Jon Henry- “All U Touch & All U See” MUSIC VIDEO

Still keeping the theme from his latest EP “Young World Street,” being a proud Milwaukeean is the beat that Jon Henry steps to unapologetically. His off-kilter persona combined with quality visuals and camera work produced through the collaborative efforts of himself and another creates an artistic identity for Henry. Well, this Week he dropped a new video, shot all by himself, for his new song  “All U Touch & All U See.” Jon Henry is seen taking a drive in the night time, solo, and then there is an immediate switch to daylight where we see The Fiserv Forum behind him as well as other familiar downtown east side locations as a shout out to the areas where most of our artists are seen when it's time to perform.

The back and forth of night and day and loppy visual effects portrays the lifestyle of anyone, particularly in music, who is no stranger to working and hustling in the day time, alone most often, and coming alive artistically and socially at night, making sense for why the words “work hard” and ”play hard” show up on the screen at separate points in the video. The haunting melody of the chorus brings it all together with Henry singing “All you touch and All you see, is all your life will ever be..” Life is what we make it and one can either settle for the loop and delusion of the hustle life or be committed to the growth that comes from its consistency.  Tell me how YOU feel about “All U Touch & All U See” Milwaukee. /Naomi-Re’a for CW

Marijauana XO and Joe Pablo “Window Service 1&2”

When it comes to Milwaukee music, lately I’ve been hearing that everybody sounds the same. The Mil is known for “dumper music” in a rap scene that’s heavily dominated by males. Fans feel like a lot of our artists rap alike or talk about the same things, and I agree to an extent. But within the large ocean of Milwaukee rappers, even those who stick to the shallow side of music,  I’ve discovered two sharks. MarijauanaXO and Joe Pablo, in my opinion, are Milwaukee’s best rap duo right now. After the release of “Window Service” in 2021, they had us in a chokehold. From “Shake Back”all the way down to “Half a Book”, most of us had this album on replay. “My Brother”became one of the top songs in the city. Again….CHOKEHOLD! 

“Take the phones, it ain’t none call me when you get yo self together. If you got half I got half, we can split whatever. And if I got it then you got it, we in this sh*t forever. Get on his a** if he slacking but it’s for the better.”

I damn near started rapping as I was typing, literally. This past May, they dropped “Window Service 2”, a highly anticipated sequel to the first. My favorite song on this one is “Keep Grindin” or “Fire Brings Ice”. “Make a left, I just seen em at the lights, gotta make it home. Say my prayers every night, in that cell you on yo own so you better get it right. But i’m like how the f-in hell did this fire bring me ice?” When we talk about rap as a genre, some of the most important things that determine your success are content, rhythm, rhyme, cadence, tone, etc. Joe Pablo creates the cadence with his melodic rapping style, his hooks are always catchy. XO comes in on the verses with a completely different sound than Joe Pablo, but he always matches energy with whatever verse he spits. “They telling us to move outta town if we wanna make it, too many n-ggas that’s around that be slick hating. Told my brother watch my back hope he don’t stab me in it…” .“Quit Perpin” and “9 Times Outta 10” are the best examples of this rhythm and synchronicity between them. 

Granted, we all can’t relate to everything they talk about. We can’t relate to a lot of stuff that our favorite rappers talk about. But the thing about good music is, even if you can’t relate, you can understand. And if you’re anything like me, when you really “get in mode”, it doesn’t matter if you can relate or not, you’re gonna sing it like you do! Moral of the story, Milwaukee music has something for everybody. Tap in with XO and Blo! Let me know what y’all think! 

/Pam from CW

Clayton- “Tempting Fate” EP

 Ladies!! The Musical Men of the Mil Have been exposing their little hearts all ‘22! What’s in the air??

Clayton is quickly on his way to becoming the heart throb of the city with the drop of his new EP Tempting Fate. After quietly going through a break up this summer, Clayton went through moments of confusion and the war between moving on and what he thought made him happy made him conflicted. He took it straight to the studio and alongside Yogic Beats, Casey Soyk, and M&M Systematik, he produced a project that is “..most dear to my heart..” from his own words. The Cover Art is a scrapbook style collage of photos, both current and from his childhood- some are candids and some are from familiar moments of him as an artist. Clayton let us know that the first two tracks “Better Alone” and “I Wonder” were his two faves from this 4 track EP. He also gave them special attention on his insta with a couple of “Photo” Reels where he is styled to a ‘T’ in 5 looks and in the caption, gives brief insight on the context of each song; ”.. A song expressing pure confusion and frustration in regards to finding “true love”. No matter how good something may feel, it never quite feels right,” He wrote about “Better Alone.” I gathered the same on my first listen. The slow, consistent tempo of the instrumental allows the young vocalist to take his time and really deliver his emotions.

Only during the last minute of the song does the beat intensify in the slightest and Clayton compliments it with his vocalizing. For “I Wonder” he wrote “... A song about somebody who continued to run through my mind regardless of how badly I wanted to be alone.” This one had a tad bit of funk in it but still true to the R&B flavor. Through the remainder of this project, the young artist goes through highs and lows of convincing himself that it must not have been meant for he and his ex-lover to last while also acknowledging the things that he did receive from the relationship, making it real all over again. Tell me how YOU feel about “ Tempting Fate ” Milwaukee. /Naomi-Re’a for CW

Cardiac Da Pulse ft Classik Material “Caught Up” SONG

Despite the social and emotional climate that our city has been experiencing as well as the World as a whole, we can always count on some feel-good music to remind us of how we should be feeling about the lives that we have and the people that we experience it with. That being said, it is June, it's starting to get hot out, and the Summer time bops are in! Now, although we may not always have ‘Drop-top’ weather here in the MidWest, the zone that Cardiac Da Pulse and Classik Material are trying to put us in with “Caught Up” is giving just that. Cut straight from the cloth of one of the more popular eras of a rapper / singer collab in music, we are met with a grown and sexy bravado and a suave serenade for the chorus while the telling of a fling gone right is told to us by two casanova’s over a light and easy going beat that just provokes a two-step up outta you. You can’t escape it… I tried it! This 3 minutes and 16 secs. of Cardiac spittin’ shameless game provides the perfect energy to lead us into the mid-year mark. Tell me how YOU feel about “ Caught Up ” Milwaukee. /Naomi-Re’a for CW

ONLYDEV “GMN”//NEW SINGLE

I recently stumbled upon ONLYDEV and this new single “GMN” is a great introduction song to get a feel for the type of artist that he is. He’s got a frictionless style that grabs your attention and interest visually, coupled with a divergent sound that entraps you sonically, so I wasn’t surprised when I pressed play and enjoyed the entire song. This is the perfect song to start your day off to. If you're the type of person who sets alarms to sleep, I BET you will get up if this is your alarm sound. I love that his energy is transparent throughout the whole song. His laughs made me laugh, his hype moments made me hype, almost as if it was contagious. But basically, the song is about getting up and getting out of bed, being productive, and making the most of your 24 hours. “Last night was a blast but its gone be yo last if you don’t get out the bed,” lines like this and “....let’s do it lil n-a, wake up smoke some, let’s get this bread. Let’s do it lil n-a!” make me feel like this wasn’t something that was written and rehearsed, I feel like he just went in the studio and went crazy just purely off of adrenaline and passion. Not only is it catchy, but it’s enjoyable and it’s fun. It’s one of those songs that people will engage with no matter what’s going on. Even if you’re in a setting where you probably shouldn’t be singing, there’ll still be a slightly noticeable head bob with a quiet, “good morning n-aaaaa”. If black boy joy was a song, this would be it. I love it! Let me know what y’all think.