SnapShot Press Release: Milwaukee Pull Up, It's a "Partyat4" | A Milwaukee 'Ish interview with Partyat4
/I believe the phrase “renaissance man” is overused.
Where it is defined as, “a person with many talents or areas of knowledge” that theory of humanism has long been surpassed by the reality we call the 21st century [You know the era of social media, Artificial Intelligence, BBL’s, Catfishing, & fake “real” N*gg*s].
But with that critique also comes the opportunity to coin a new phrase for a man who embodies various talents, has an authentic aura, and carries his grace with just enough posturing to appeal to a mass audience of tastemakers and fan like dreamers. Maybe we should call him a “virtuoso of the era” or maybe we can just make the moniker fit the prototype.
Let’s just call him . . . Partyat4.
Now everybody knows that I firmly believe [& I have the receipts] that Milwaukee breeds creative genius [I said, what I said. So fight me!]. However, that creativity is usually mystified by the infantile infrastructure big money has mishandled. So our talent usually sees a need to leave our “little big-city” to make things pop. The problem with that is some never come back and totally disown their 414 roots. So when we were informed that Partyat4 was repping his native land and showing his face around these parts, we were pleasantly surprised [& also curious what part of town he is from, where his grandma stay, and what he rep when “Who You Wit” by Lil John come on LMAO].
So when your /CW Fam was invited to his Meet & Greet / Listening Session happening at Scene 1 Restaurant & Lounge MKE [5526 W North Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53208] on April 27th, 2023 we accepted [with the caveat that we would like to chat with the man of the hour]. What follows is that very casual, “Let’s just do a Milwaukee a** interview” we had standing on the block in front of a red sprinter van covered in images of Partyat4, with all his people around [What a mutha f’n sight to see LOL].
CW: “First of all, why are you HERE?”
Partyat4: “It was my son's birthday. My first born, London. Then after that I had the listening session. So I felt it was more conducive to stay the whole week instead of flying back.”
Back to ATL that is. With a buzzing music & creative market, Atlanta has become the base camp for many Milwaukee linked talents [Including K Camp, Lakeyah, and Josie Thompson]. With one of his good friends from high school [S/O B] moving to Atlanta and him feeling Atlanta to have a strong music culture when he made his decision to move three years ago, it just felt right.
CW: “There is this idea that people don’t make it out of Milwaukee or that there is no talent in Milwaukee. . .”
Partyat4: “It’s a stigma.” He said with a playfully smug look on his face.
CW: “It is a stigma. It’s definitely a thing. But you are a multifaceted talent. Of course, I have interviewed many recording artists before. But I was really intrigued [that, that's not all you do].”
His creative punch card includes, Fashion [yep, he can design & sew], visual arts [like drawing & painting, somebody get this man in the gallery], culinary arts [his PR team informed us he was once upon a time a Hyatt chef], and his music lexicon includes rapping, singing, song writing, and production [get’er done then!]. With those skills fitting several of CopyWrite’s pillars of focus [Art, Music. Fashion, Community, and Culture], we could do a whole magazine issue on him.
*wink wink, nudge nudge*
Partyat4: “Yea, I just hate to put myself in a box. I’m all about expression and creativity in general. So I paint, I sew, I am definitely into fashion. I just hate everybody wearing the same sh*t, so to speak. Excuse my belligerence and what not. . .”
Belligerence, Sma-lligerence! I have heard and seen some crazy sh*t in my time covering the creative scene. One of the craziest is that cookie cutter, straight off the mannequin style that these “sheeple” try to pass off as originality. Speak your truth my guy! No apologies needed here.
Partyat4: “I just try to be unique the best way I can. It’s 2023 everybody is doing their own thing. Whether it’s podcasting or selling something or cosmetics. . . I just try to be me to the best of my capacity.”
And that's not that easy to do in an industry that is known for making individuals “more marketable”. But maybe that’s just it. Maybe there is really a space for someone to fit the mold and break it at the same time.
CW: “How did you figure out that you had all of those different types of talents?”
Partyat4: “Just being bored really. I had a sewing machine a few years ago. But I just got another one [a gift]. . . I was kind of board at 3AM and I had just smoked my last blunt and the weed man was sleep. . .” [That’s what we call a tragedy lol]. “So I just got the f*ckin with the sewing machine. I probably watched a minute and a half video on how to thread my particular model. After that I just got to freakin’ sh*t.”
But hear me out though, ya man's is cold! I checked out a few of his pieces on IG and he takes that DIY steez to a whole different universe. [Those Beatles and Mushroom Booty carpet pants go crazy!]
Partyat4: “I think people, as individuals, we get stuck at the learning curve. We be scared to initiate things. But once you get past that and jump off the porch, if you will, you can be surprised at what you can do. Like ingenuity wise you can do anything.”
Partyat4 & Lexi S. Brunson, editor-in-chief of /CW | /CW image
Now of course I didn’t stray away from the big question of “Why” leave milwaukee when his talents would allow him to probably make it anywhere and he was honest that something just didn’t make this space feel like the catalyst.
Partyat4: “I just felt like in Atlanta the culture was more music oriented. People there are helping each other. They are more intune with what is going on and on an individual level it feels like people want to see each other win. Not to say anything negative or cognizant of Milwaukee culture. But I just feel like something here, whether it's gate keepers or something, it keeps us in a shell.”
Are y'all listening out there? Hello, is this thing on? *pats imaginary microphone hard*
The narrative is repetitive. We have heard this story and thus, it holds weight. A weight that is quite costly in an era that no longer relies on manual labor but on the contrary Culture [Big C], Community [Bigger C], and Capital [C.R.E.A.M. , Biggest C].
Partyat4: “I appreciate [Atlanta] for that. I mean I be low down there. But still.” He laughed humbly.
There is nothing wrong with being low. It actually allows you to analyze a space, then ebb and flow as you desire. Its strategy and it creates the spark of greatness.
CW: “I think it's okay to be low down there and then somewhere like here [in Milwaukee] you could be a star. I think it's also about cultivating that love at home, and look, you’re here. There are a lot of people from Milwaukee that don’t rep Milwaukee. So the fact that you are even here we fux with that.”
Partyat4: “On the low, not to say no names but there are alot of people from here and they act like they are from where they got poppin at.” [Read between the lines this whole article is a smoke signal].
CW: “Ohhh you noticed that too?”. I said sarcastically. Because, yall funny and we see you!
Partyat4: “Yeaaaaaa!”, he said with the same sarcastic cadence. “That's cute or whatever. But like for me, I moved away but it was more for stimulation of what I had going on. And n*gg*s show love here and I had a great turnout tonight so I’m blessed for that. But it's something about when you can move away and I’m very competitive. . . but it just feels really good to not only come home and get support but be somewhere else, where you're not from, and get that same support where people come out because they believe in what you are doing. It makes you go that much harder.”
Partyat4 performing a live set a Scene 1 Restaurant & Lounge MKE | /CW Video
We believe that Milwaukee definitely has the fandom to pour into its talent but the creative infrastructure is still on the rise. We know big labels have been tip-toeing into our showcases, parlaying with the DJ’s, and sitting in our clubs looking for hungry MKE acts to sit on their rosters before the door burst opens and we are permanently on the map. It’s noted but transparency would probably feed more of us. Just sayin’.
The work Partyat4 is doing is a part of that story. It is a part of a bigger picture that has been shadowed by the decline of the industrial revolution in the midwest, the “I didn’t know Black people lived in Milwaukee” foolery that comes from the ignorance of our rich cultural history, plus the beer and cheese motif that disregards how many of us have more girth to us then that.
CW: “A part of my job is holding people accountable. So you are HERE. I am HERE. The request was to show up & show out. So I showed up & I’m showing out.”
Partyat4: “And I appreciate that.”
CW: “So I really want our audience base to know who you are and that is our Milwaukee Creatives. That’s who I serve. Since you are this multifaceted talent, you have something to share. That means you have to come home every once and a while for that to happen.”
Partyat4: “My kids are here so I have no choice but to come back. I’m blessed to have other obligations so I am on the road a lot but I’m here fasho. I’m only an hour and half away flight wise.”
CW: “Okay! And we are going to make sure of that!”
Real. Rap. Raw. It’s not a threat but a friendly promise. With a network of community supporting Partyat4 [like our media family at Hyfin and all the CORE DJ’s who showed up that night] and other creatives that blossom from “The Good Land”, we can change the game. Oh and trust, these ways we play to win.
CW: “We want to see you at the radio stations. We want to see you on our stages. So get you a** in there. You have to get acclimated. I think it's really important that when we have talent that is making the waves that you are making, we make a notation and vice versa. So we will be on the lookout. We will be watching for you. We want to see more of you. Bigger venues. Bigger turn outs. Let's make it happen. Let's make it pop.”
Partyat4: “Oh man, I’m trying to turn sh*t up. I’m Party for a reason.”
CW: “Emmm hmmm. Partyat4! Why didn’t this party start at 4? We were ready then!”
We all blurted out in laughter. “Noooo…it ends at 4!”said one of his guys standing nearby, peeping our whole conversation.
But my “still young enough to take risks, but too old to know better” aged self had to leave around 11:30PM LOL. But not before asking the classic journalistic question of “What can we expect next?”.
Peep the strategic timing of this write up with Partyat4’s remix of “To Da Moon” Ft. Toosii, dropping this Friday, May 12th, 2023, with Its original release honored on Billboard Top 30 hit singles. [Like I said, we are going to make sure that Partyat4 is on our community's radar, so go check that out].
Partyat4: “Y’all can expect my kids to grow. . .”, [Now everybody knows /CW loves a proud parent #CWLovesDaKids]. “Y’all can expect a project coming soon. I’m ready to rap y'all mutha F*ckin heads off. . .”
CW: “You got bars. I ain't even going to lie.”
Partyat4: “I appreciate that. Y’all can also expect some singles and I’m trying to get the song “Touch Down” dropped. I should have played that tonight. But I’ma get back to it. There's a lot of stuff coming down the pipeline for me. My mind is like a stock exchange board. It just ticks all day. . .I’m also going to put out a capsule of clothes that you can buy. . . we got all that coming. I’m just trying to captivate and entice the audience. No offense to anybody but sometimes music gets on dry spells and it has high notes but we are trying to be all falsettos. A whole lot of high notes.”
Ohhhhh dude said that! LOL
And we rock with it. Whether it's Rap, R&B, Country, Rock, or whatever he can do to hit y’all eardrums he is game for it.
Partyat4: “So respectfully, and again excuse my belligerence, we are here to stay!”
Now somebody gotta shake my hand folks because I got the commitment of a lifetime on the strength of me loving my city. . .
CW: “I have to put you on the spot now. Would you consider collaborating with some Milwaukee artist? And not just music, but art, fashion, all that?
Partyat4: “Indubitably. Yes. Absolutely. . . I mean I be talkin’ sh*t too. So we can get a stand up set and crack some jokes”.
Word? Well let’s do the damn thang! Because if you stay ready, you aint gotta get ready.
& Milwaukee, well . . . we been ready.
Love & All Things Urban,
Lexi S. Brunson | Editor-in-Chief /CW
