an emotional moment. I wrote this song about an episode we lived together, so it was a closing cycle to have them. This minimalist work in video expands the meanings of the album for me, that sometimes sounds so massive. Put things in a new perspective.”“a nice dose of '70s-style folk-pop” - Brooklyn Vegan
“lush folk-rock...a distinctly engaging sound” - Flood
"If you've ever wanted to breeze up the coast highway from Los Angeles to Malibu in a convertible as the sun sets out across the glittering Pacific Ocean, Swinging Stars will take you there" - MOJO
"Mapache couldn’t escape who they are at heart: acolytes of the ’60s Haight-Ashbury scene as filtered through the more recent desert psych sound” - Paste
”worn-in and relaxed with a classic air” - Raven Sings the Blues
Mapache release a new video for album single "Encinal Canyon,"a song about singing to yourself on long windy drives through the canyons. It’s about finding a quiet place where you can gain some insight even when you feel like you’re always on the run.
Mapache's dynamic and ambitious fifth album Swinging Stars arrives August 18 on Innovative Leisure / Calico Discos - an LP of calm, second-nature swagger, cosmic folk filled with distinct styles and their most cohesive album yet.