Jonah Denae "In Due Time"

Milwaukee’s Femcees become more and more promising with the likes of Lakeyah, Mudy, Shadi, Destinee Lynn and now, the young and ambitious Jonah Denae has come to take names and take over; “I been quiet. But it's my turn now. Be ready. Love” is declared at the top of the year under an instagram post of hers, and she definitely aint playin’! After a sprinkle of singles and freestyles over the last few years with no LP yet, Jonah Denae has dropped ”In Due Time,” a statement piece for the due diligence of an artist who knows that faith, consistency, and hard work is bound to pay off when you know who you are.

Her Battle rap-like approach over a proper Midwest beat by rXge and rhyme scheming are mathematical; 

-“Can't settle for ni**as who settle at the bottom with b***hes 

Who bottom feeders -for givin’ top to ni**as who pop a bottle

 -Instead of poppin’ a collar, 

B***hes paparazzi.. ” 

She weaves in and out of the flow like a pro with the demeanor and full set nails to match. Clever choices are made in her change of pacing and tone while landing her bars every time with references to Black Culture, her spiritual faith, and American History amongst other things in relation to the might of the moment that she is manifesting for herself as a legend in the making. This is her time and the city, the world, needs to keep an ear out for this one. Jonah Denae is ‘Bigger than Local.’

/CW Naomi-Re’a

AyooLii - Shmackin Town

What’s really goood? Ortizus is back in action this month delivering you the gems in the city. This week’s highlighted artist has a viral Tiktok to thank for more eyes on him this week. Who is taking over TikTok? MILWAUKEE. Who do we have our eyes on this week? AyooLii!

With over 430,000+ TikTok views on this video alone, AyooLii is no stranger to viral moments considering the content of his page. Along with music, you can find this local native making hilarious skits in his free time and they’re often in relation to Milwaukee. But he didn’t land in this week’s article solely because of his comedy, he landed here because he found the perfect Milwaukee recipe between fun music and satirical comedy. 

He opens with a sample from the famous “Funky Town” by Lipps Inc. slowed down but then as any great Milwaukee songs goes, the BPM speeds up and now it’s time to dance! So whether you are hittin’ the Stolie, Barkin’ or The Lowend, Ayoo Lii welcomes you to

‘SCHMACKIN TOWN.’

/Ortizus for CW

Ms. Mocha Presents: Emmitt James “Too Cold 2 Tour” Tour: Milwaukee

Writers, Brand / Business Owners, Singers, Rappers, Poets, Teachers, Instrumentalists, Stylists, Fashion Models, Painters, Church Kids, Lovers, Stoners, and your Average Joes and Janes. This is the expected audience in attendance of an Emmit James tour, particularly a show like the one we saw this past weekend. Starting at the beginning of February when the flyer for the “Too Cold 2 Tour” Milwaukee date and lineup was dropped with those lovely words “Ms. Mocha presents: ...” and we read the names that followed, this show had been well anticipated. LA, where he had been living for several years now since his move from The Mil’, was hit first.

Immediately after, James took it to the Midwest where most of his touring will take place. At the midpoint of his tour run, we were eased with the drop of his cozy “Yarnigan” sweaters and a media parody, “EMJAY NEWS” mid-tour recap on instagram. On the night of the 19th in Milwaukee, Company Brewing had so many revered artists in the room who were ready to see this show, it was amazing. Truth be told, although people did come to see Emmit James, his superstar lineup is what we've been waiting to see in action altogether.

Even the Artists themselves like Nile, who said that there was a standard of professionalism that inspired him to keep on his toes that night, could not help but to acknowledge the weight of the other names on the bill. He is without a doubt one with many eyes on him in the Hip~Hop scene here and after he, following the classic spins of DJ Freakish Nerd, ignited the stage with singles from his latest drop Free Lunch, he gave us some insight on what's to come next.   

N: I'm preparing for the Free Lunch Deluxe… ‘free lunch’ means so many different things to a kid from Milwaukee from the MPS lunches to someone with dreams and ambitions and goals. I just want to continue pushing the idea of ‘food for thought…’ That's what I want you to take away; your own experience. I want you to enjoy the Free Lunch experience over and over again. There's just a lot more to do. I'm not done. 

As mentioned, R&B Singer / Songwriter and Producer B~Free  brought the femininity, musicality, and technicality that Emmit James remembers to particularly include on his sets. From her unquestionable vocal talent to the live demonstration of her production skills (she produces her own shit), B~Free is a true artist and confirms so through her admiration for the outcome of the show itself.

BF: I think it is very well balanced… I've planned a lot of shows in my day and one of the things that I used to get aggravated about was piling up a whole bunch of people on the bill and not having a lot of care being put into who goes behind whom; ‘Do these acts match? Do their energies blend well with one another?’ I feel that the balance [here] is super super dope because Freakish Nerd has everything at his disposal to spin and then you get the hardcore Hip-Hop with Nile, and then I’m that transitional piece by taking a bit of that Soul and Hip-Hop edge that Nile has and bringin’ it in a bit more mellow and R&B. Then Em is the perfect culmination of all of that so I think that he did a really good job with being thoughtful with putting this lineup together and I’m thankful to be a part of it. 

Album on the Way!

Lastly, After an already successful night, and a long time away from home, Emmit gives us Emmit; Hip~Hop, live instrumentation, witty innuendos, and a surprise performance from Fellow House of Renji member, Genesis Renji. As the music scene continues to climb the ladder to quality marketing, collaboration, and the element of performing, the standard for musical showcasing in Milwaukee is seen through productions like this.

/CW: I'm assuming that these are some of your favorite artists.. What as a fellow artist speaks to you?

EJ: Authenticity. People just being themselves. There's a lot of dope artists here, rappers, R&B singers, a bunch of dope people, so eventually as I come here more and more Imma try to put more people on the bill. 

/CW: I noticed that your set especially had live instrumentation, other than B~Free. Does that speak to how you relate to them as an artist or was that just all natural?

EJ: Just natural. I always like to play with a band if I can. That's actually prefered. The last time we played here, I had a full band but if I'm being transparent, I paid a lot of people. So I was like let me shrink it and then that way I can pay the people on the bill a lot more…  It's rare that I don't use a live instrument, I've done it on this tour in Chicago, but if I can have an instrument or an instrumentalist, I will… I played with a trumpet player a couple  months ago and I was like ‘I don't know why I haven't been playing with a trumpet player..’ so I was just on facebook like ‘Yo does anybody know a trumpet player?’ and then people looked out and tagged people… 

And there it is. Won’t He Do It! /Naomi-Re’a for CW 

HymnWho - “A Glorious Rise” EP

Already 5 months post-release of his Album “Retroactive Phenomenon.”(If you haven't heard it yet, make it a thing), Milwaukee artist HymnWho enters 2022 with “A Glorious Rise.” His style and sonic approach is signature at this point and goes against the grain of what has been popularized as the Milwaukee sound with a mixture of rap verses, melodic choruses, and beats that give us a new feel with sound choices that range from 80’s rock and pop to hip-hop. Even so, HymnWho is not to be so easily defined. He shows off his charisma first on “Sadiq” with a smoove beat drop and the opening line “You gotta treat me like a gangsta it's just human nature…” and soon after, quoting Rick James’ most famous affirmation for himself a few bars later. You can feel the confidence spilling from HymnWho even as he begins to talk about some of his growing pains. “Dangerous Game” gets more intimate; here’s a song about the importance of self acceptance and the consequences of walking blindly from not knowing who it is (within ourselves) that we are really counting…  Man, us 20 something's be goin’ through! After a few funky hard hitters, “Walk in My Glory” gives a powerful ending with a production that gradually gives a triumphant tone and a hook that makes you feel like you're glowing! 

Tell me how YOU feel about “ A Glorious Rise ” Milwaukee. /Naomi-Re’a for CW

CAM WILL- Dance With Me [Video Submission]

How do you do yo’ dance? Are you a “dance with every part of your body” dancer? Or are you a cute two stepper? Not too much movement, just a lil cute sway side to side?

Whichever type of dancer you are, CAM WILL’s newest single, “Dance With Me” will definitely have you doing some type of movement. The vibe is contagious, the beat is magnetizing and the video is fire! It’s giving what it was supposed to give. Not only was CAM WILL working the cam, you can tell he tapped into that smooth groove energy when he created this.

About 2 minutes into the song I was visualizing myself in the car cruising to the chorus, this should surely be added to the playlist that you make for those long car rides or a night out with the gang. Aside from the song, the videography on the video was amazing. The highlights of the 414, the edits and transitions from different parts of the city, came together so melodically. 

If you’ve been looking for a new song to add to your catalog, look no further than Cam Will’s latest single. Check it out and let me know what y’all think!

/Pam from CW 

CJ Folds "Love at War: Mr. Lonely"

Alright, time to stare at the ceiling and let loose a thug tear. CJ Folds has personally caught me by surprise with this new release of “Love at War: Mr. Lonely”, a 16 track album that hands out emotional lumps with every song. Accompanied by his Label Mates including Eli $tones, Aremite, Jordyn Sade, and Langston, CJ Folds gives me what I actually admire about today’s modern sound of the heartbroken youth: melodic genius and performance. Throughout this Album, you will be forced to feel what he feels; with the rasp of a country/rock singer, an ear for a beat selection that consists of the versatile use of string instrumentation and background vocals, an undistracting use of bass, and the chemistry between him and his features, You will begin to loathe your imaginary ex...yup, I said it!

The running themes of “Love at War: Mr. Lonely” include disappointment, solitude, the lack of communication, and the desire to elevate emotionally. “So Far Gone” sets the tone with a minimalistic beat meant to showcase Folds' vocals and the depth of pain in his lyrics, “We can't keep goin no more. I done tried too long, what for? All that you did for me, I wasted my energy, Lord, what did you send to me, I’m so gone...” Geez….. The Title Track, “Mr. Lonely'' is next and honestly after the intro, there's no way to recover. With the title and the chorus being a call back to Bobby Vinton’s heavily remixed and referenced 1965 single “Mr. Lonely,” Folds is seen as a soldier of change who has stationed himself away from his norm (city, friends, habits) and as a result, experiences the effects of his choice, “And this is exactly how it go down…” Skipping down to track #9, Folds expresses his longing for companionship and affection on “Somebody,” which is a slight contrast to the contentment that he had shown in the start, Folds blatantly admits to needing what he had lost and further continues on to a rollercoaster of emotions. Tell me how YOU feel about “ Love at War: Mr. Lonely ” Milwaukee.

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

AVE4 - ‘FOR THE MUSE’ [Debut Album]

An example of a gem is a producer in our generation who specializes in catering to the R&B genre. Ave4 is Milwaukee home grown and has been producing for several years and now he has willed himself into dropping his debut project. “ …it stemmed from a place of self reflection. After 3 years of scrapped concepts and personal growth, it has grown into the story that it tells today,” He says about  “For The Muse.”  Just as he said on an instagram post back on his original release date “...My Muse isn't just a person but (She) helped me believe in love again…,” I too truly believe that this title speaks not only to his personal Muse but to the many possibilities of how anyone can approach love despite their experiences and also to the many different artists and how differently they could all approach these tracks as the individuals that they ought to be.

This album will take you many places to many places with heavy call backs to the inspirational times of the 90s and the early 2000s. The first track hits us with a familiar voice sample of Larenz Tate’s, “Do You Mind if I play something for you?” (you know the movie), before we are met with a super ultra nostalgia filled track titled “Let Me In.” Its Immediately giviiiiing! The production, though still sprinkled with some modern day stylizing, is still true to the inspo that is the original sound. The beat is not overbearing with intense drops and pounding and the sampled vocals are still very much a part of the song. Same to say about the next track, and the rest of the album, “Dial Me Baby” which features a sample of Tamia’s “Long Distance Love.” This smooth story of new love continues on until we get to track 6,  “Prada.” This one is for house parties and skate rinks, with a good ol’ Ginuwine “In Those Jeans” sample (because who doesn't love hearing Ginuwine in the background), it's for sure a ‘feel good’ track. The last few tracks bring us back down to a more downcast mood than the first half of the album. Its as if ”Prada” was the climax of what it's like to have those Feelz but then either that spark is lost or this person of significance just wasn't as ready as they thought they were for love. “No More Amor” and “Queen of Flowers,” which features a proper Nia Long sample to end this story, both cap us off with what it feels like to have loved and then lost.

Tell me how YOU feel about “ For The Muse ” Milwaukee.

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

2Hi - White Lighter Bad Luck [ALBUM]

After a few years of loosies and EP’s, the dropping of his first full length project “2 Birds” last year, and being left with the bread crumb that was “Round and Round” back in August just for this moment here, local artist 2Hi continues the narrative of his rockstar lifestyle with the drop of his second Album, “White Lighter Bad Luck.”  Lyrically accompanied by the acclaimed NilexNile, otherwise known as Nile, Lake, and executive productions by No B, this melodic psychedelia is the melancholic voice of all who have found contentment with numbness, however, having subconscious undertones of self awareness and emotional longing; this all blends in to one truth while under great influence.. The intro track “Ghost” leads us straight to 2Hi’s inner conflict; there is an assertiveness here that may pass for aggression, or vice versa, in lyrics like “..And I'm in the back of the room high off the shrooms sitting, just think to myself, I am an artist who starvin’, no I can't bargain, I gotta double my wealth..lil bitch im cool, I don't need help, all of this work under my belt- I gotta do it all myself, I gotta do it all myself..” and the words “I gotta work on myself, I gotta work on myself..'' are heard faintly a lines afterwards, signaling the slip into 2Hi’s subconscious, his real thoughts, “..I'm an animal, I can't live with myself, only hurts if you take it out and you put my heart on the shelf, I just need your help…”

WLBL led with this tone for another 5 tracks and then about halfway into the album, we are temporarily given an energetic boost with “Switch Lanes”- how very telling of the motivation that many try to find after crash landing back on Earth into their own reality. This is made for the ‘fast and the furious’ (don't do it, drive safely), when you feel like a flexer, bump this!!….Annnnnd right back into the feels. Old habits die hard and some norms can't seem to be shaken in “Tattoos.” 2Hi comes a bit cleaner about his vices, even more so about the norms of his life experiences that trigger those vices; “ I got tattoos on my soul, I woke up lost on the road, I know that I'm on my own, mountains to me look like stones- I take these drugs to fly home...I seen it all just unfold, I seen this shit happen before…” Very easily, the methods taken on for masking continuous pain are cause for being misunderstood by those on the outside looking in because of one’s own miseducation on how to cope properly, leaving room to be branded (“tattooed”) as everything that we do not intend to really be. Tell me how YOU feel about “ White Lighter Bad Luck,” Milwaukee.

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

Panoptics - Revitalize EP

The Milwaukee band, Panoptics, delivers to us some words of affirmation and self reflection in marriage to the infused sounds of jazz, reggae, and funk on their latest EP “Revitalize.” Dropped on July 16th of this year, Revitalize is six songs long and is a clear representation of their appreciation for range in music. Panoptics’ 5 members, Ben Plaisted (vocals + guitar ), David Purpura (drums), Natan Steigman (keyboard), Jacob Johnson (guitar and sax) and Yishay Levin (bass), came together to give calm to the disease of detachment and mental entrapment with songs like “Just Words,” a groovy lounge song that reminds us that the power of influence is real and that no matter the source of that influence that the choice to act and feel is one’s own. Even the singers own words, though optimistic and encouraging, sung with a melodic tone of reassurance, are just words that should only be considered and not so easily adopted; the solidifying of identity and the approach and perspective of life is an independent one; “ Hangin’ on i bet you're feelin’ strong, you're tryna right wrongs but right where you belong- write it down, see yourself inside it- lost in how, until you decided...can't turn away from it now, your turn to say something now cause these are just words, just words im singing….just words im talking….” Following up perfectly is the title track “Revitalize,” precisely the ‘cup of tea’ of this EP.  The listeners are encouraged to take it upon themselves to give life back to their dreams and ambitions and to accept the newness of what has been presented to them, that defeat is only in the mind. The results of this resolve are expressed in the triumphance of “Get Ahead” “...the flames that burned the books of old the ones that kept you from the gold-come see it all come see it now, it's all repeated any how…. to be afraid of the unknown is to turn our back on where the light is shone…” With each song consistent of an instrumental breakdown, whether it's the bass, the saxophone, or the keys that shine, a moment of reflection and absorption is allowed before we are brought back to the present by Plasteid’s vocals, which shoots us forward to the final track “Stuck in Mud,” a super reflective piece that may seem backwards to the progressive context of the EP but is actually symbolic of the hindsight view of the actual purpose of the confusion and pain and speaks on the would be consequences of choosing contentment. Plaisted sings with an empathetic, yet slightly pleading voice, sharing that tone with him are the keys and strings in the instrumentation, to who could be the past version of the listener or his own former self from the perspective of new self, or just a really good friend; “find yourself in the same old space again oh when you never took a chance to see what's round the bend, you try to stay right put but the outside worlds just flying right past, if you're stuck in mud..no one is gonna cross your path…” 

The Art work to Revitalize has many different individual symbols. The earbuds for eyes that are seen on all sides of a skull head may be a direct link to the band's name and their source of inspo; their panned view of music and how this allows for them to have a vast view for the people and their shared trials and triumphs. The skull head also appears to be taking a smoke break, catching a light from a friend; symbolic of taking time from chaos even just for a few minutes, although listening to Panoptics alone is a healthier method, the illustration speaks volumes. Tell me what you think of “Revitalize,” Milwaukee.

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

2Hi - Round and Round

Have your headphones on deck for this one...quarantine hasn't stopped Milwaukee Artist 2Hi from giving up a crowd pleaser, but your car speakers will do fine. “Round and Round” gives us all the bass that we live for and a complimentary catchy hook. With the grit in his voice to match, 2Hi’s energy may just provoke his listeners to call up the homies for a ride around the city just to incite a Busta Rhymes, “nod yo head and break yo neck,” session. I swear there's nothing like it! As the song reaches its end, the track begins to fade but it doesn't completely end right there. The production is cleverly adjusted for a good 15 seconds in order to paint a familiar picture of that moment where a stranger’s car pulls up beside yours with nothing but a hard hitting bass and 2Hi’s vocals bleeding through, and you involuntarily give a rhythmic head nod of approval while your curiosity sparks just before they pull off, or when you are on a late night drive and you cruise by the club and the F.O.M.O. briefly kicks in due to the sound that is pushing through the walls and just barely hitting your car. Tell me what you think about “Round and Round,” Milwaukee.

/Naomi-Re’a for CW