Rakim- “Lover’s Playground” Music Event

A lot of us may still be running that last stretch of being a twenty-something but I think I speak for most of us when I say the club is getting tired! As an answer to the dilemma of wanting to kick it, mingle and enjoy good music without putting up with the jarring atmosphere that comes with typical nightlife, multi-faceted curator Rakim hosted his newly established Lover’s Playground for the third time this year. I wasn’t sure what to expect entirely but once the vibes began to build and the people started to arrive, I got the point and my understanding was later confirmed by Rakim himself: 

R: “..it's basically a party for people that want to come and enjoy music based on just good vibes; Non-abrasive sonics…We invite different DJs around the city, you know. And that's a major aspect of it too because it's not really about me DJing.. It's really just about having different DJs from around the world come in or us being able to lock in DJ’s from the city with different styles.”

Ironically upon my arrival there was some throwback Jay-Z playing. It wasn't abrasive but it definitely wasn’t lovey dovey either. However, the true essence of this night began to take over as Lik, Rakim, and DJ Nudy, who will be DJing alongside Core DJ Kev this New Year’s Eve for Boosie and Webbie right in our city, took turns adding their own flavor to the theme of love with throwback hits from Chris Brown, some new Drake, and Trey Songz.

R: “We wanted all love based and just beautiful, beautiful music… People don't engage with the music, They don't dance a lot. The music's super harsh, It's loud as hell- I like the loud music, but just [want] more dancing.”

CW: “I think that that's a good reminder that all music has a place and a purpose Because I feel like so much of the music now is focused on one emotion- one mode to be in- it's aggressive. It's unfriendly sometimes and it's negative, but it's a place- there's a place for being sad, A place for being lovey, there's a place for being social, and you can't really be like that with THAT type of music…”

Once he acknowledged the need for lightening up a social environment through music, Rakim Invited The Roses Prevail’s (TRP) Producer Lik Henderson to brainstorm along with him. Lik humbly gave Rakim the credit for the ideation but Rakim insisted that his perspective and input made this a total collab. They both sought to creatively capitalize on the amount of attention that our beautiful city has received, even more so on the artistic end of course, while unifying the DJ community of all sounds and experience with every Lover’s Playground event. 

Lik: ”...Once we had the leverage to build the brand to that point, we want to eventually bring people here and give people a reason to come to Milwaukee…”

CW: “Do you feel like the capacity matters in a sense…? if it's tailored to this event specifically, [there] wouldn't be [many people] you know what I mean? It would be more intimate….?”

LH: “I mean, we want it to get as big as it can get, you know what I'm saying? But we know in nature it's kind of like an intimate, exclusive vibe. You don't have to play what you consider popular... the DJs not necessarily playing the more popular Music, right? So the audience is coming for an alternative vibe. So that's in essence gonna always be a smaller capacity.”

Sounds to me like I have something to look forward to for my little world of being an introverted musical socialite. Will you be at the next one? 

/Naomi-Re’a CW

Always About Me-Interview w/ Elliott

What’s up yall! It’s PEAZY from /CW and I’m back with another interview from one of Milwaukee’s very own: Elliott! Check out our conversation and make sure you go stream “Jimmy’s Summer Mix” on all platforms! Without further ado let’s get into it.

/PEAZY: So, you have this project, “Jimmy’s Summer Mix”, a 6 track EP and it’s so diverse. I’m sure you have your favorites right? One of mine is “Charlie Wilson”. “Charlie Wilson” has so many different elements of sounds but one sound really sticks out to me and that’s that Milwaukee low-end beat. What was the process behind incorporating this “new” sound into your music?

Elliott: Well, I always wanted to like…find a way to implement my usual flow and song content and bring it to that type of beat. So for this project, I had gotten this beat from my guy Mar (@martyguerrerobeats) and after going through a number of different beats, it just started flowing. And I was hesitant at first you know, but I’ve also been in the space of trying to have more fun with what I do. Alot of my previous work is thought-provoking and mellow, I just wanted to get on this record and do something fly. “Fall For That” is the same way, it’s in that same category of sound.

/PEAZY: I feel like a track isn’t really a track without it having something about it that you will always remember. Once you establish that one line or that one sound as yours, it’s forever embedded in the culture. Wayne has the lighter flick, Metro will shoot you if he doesn’t trust you, etc. Yours is ‘Yes, Lord”? What’s the origin of that? Is it an affirmation? 

Elliott: It’s kind of..actually not kind of, it IS an acknowledgement to God and it’s just me thanking Him for being able to do what I do. It’s a shoutout to Him.

/PEAZY: “Always About Me”, “Show Up Late”, “Corner Store”; you have a lot of songs that narrate a story. How much of that comes from personal experience and how much comes from your poetic license ? 

Elliott: It’s mostly stuff that I saw first hand. If not, then it could be experiences that I’ve lived vicariously through others close to me. Or sometimes I’ll take elements from different stories in my life and put it together to make one big story and translate it to a record. But it’s all things that my eyes have seen.

/PEAZY: So, for people who don’t know, you are a middle and high school teacher. Do your kids know that you rap? And if so, how does your artistry influence them? Do you incorporate music into their education?

Elliott: Yeah they know. I didn’t tell them they kind of just used those inquisitive minds and they found my social media. But I teach English so it definitely inspires me in a way that motivates me to encourage their creativity and their emotional vulnerability. I just find ways to implement that into what we are already learning about. In a way my kids are the influence behind tracks like “Charlie Wilson”, that kind of music really gets them going and they really take the words to heart. 

/PEAZY: Okay so say I’m introducing somebody to Milwaukee music and I’m telling them how great of an artist you are. What 3 songs would you put someone on to to introduce who you are as an artist?

Elliott: I would say “Show Up Late”, “Who We Kiddin?” and “Always About Me”. 

/PEAZY: What’s so special about those?

Elliott: Those are the songs I personally enjoy the most. Just knowing what went into the creation of them, what inspired them, how I felt recording them and how I’ve seen them resonate with people who’ve listened and connected to them. 

/PEAZY: As an artist in 2023, do you feel compelled to also be a content creator? Is it something that you’re cool with or something that you feel like ‘man I wish I didn’t have to do this’? Cause you know we live in a social media world, if you’re not posting reels or if you’re not on Tik Tok you’re not as hot. Is it a lot being an artist AND a content creator?

Elliott: I mean…I wish the music could do it itself but the game is the game. Music is more than just music, it’s marketing, it’s getting your song into people’s ears consistently. I’m definitely getting more comfortable being in front of the camera and just putting out content in general. But I think the music that I’m creating enables my confidence to create the content.

/PEAZY: You have two devout Christian parents and you grew up in the church. You talk about this a lot in your music alot but we live in a time where if you sing about God or talk about God you’re viewed as being weird. Does God give you the courage to glorify Him in your music? 

Elliott: The only approval I seek is from Him. Outside opinions against that don’t really move me because it’s like…you can’t save me! When it comes down to what’s cool and what’s not, I do work to make sure I creatively implement that part of my life into my music. I know a lot of Christian Hip-Hop is looked at as corny and I don’t know if I would necessarily put myself in that category, but I do always try to acknowledge how good God is.

/PEAZY: What would you say to someone who’s listening to this and is having a hard time believing in their dream  because they’re caught up between doing what they want to do vs doing what God wants them to do?

Elliott: You gotta have faith in the fact that it’s not going to happen how you think it will. And when it doesn’t, you have to figure out how to turn those feelings: anxiety, nervousness, stress, or anything into music. Use those feelings of uncertainty and turn it into your art. Talk about how you might feel anxious about something or how stuff isn’t working out, figure out a way to turn everything into music. 

/PEAZY: Where can we find more Elliott?

Elliott: Latest project, “Jimmy’s Summer Mix” is available everywhere.

/PEAZY FROM CW

BIG P "Weed and Wine"-ALBUM RELEASE!

I recently did one of my favorite interviews so far this year with BIG P! And y’all would never guess what happened…the audio DELETED! But you know at /CW we take lemons and turn them into Kool-Aid  Lemonade so without further ado let’s get into this album review of “Weed and Wine” by Big P.

The thing that I love about this album is the symbolism. Bip P creates an outro following each song that helps you understand the morals to the story he so eloquently told on the track. The theme of each outro varies from playful phone calls to Big P’s Seafood and Fries to more serious conversation about mental health, accountability and healthy love. My favorite song is “Ms. P” featuring Ro. J; this is one of those songs that demonstrates the symbolism that I mentioned but also has many elements of southern rap that we really don’t see many Milwaukee artists tap into. This is especially surprising because Big P is a real Milwaukee native, so to see him embody and so effortlessly pull off this southern swag really speaks to how dimensional he is as an artist. 

“Never know what you can see, never know what you can be. But one thing fasho, you f--king with Big P bay-bay” (that’s how you say it with a accent, bay bay)

Southern charm isn’t the only thing he tapped into on this album either. “White Lies” has neo-soul elements, the melodic scats throughout the song add peacefulness to what may seem like a harsh message. 

“Telling these lies to you knowing that I’m doing wrong. Truth be told I know my wrongs baby. Call a spade a spade that’s just what it is. I put you through this sh-t for what my mother did or didn’t.

Lines like that are frequent as Big P demonstrates his ability to make you groove and hold yourself accountable on the same track. “Wright Way”  does the exact same thing in a completely different way. The first two minutes of the song are for you to stand up and vibe, but the last two minutes??? You have to sit down and listen. Not because the lyrics might go over your head, but because within each experience he gives you the best of both worlds. Is that not what we look for in certain songs when we listen to them? You initially just want to feel good but by the end of the song you’ve learned something or taken something away.

“The song may have ended but the melody lingers on.”

“Boyz II Men” was the first song that I heard off the project, featuring his best friend Lik who is also the producer of this project. If this is your first time hearing them together, this is a great introduction to this dynamic duo. The back and forth between Lik and Big P flows smoothly, this is one of the songs that give you an understanding as to why he named this project “Weed and Wine’. If you know you know, but the combination of the two really makes you feel like the smoothest person in the room. And lowkey, I felt like they channeled Bootsy Collins a little bit and I’m here for it. 

 “Hf” is one of the songs that I paid attention to in particular because throughout the album Big P shows respect to his son’s mom. When I asked him why he does this, he said: 

“Honestly I really just wanted to show love. You know we had our son when she was still in college and being that young, you know I made a lot of mistakes. So this was really just like 1)to apologize for everything that I’ve put her through and then 2) just to let her know I’m gonna forever make sure she’s good.”

“Wish It Could Last”  is the perfect way to end this whole album. First, this is an ode to UGK’s album “Ridin Dirty”, the last song “Outro”. Big P uses this track to shoutout everybody that had a hand in creating “Weed and Wine” and it’s really a great way to learn things about Big P if you didn’t know him already. He’s a Milwaukee native that was raised by his grandparents and grew up with hoop dreams, turned them into reality, had a kid and made plenty of mistakes along the way. But he also made music; amazing, soul-filled, authentic music. So good that he picked up the mic when he put down the ball. Overall, 10/10. I really think this is a creative body of work that encapsulates the majority of who Big P is as an artist and I truly think this is authentic music. 

Interview PART 2 COMING SOON! Check out “Weed and Wine” and let me know what y’all think! 

/PEAZY FROM CW 

Richie Buz - Enigma + ft Elliott

Last week, Richie Buz dropped his EP, “Enigma” ft Elliot and I really think these two paired well on this project. Starting off with the collaboration between Elliot and Buz, I think we should see more of them together honestly. “Knowledge ft Elliot” caught my ear at the intro with Elliot. I’ve just recently ran across his body of work and I must say I am a new fan. His verse speaks life into the song leading up all the way to Buz’s verse.

“I don’t sell boy or girl but I teach em’, every day I’m showing up to reach em’. Give em real history, the world tryna bleach it.” 

It feels good to have music that makes you feel good, I love how both of these artists can create music about more than the average topic and it hits, artists like them help motivate versatility in Milwaukee music.  Of course I think Buz’s verse is fire on this song too, but I wanna focus on this solo track, ‘Somd”. I won’t tell you what it stands for, that’s for you to find out but this is probably my favorite song on the EP. If you know Buz, I especially think you would like this song because as real as Buz is in real life is exactly how real he is in the song. 

“I be tryna tell the guys that it’s more than riches. They think I’m trippin like ‘bro you ain’t tryna get it’. I can’t blame em, that’s the way we came up, tryna escape these conditions that enslaved us. Who am I to judge? Spent $200 on some new J’s, that was probably made in China by a few slaves. System only show compassion if you paid, adolescent nights felt bright with D'usse, dudes day anything for clout but nothing for respect.”

Nicki Minaj voice: “Hold on Holiday, you can’t just give it to em’ dry like that, bring that sh-t back!” Like replay this whole song real quick LMBO! I enjoyed this review and this EP, y’all please go show some love to these Black artists! 

/Peazy for CW

I Hope You Stay - Cam Will

What’s really good? Ortizus is taking over the blogs this month, you know the vibes! What better way to get nostalgic than to highlight one of the most progressive artists I've covered! That’s right! We are talking about Milwaukee’s own, Cam Will. 

If you don’t already know Cam, you can check him out on his socials but to make a long story short, he has dedicated his whole life to music. With over 38k+ monthly listeners on Spotify to over  This is not an overstatement, he literally walked away from his D1 soccer scholarship to follow his dreams. That takes some heart! Let’s jump right into the music though!

On March 21st, Cam released two singles titled I Hope You Stay Around along with If Not, But When? “I Hope You Stay Around is a two part story (IHYSA and Not If, But When) lays the foundation for highs and lows of seeing the vision ahead of one’s goals but also fighting the timelines and expectations we set for ourselves to reach them.”

What do we think? We think it's a HIT. The video really gives perspective on what goes on when it’s all said and done. A very personal intimate vibe if you will. 

The real question is what do YOU think? Tap in and watch below and be sure to follow him on all socials, including instagram: @_Camwill

Catch a vibe!

/(Imani) Ortizus for CW

Tye Motives, "24 Blessings" "No Shade, No Shine" ALBUMS

Tye Motives has easily become one of my favorite artists in the city. Although I may have hopped on the bandwagon later than most, I’ve had a chance to listen to a bit of everything and I have only good things to report. Starting with my favorite song, “Doja” on his album “24 Blessings”.

“All she wanna do is smoke, hit the weed like it ain’t strong girl I told ya, she gone hustle never let the world fold her, hot as summer time but she been getting colder. I just wanna smoke Doja with you, that’s a double dutch yeah I rolled Doja for two.”

When I sit back and imagine the visuals for the video, it really emphasizes the entire vibe of the song. The verses themselves provide the upbeat tempo, it’s the part of the song that you can ride to, but maybe you won’t be tempted to sing along. But once the chorus comes on, it’s inevitable. I definitely suggest y’all add this to your date night playlists. 

So at this point, I’m going down a rabbit hole and I ended up listening to his 2021 album, “No Shade We Shine”. Two words: “Boss Roads”. No different than before, Tye receives no bad remarks, “Boss Roads” can easily be a fan favorite, the chorus once again is so captivating, it’s one of those songs that you WANT to learn the lyrics to.

“You see this road that I been on, I got dreams up in my sight. You a lie, you gangsta, you gone step outside you risking life. Gotta watch yo mans when shit ain’t adding up ain’t feeling right, gotta watch yo mans when shit ain’t adding up ain’t feeling right.” He manages to also pick the perfect cadence with the perfect beat for the perfect song. The creativity and artistic vision that rap itself takes, especially to be successful, Tye has it. Here’s another one of ours that is next up! Let me know what y’all think. 

/Peazy from CW

Leo W3ST- “Outside” MUSIC VIDEO

Chicago Native Leo w3ST describes a typical Saturday morning from his childhood in his new music video for “Outside.” We see an adult w3ST on the couch playing video games as the camera gives a quick pan to then find his younger self taking his place. The early 90’s nostalgia hits instantly as young w3ST gets his day started while wearing a Dennis Rodman Piston’s jersey and the chorus opens up with “Saturday morning, Mighty Morphin’, sugar coated cheerios…” What an undefeated combo! We see the current w3ST again, this time dressed as a mailman, tour guiding us through his memories of hitting up corner stores for snacks, traveling through the neighborhood and gathering his friends on the way, and kicking game to girls with plans to sneak around with them later on. He reminds his audience of how much fun it was to actually spend the day outside- in fact it was preferred in comparison to nowadays where everyone, even the adults, would much rather be indoors. The pure bliss of feeling untouchable as we traveled blocks away from our house from sun up to sun down with our neighborhood buddies, being influenced in the best and worst ways (little Leo w3ST gives cigarettes a try when he runs into his other homies at the park who are significantly older than he is) is something that many of us 90’s babies like w3ST treasure in the back of our minds. And all of this occurred before those street lights came on!… It better had at least. Tell me how YOU feel about “  Outside ” Milwaukee. /Naomi-Re’a for CW

G-Gifted- “Zone” SINGLE

G-Gifted’s newest single “Zone” speaks from the perspective of the ‘strong friend.’ You know, the one who always knows what to say when we need that extra bit of strength but ends up facing a lot of their battles by themselves? Yeah that one (Call them!). While keeping up with the current running theme of his life- self care, accountability, and growth, for which he named his latest project- G-Gifted is also learning to be a bit more celebratory of his accomplishments and has taken on some pride for his development, but not before spitting a few lines of transparency. Without sugar coating his truth, he speaks on some of the elements of his life that have contributed to his depression. From having low self esteem and uncertainty amongst his social circle to having big blows like the loss of his Aunt, the young rapper had a lot to overcome. His silent coping style and strong exterior had given those around him the impression that he was unaffected by life’s day to day obstacles. Of course as people we know that no one is immune to the harshness of life. Through that pain, G-Gifted had become overly humble about the good qualities of self growth but with the triumphant anthem that is Zone, he gives himself that much needed pep talk. The one that we all deserve! Tell me how YOU feel about “ Zone ” Milwaukee. /Naomi-Re’a for CW