Genesis Renji EP “E.D.E.N. -East of the Garden” Event [Write Up]

What is a more appropriate way to indulge in Autumn, the season of harvest and reaping, then to go to a garden? Being met with a pink rose pedaled trail to start (in addition to the detailed instructions left on instagram by Genesis himself incase folks got lost, heehee), I made my way up to the third floor of The Hide House Warehouse and into the lovely business studio of C&B Creative.Co.  where Genesis Renji would exclusively perform his latest EP- E.D.E.N. during his “East of the Garden” showcase. Opening the door was like stepping into a late night lounge; the lights were dimmed for the mood with just enough lighting placed all around the room. The DJ of the night, FreakishNerd’s booth was set up in the front left corner with the main mic centered in the front of the room, completely wrapped up in a vine of leaves. There were plants appropriately set in every corner. Just before the opening artist Tai Mystique’s vocals took the stage and snatched edges with (and without...I think..) our permission, I was able to get 15 min. with a seemingly nervous, yet “musical genius,” as said by a super supporter in the audience, Genesis Renji.

N: First of all, Congrats on the new drop.. I don't think I was there for the last- did you have a release party for your last album or you just dropped it?

G: For the Keefe one..?

N: ...For S.I.N.S...

G: Yea, S.I.N.S., we did at Company Brewing and that was like 2018.. 

N: That seems like it was so long ago..

G: It was..last year was long go, ha ha..some of us made the moves we needed, and some didn't..we're all still here, that's all I care about.

N: ..I thought that it was interesting that you continued that biblical connection between your life and how you chose to translate it. Why was that the choice that you made? What does the Bible mean for you in your personal life-why do you feel like that was the best way to communicate your emotions?

G: I was brought up in the church..when I was born, I was raised Muslim for a little bit; my last name by birth is Arabic, and then when we moved to Milwaukee from Maryland we were with my Grandmother and we always went to her church- a Lutheran church....Ive always been a fan of, not necessarily religion, but theology in its self and Ive always adapted that and put that into my life. I'm the first born of my name, the oldest of me and my three brothers so that's where ‘Genesis’ comes from..growing up in my church, I ended up working in my church; I've been a youth minister, I was forced to become a deacon by church vote, so I've been in there, I'm a fan of it, I love the knowledge and the wisdom that's in there as well as the stories of faith, so I try to take the thing that I like, but hate the way that it's being used against people, and try to make it something else that you can enjoy and love.  

N: Have you had any familial backlash because of it? Because you know a lot of people are quite sensitive about how people choose to translate their beliefs..

G: Im me, as terrible as that sounds or however people are gonna take it, Im me..so with it being me, if you know me or you meet me- get to learn me, you know that anything I do isn’t of ill intent and if I come across as ignorant or im using it in an illegitimate way, I'll take accountability for it and apologize but I've also been in that space long enough to know what I'm doing within that space and outside of that space and still be respectful with it.

N: I think that is a cool approach because, for myself, especially with this pandemic allowing me the time to figure out ‘okay what do I actually believe in or how do I express my belief in it,’ and I realized how much spiritual capacity I have to then not claim just one because I see [God] in everything..

G: It's major. I don't claim to be Christian, I relate to Christianity a lot because that's what I was brought up in and it's embedded in me so deeply, but I also see, like you said, the pieces that overlap. I see where Islam overlaps with Christianity and overlaps with Buddhism or overlaps with whatever other beliefs you may have or dont have. I mean, regardless of what people say, you look at Satanism itself...the Seven Tenets that they follow are pretty good tenets that you wanna follow; dont rape people, dont murder people, respect other people and what they want to do..

N: It's more of a moral thing..

G: Yea, there are overlaps to the things that we don't know, don't understand or may not like, but you're always gonna find a common piece in one of those things and I feel like when you start seeing those common pieces in it, that's really what that universal truth is, so that's what I try to lean towards more when I’m diggin through things- ‘what's the one thing that's tying everything together?’ And that's more than likely the thing that we all need to know and be a part of.

N: Right, I get that..with the album name E.D.E.N., Eventually Dreams End in Nightmares- that sounds pretty pessimistic, ha ha..

G: It does.

N: So why..?

G: So even when you look at the cover, right?- So my last three releases, this one included, have been my most personal bodies of work, so S.I.N.S. was like ‘I'm about to start telling y'all about my romantic life. Yall know Genesis ‘the rapper,’ let's learn Genesis the person. So here's all the stories I've never shared about all these different women that I may have liked or may have been involved with, whatever, whatever, then Keefe is, ‘here's the black boy who grew up in the hood but wasn't from the hood,’ and what that sounds like, what that looks like, and being the voice for all the other black boys who didn't know how to say what they felt. So E.D.E.N. is picking up from the love shit..it's like, alright, this is what happens when we were dealing with a bunch of women, E.D.E.N. is the result of being with one woman, so with that comes, ‘alright, I gave so much of what I wanted to one person and it didn't work out so maybe the dream that I was being sold isn't the dream that I want. Maybe I was better off out here in the garden, that's why when you see the covers-on the cover of S.I.N.S. I'm sharing the apple..and it's like Adam and Eve, we’re bonding over this thing but then on the cover of E.D.E.N. I'm by myself, I'm looking through these apples-if you look, I've bitten through a pile of apples- none of them have that same appeal as that first apple so it's like, ‘what are we doing here, what's the point in searching anymore..?’

N: So if you wanna say, the dream isn't necessarily the dream but the ideal of what that dream could've been or what you wanted it to be- the burst of that bubble..

G: The potential that we all get caught up in, it's like damn, alright..that wasn't what I thought, maybe it doesn't need to be a thing.

N: So in a general sense, when you talk about dreams, in this context youre talking about love, but you know, people can say that “dream” means all types of things, so if someone wanted to take that same title and apply it to anything that they have a dream about, how should they be taking it?

G: So I'm a big fan of spiritualism, of course, I take dreams as messages for me. I dont ignore my dreams, so when I meet people who say ‘I don't dream, I just sleep,’ I'm like, that's scary because you're out here just wingin’ life. That's wild to me. Dreams are how I get answers to prayers, that's where we get to break shit down and figure everything out; that's where the subconscious gets the work. For me, it's like, at the end of this dream, Imma get something. Imma get some type of response- it’s either gonna be the response that I wanted or it’s gonna be a response that I wasn’t looking for and usually we’re scared either way because if it’s not what you want then you’re like, fuck! Now you scared of the thing that you didn't want or that thing that you knew it could've been, and you just didn’t wanna deal with it, but then usually you also are scared of the things that you do want because it's like-

N: ‘..I can have it??’

G: -Yea and then its like, fuck, you get so wrapped up in, because its possible, ‘am I gone fuck it up still? Or when I get it, do I deserve it, or am I gonna be able to live up to it?’ Or on the flip side, and this is something that I've been dealing with, do I really want what I said I wanted?...so the dreams can eventually end in nightmares because you still gotta wake up, you still gotta deal with the shit and that can be scary.

N: Do you believe that because that ideal was false in the first place that it was bound to fail or do you believe that you manifested that failure in that moment of disregard for yourself? 

G: Seeee..it depends on the person, right? Adam and Eve didn’t manifest their failure. That wasn't their intention, but they eventually stumbled into it. Eden in itself was a dream but that ended because of curiosity...it was just damn, ‘here's something that we haven't done, I think we should try it..; you can apply that to life too so I'm also a firm believer of ‘what's meant to be, I'm gonna make it happen and if it doesn't happen it's because I didn't do what needed to be done to make that happen or I didn't will that to happen, so you can manifest it or you also can't manifest it. Depends on your perspective. 

N: As far as ‘The Garden’ in itself, what is the entirety of that for you?

G: That's just how I see the world, honestly. Like even with my 2016 album, I Might Be Home, I reference Milwaukee as ‘The Garden,’ the song is called “In the Garden,” and in the chorus, I found my way out of the garden, that’s me being in the city, I was forced to be here as a child and then eventually I leave, and me leaving th city that I, 1., wasnt born in, but then, 2., I also didnt know how to manuever in and grow up in, leaving it gave me that breathe and that relaease but also gave me the courage to come back and deal with things, so the garden for me is Milwaukee but the garden can be anything that youre in the middle of and you don’t see anything outside of it, because thats what Eden is-Eden was a point and a place, and for Adam and Eve, there was nothing else outside of that, but then when they found what was outside of that it was like, fuck, I kinda wanna go back there..

N: Can you go back? It's not gonna be the same when you go back, but what does that mean, going back?

G: Is it really worth going back? because you know it's not gone be the same, so you got two choices- you can either, A., turn around and look for this garden that  may or may not be there, or B., you can, as they say in the Bible, “toil the earth for the rest of your days,” and you can create whatever that next garden is for you or try your best to.

N: I’m interested to see how you emote this- this is a really intimate setting here, did you do that on purpose?

G: Yes. I didn't wanna do this at a big venue, I really want to be able to look at everybody..I'm nervous honestly, ha ha ha..

N: I can tell..

G: this is the most vulnerable music i've ever made...so yea...and it was so much shit happening leading up to this- a week of promotion-that's already an issue for me, ya’ll know how we move..but it was like, aye, lets just drop it and see what happens,- and this is the most singing I've ever done-

N: that was gonna be my last, last question because I listened to it and I noticed that you didn't do a lot of standard, nonchalant vocals on this, you had a lot of melodies, so is that tied to how you emote [musically] in general; do you feel more flexible when you're feeling out your emotions?

G: The challenge for me- so last year I was traveling after my break up that inspired the project. I just traveled; that's what I do already, cool, now I can just do it a little bit more, get some me time. During that time of traveling, my main focus was becoming a better songwriter- I'm a good rapper, cool, I make ‘alright’ music, I think, but I need to make better music and make sure the people wanna hear it over and over again, and that came with knowing [that] people want melodies. Being a good rapper is cool but at the end of the day that doesn't sell records; I’m in this shit to be one of the biggest, honestly, so i'm writing 2-5 songs a day, every day for six months straight and in the process, the vocals got stronger, the writing got better, shit got more melodic and it's like, okay cool, singing is something that we need to implement a little bit more to make this work and this is what you get.

N: Alright well, I can't wait to see it live.

G: It's gonna be fire, I appreciate yall. 

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

Bayview’s Fall Festival “Beet Street” [Write Up]

This year, Cactus Club was bold, bold and decided that not only was the Pandemic not going to stop them from bringing a crowd of people together (masks suggested of course), but they were going to be hosting the 5th annual Bayview Fall Festival “Beet Street”, along with Palomino Bar and Goodkind. The people showed up and filled the entire sidewalk onto Wentworth Ave., vendors and customers alike. I took a stroll straight into Cactus Club to see what form of festivities were happening in the back performance area, having to inch my way past the bar amidst a sea of people. I entered the backroom door and the first thing that I saw was the spectacle that is Felix Ramsey’s video for his 2020 hit “So High” playing on the big screen with an atypical front row audience..! Maneuvering my way back out onto the street, I stopped at many of the vendors’ tables; wherever there was a tent, I went; the ground was so covered in yellow and orange leaves, it was like a scene from ‘CoCo’ and for a second I was Miguel. We literally skipped Autumn last year, yall! 

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

EAST OF THE GARDEN

* INFO PROVIDED BY HOUSE OF RENJI

Genesis Renji revisits the garden where he found love, and eventually heartbreak, as he performs his newest EP ‘E.D.E.N: Eventually Dreams End in Nightmares’ for the first time. Featuring music from Freakishnerd and an opening performance from Illinois singer-songwriter Tai Mistyque, East of the Garden will be hosted on October 10th at C&B Creative, located in Bay View at 2625 S Greeley St; Suite 356. Tickets are on sale for $10 general admission & $15 VIP. Ticket sales are available on www.genesisrenji.com.

Genesis Renji is an Emmy-nominated recording artist and engineer from Milwaukee, WI. The poet-turned-emcee has evolved his sound and performance abilities over time with a diverse and anthem driven catalogue full of introspective verses and boastful rhyme schemes.

East of the Garden will be the only time Renji performs his ‘E.D.E.N’ project in its entirety. This once in a lifetime experience will leave audience members engulfed in the new sound and styles of Renji, along with unreleased songs that didn’t make the project. Renji described E.D.E.N as his “therapy before therapy” and the outlet he used to “explore his emotions, frustrations, and heartbreak.”

For listening pleasure, you can stream and purchase ‘E.D.E.N’ on www.genesisrenji.com.

Nile x Nile “FREE LUNCH” Mixtape Pre-Release Event ( write up)

“..And It ain’t a Mosh Pit if aint no injuries!” (Travis Scott)- Words that I truly believe Milwaukee’s own, Nile x Nile, takes to heart as I reminisce on the energy of this night. At the official Pre-Release event for his “Free Lunch” Mixtape, The atmosphere was set and instantly permitted for a diverse audience as well as styles of music, given to us by the opening performers for the show. Walking into this loft-style home turned stage area, the first thing that I was greeted with was the merch table, t-shirts covered in the Free Lunch cover art logo and ‘Lunch’ Boxes; a kitchen bar, and an aesthetically pleasing living room with plants everywhere, shelves filled with books and artifacts, most of which shared space with the performing artists on the platform stage which stood maybe about 4ft. high, leaving enough room on the floor for an intimate crowd... Right before the festivities (and the rain) I caught Nile outside of the spot and chopped it.

CW: I am here with the superstar of the night, Nile, at his {mixtape} release for Free Lunch, how are you feeling, Nile?

N: I'm great right  now, couldn't be better, thank you for coming. 

CW: So, I remember your last album release and that was lit! You’ve been talking about the different changes that you’ve gone through between now and that time- creatively, what does this particular {mixtape} mean to you? I know that you've been hinting towards how this album speaks more to who you are.. who is that exactly?

N: Well I'm more of a person who likes to take chances. I bet on myself all the time anyway so I think this is more fun, it's more free, more of everything that I actually feel that I trust in myself. 2017, I came on the scene when I dropped the “Adult Swim”  song with the music video and everybody was lovin it and they was like ‘who the hell is this?’ That was when it was just me at my own mercy, working at my own pace, really just understanding my own vibe. I think that where I'm at now- I just went back to my own roots, just kinda trusted  myself more. I'm working with a lot more people and I'm loving the growth.

CW: Now when you say ‘going back to your roots’ and trusting yourself more, what do you believe in the past, in more detail if you don't mind, contributed to that distrust that you had with yourself; Was it working with people, was it working differently, using different methods, was it that you weren't as enthusiastic as you had put on?

N: Sure, it was just more so, as I started seeing little successes- I think Milwaukee creatives have this thing where that ego bug bites us a little... people kinda feed off of that and allow that to get to their heads... so I feel like I had to go through weird ego deaths; I feel like a lot of creatives here on the scene do. When I went through my ego death it was more so like a transition before I went through it; you drop a song, its successful, people care about it and then you gotta chase that same feel, and then you start making shit that's not really you, it's not in the same playing field of what you love or what you do. You start losing yourself on that road of that journey of what you wanna accomplish in your career, so I just went back to “Imma do what I love doin”- listening to all the songs that I like listening to- the stuff that really kept me grounded, and I just fed off of those inspirations that I will need to be the best version of myself again...more comfortable with the person that I am- in the skin I'm in and the person i'm going to be one day.

CW: That's great, I really relate to that myself because that death of the ego is so real, especially as  a creative because everything is connected; Being creative, being social, being a person, you really gotta check yourself especially when you know that you're great..

N: And it's okay just to feed the ego a little bit, you know what i'm saying, you just have to have conversations with that ego and say ‘hey, understand, you are working hard and you’ve put yourself in this position. Now it's time to go hard. You can't sleep, you can't settle for less and you gotta keep putting in the work.’

CW: You said that after you got back to yourself that you started listening to all of your favorite songs- is that a part of your album making process? Is that new for you; do you usually do that as a transition into album mode?

N: Something like that, I guess people could consider it an album- this is a mixtape. I just want to get into that realm where I trust myself, and on top of me trusting myself, it was more so the music that allowed me to trust those spaces I was in, so whether it's the creative dance records, fun records that you'll hear on Free Lunch, or the rap lyrical content stuff, alot of those influences will be heard through  the music as well because you’ll get the version of me that's a student of the game- I'll forever be  a student. You can never really master this rap music stuff. You can get to a perspective- a point where you are doing very well for yourself and you understand what you want and what you need to do in life, but you can never master being an artist because you just have so much learning to do, so much growing to do, and there's so many forms of it. So that's where I'm at. I think what this project is doing is allowing me to be in those realms that I'm comfortable with, even the ones that I'm uncomfortable with; just being more relatable, being more personable, being more fun. Being relatable is what I've pushed for so long and so I feel that I accomplished that a little more with this one.

CW: I love to hear that! Now to actually talk about the Free Lunch Mixtape- why that title? What does that mean?

N: It's actually funny- I'm actually gonna rebuttal- so “Free Lunch” is basically food for thought. in my mind, when you hear any of the songs, you'll get a chance to receive it, listen to it, and “Free Lunch” will be whatever the listener receives and what you utilize it for, so even if its a record that takes you back in to space nostalgically, you're like ‘man I relate to this because I was in a mode like this or a moment like this in my life.’ That moment, that song- what you shared with Free Lunch is for you today, you get what I'm sayin?; the lit aggressiveness, the turn up, that fun, that moment was shared with you on top of the nostalgic, personal records that are speaking to your flaws and, you know, you challenge yourself to be better, or just livin in this space where you question yourself a lot. I feel that a lot of people question themselves before they really understand what they want to do in life... I remember myself just being a kid in my room like ‘man I need to turn this up if Imma do music, man. I need to really take myself seriously, I need to get a job, go work or put some money behind what Im tryna do’; those conversations that were inexcusably real and you just telling yourself what you need to hear. I just feel like  Free Lunch is that for everybody.

CW: How does that relate to how you chose to design this {cover art} design here on your merch?

N: So this design that I got on my shirt was designed by my boy Colin Mitchell. The place that we’re performing at is actually their home, so they're allowing us to perform, it's kinda like a house party and shit. That's kinda dope. He had more of an understanding of what I was saying when I was telling him the information about the songs I sent him- about what Free Lunch meant for me...he basically just came to the table with both of our ideas and made it one...some of it is, of course, just me representing myself, like the little dragon tail all the way around and the food on the outside and the even the bagel in the middle, a lot of this stuff gets a little deeper and Colin can definitely elaborate a little more...

CW: Well I can't wait to hear the new music. Thank you for speaking with me.

N: I Appreciate you, we’re about to have a great ass night!

A good 20 minutes before the show kicked off with it’s first performer, I ran into one of the opening artist’s, Clayton, and got a few words from him as well.

CW: First off, I'm glad to see you tonight..! 

C: I'm glad to see you too.

CW: I was actually looking at the flyer and was like “oh Clayton’s on the flyer! that's an interesting mix.” So what I wanted to ask first is how familiar are you with Nile seeing that you are a part of his show tonight?

C: Yea, Nile’s the homie. I've actually known him for almost a couple years. We actually had a session way back and then it's been us checking in with each other, sharing each others shit on socials and stuff like that, and every time I've seen him it's just been that good energy- just showing respect for each other as musicians and hanging out whenever we bump into each other.

CW: Me personally being a fairly new fan of you, I've rarely seen you perform still, I haven't been to a lot of your shows. How often do you say ‘I'm a fan of this person. I wanna be opening for them or a part of their rollout..’ What does it take for you to do that?

C: Its just like, if im fucking with their music and them as a person, most importantly, and those things line up its whatever. You need support from me- you’ve been sharing my stuff, fucking with me; its just a recipricating thing, its easy for me at that point. He's a good dude and he makes good music. It's really easy after that.

CW: That's a good point..Being a singer, what is your relationship with hip hop and rap as far as collaborating, or how often do you listen to it? Would you like to collaborate more with rap artists..? 

C: Yea, I would love to collaborate more with artists, rap artists specifically. I love rap music. I listen to it as much as I listen to R&B. I have some faster paced songs where I get into rapping a little bit; I wouldn't call myself a rapper but I love the energy of it. I like switching it up at times, so doing it, listening to it, being involved with it- its a super dope change up for me.

CW: I think that's really cool, that element of rap and singing... Nowadays, you can tell ‘oh this person just sent in that verse or they asked this person last minute.’ That connection feels lost..As far as that process goes for making music, what do you feel makes your music flow the way it does and how do you feel that a collaboration with an artist would go for you, while keeping the integrity of that flow?

C: It's just everything, the way that you feel- when I make music, when I hear the beat or i'm making the beat and the first thing that comes out of my head- I might rap a little bit, slower, I'll sing; I always find a way to get into the rhythm of what I got presented to me, especially if a rapper sends me a beat that they wanted me to work on.. like if I hear the hook and I got room some room where I can sing a little bit- I like those collaborations…

CW: Yes it's like a push and pull, there's gotta be magic between the two. I love that..Now, you said that you and Nile had a relationship that goes way back- what does it mean for you to see his growth and elevation as a peer artist, or just someone that you grew up with musically, if you want to call it that?

C: For sure. Seeing him and meeting him a couple years ago, he was definitely good and I knew that he would only get better. you can see that in people sometimes and that’s why it makes it easier to mess with someone that’s really nice, and on top of that, you're growing, I can learn from you, you can learn from me, it's a mutual relationship, so seeing that and hearing his latest music nowadays i'm like, “yea this makes sense. I would expect this from someone like him,” just based on the energy that I got from him all these years... It's cool to see. I'm excited to listen to the rest of the project..

CW: Same for me! Thank you so much for talking with me and I can't wait to see your set. 

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

B~Free - This Could be Us [Single/Music Video]

PINK! PINK! PINK! And away we go! B~Free has been showing up and showing out with the hits. Earlier this year she dropped a House-style bop with recording artist Durand Bernarr called “Hate 2 Luv” which featured super dynamic vocals and range, but she didn't stop there. During the last week of August, B~Free released her first single “This Could Be Us” with a music video from her upcoming album (name unknown) anticipated to drop in 2022. Immediately, the video opens up classically with visuals, vocals, and instrumentation that takes us back to the early-mid 2000s. The scenery consists of nothing but pink; pink walls, pink desks, pink lockers, pink wigs, even all of the outfits are pink, and is complimented by melanated goodness. Only about 30 seconds are allotted for taking it all in before the 808s kick in and a dance break, choreographed by Shalome Unique, is introduced. The video then goes full ‘girl power’ mode. The theme of a ‘situationship gone bad’ begins to unravel as B~Free is confronted by her girlfriends at her locker (peep the CW magazine cameo) and moments of B~Free sitting in her room alone, going back and forth in her mind about cutting off her guy, are shown. “I cant keep on loving you {with} one foot out the door, and I  cant keep going all in if you aint ready for more….I sent a meme of how this could be Us, but you dont get it it, Cause you’d rather be on that stupid stuff than stay committed..,” is the language of today’s communication that many have adopted as a way of getting their point across in love; Goals is the word, but if the goals aren't mutual, then we have to make like B~Free and chuck it up. Tell me what you think about “This Could Be Us,” Milwaukee. 

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

Quies Terry - For Sunday Mornings & Summer Nights EP

If somebody needed an anthem that encouraged them to keep it pushin’, Quies Terry may have it for you on his most recent EP “For Sunday Mornings & Summer Nights.” With the gritty yet optimistic undertones of “Cruise Control,” the blatant truth of ''Late Shift”  and the un-sugarcoated transparency of lines like “Aint no catchin up to you butterfly, I set you free....where's that love you said you had for me? shit I could use it now...where's that love you said you had for me? Oh it's useless now….” in a farewell letter to an ex, the one that, at one point, we all wished that we could write, “Off You,”. I could practically feel his hunger for better; Quies Terry tells us what the reality is for choosing to be ten toes down in the hustle all while patiently waiting his turn to bare the fruit of leveling up. But we can't neglect the turn up just because our bad days are more common than we’d like, which is further encouraged in “Pretty Girl Party” ft. Paper Stacks & The Oshi. Tell me how YOU feel about “For Sunday Mornings & Summer Nights,” Milwaukee. 

/Naomi-Re’a for CW

Back Stage: Summerfest 2021

Back stage access needed? No problem. We got that!

CopyWrite Magazine took on our September coverage with a twist: on assignment at the “Big Gig”. Yes, that’s right, Summerfest.

With a year of crowd surfing lost and a postponed festival date, we couldn’t wait to step back stage to chat it up with some of our new local favs and some not so far removed midwest creative peeps. Check out these three Snap Shot interviews from our ever growing Summerfest vault. 

DJay Mando:

Not a stranger to performing on Summerfest stages, DJay Mando was especially READY for this year’s festival. With this being the first Summerfest since cancelling due to COVID-19, and him doing two sets this year, Mando and his team came prepared to do what they do best - rock a show. The trifecta that is Mando and his dynamic dancing duo Dos and Chris G, put on two memorable shows opening up for Flo Rida and Nelly.

(side note: Likeee, what DJ do you know who brings a whole dancing crew with them at every show? That’s how you do entertainment! They’re DIFFERENT, Okay!) 

However, this wouldn’t be Mando’s first show this year, because a pandemic couldn’t stop him from making moves. The “We Outside” concert Mando put together earlier this summer was much needed after being cooped up during quarantine for over a year. 

“Everything was pivoting to online and I knew I didn’t want to do that,” Mando said.

The “We Outside” show on June 26th, 2021 was one of the first big concerts back in the city out of the pandemic and it represented the epitome of Milwaukee. With acts such as Chicken P, Gwapo Chapo, Solowke and more opening up for the female goat and Milwaukee’s own Lakeyah, the #414 was ready to once again enjoy their hometown favorites. Yung Bleu was also a headliner on the lineup until he canceled at the last minute and blamed it on “missing a flight.”

“[Yung Bleu] is never getting played by me ever again,” Mando said. “He pretty much ditched our show the day of, went to the Clippers game and they lost in game 7. So that’s what they get..that’s what he gets.”

Even with the last minute adjustments to make the show amazing, Mando and his team exceeded expectations and had a successful show. You can expect more shows from DJay Mando in the future, with more big name artists headlining. For now though, you can catch him spinning in UW-Madison as the official area DJ for their football and basketball games! 

“I graduated from UW-Madison so to be the football and basketball arena DJ, it all came full circle, it’s amazing!” Mando said.

DJay Mando 100% knows his audience and is great at catering to them. From his electric astronaut performances with Dos and Chris at Summerfest, his sold out shows at The Miramar, the relationship he has with the Cheba Hut franchise, and now his DJ residency at UW-Madison, EVERY ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD TAKE NOTES! Mando is strategic, always on brand and to top it all off, you can tell he genuinely loves what he does. With a formula like that, you can’t lose.

DJ Gemini Gilly:

When you’re talking about a blend/edit/mashup Queen, it would be disrespectful for DJ Gemini Gilly’s name to not be in the conversation. With her vast catalog of pure music genius, her creative mixes of hip-hop and R&B tracks are always the right vibe. This year was DJ Gemini Gilly’s Summerfest debut, and it was a well-deserved and earned accomplishment after all the hard work she has been putting in the last few years. 

(Forreal, if you haven’t heard of her, are you really from Milwaukee? You’ve clearly been sleep!)

“This[Summerfest] is like my official coming out party to Milwaukee, forreal forreal” Gilly said.

Music has always been a big part of Gilly’s life growing up, thanks to her big brother. He introduced her to a lot of styles like down south music from artists such as DJ Screw, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, along with artists from the East coast like Bad Boy, DMX, and The Lox. DJ Gemini Gilly was that friend who you trusted to pass the AUX to because you knew she was going to play some straight-up HEAT. That’s the kind of person who is destined to be a DJ.

DJ Gemini Gilly was a social work major at UW-Madison when she began teaching herself how to DJ over her winter break in 2018. What started as a hobby due to a love of music and a stressful job, quickly became an idea of something much bigger. Her first DJing gig was in 2019 and even despite the pandemic, her DJ career kept flourishing throughout 2020. From her first night at Pourman’s, The Black is Beautiful bike ride after set, debuting as the first female Butler Skateland DJ, and so many more, Gilly’s name was popping up everywhere! It’s only been up and stuck from there.

“I love when I’m on stage and bringing people together with music,” Gilly said. “I’m crossing my fingers and sending blessings that hopefully I will definitely be able to do this full-time. I also want to find a way to merge social work and DJing in a way where I’m able to do both, because I’m still very passionate about social work and just the community in general.”

Until then you can catch her consistently applying pressure on Instagram, consistently spinning gems at events and she recently announced she was selected to be an in-arena DJ for the Milwaukee Bucks! It’s been amazing to witness her journey and watch her dreams come full circle. 

Ever since starting in 2018, DJ Gemini Gilly put her foot on the gas and has no intentions of letting up. She should definitely be on your “ones to watch” list. She’s the now. She’s the future and she stands her ground on Webbie having the best verse on “I.N.D.E.P.E.N.D.E.N.T.”

Taylor Bennett:

Summerfest 2021 was a first for Taylor Bennett. It was also his first show back live since the pandemic. So of course, what better place to have his first show than the city that’s home to the NBA Champions! 

“Shoutout to the Bucks, We the Champs!” Bennett said. “I feel like I claim it just as a midwest kid.”

Taylor came to a few Milwaukee Bucks Finals games this year, along with his older brother Chance The Rapper, who also performed the same day at Summerfest headlining the American Family Insurance Amphitheatre stage. Shockingly to my knowledge, Taylor says he used to come to Milwaukee all the time when he was younger, and even when he was older would perform at different shows here. When I asked him if he thought Milwaukee is comparable to a little Chicago, like I hear everyone else always say, he agreed. 

Carrie: “Is there a favorite place you like to go when you’re here?”

Taylor: “I just went to this new spot and it’s probably my new favorite - Proof Pizza. That sh*t is bomb!” 

When Taylor isn't in MKE getting full off of Proof pizza, he’s on the gram showing body-ody-ody! And in the words of BIA, he invested in his body, b*tch he’s done up (or invested his time as Taylor let me know LOL). His fitness journey started after he had his first son, Charlie, in 2019. Taylor says he always envisioned himself being the type of Dad who would throw around the football with his son, and being 23 at the time, he didn’t feel like he was at the fit level he thought he was. Eventually he got addicted to seeing the results from all the time he was putting in and enjoyed the peace of mind it gave him. 

Carrie: “If there was one tip you could give somebody who’s thinking about starting but doesn't have that push/motivation to get on their fitness journey, what would you tell them? How did you start?”

Taylor: “The only thing that’s really guaranteed, that you can put your time and resources that are guaranteed results in this world, that nobody can take away from you, is fitness. Once I realized that I felt like it’s like that for a reason.”

In the industry one of the biggest decisions an artist makes is if they want to sign to a record deal or stay independent. Taylor Bennett, is one artist who has remained independent throughout his entire career so far, along with his brother Chance. With so many years in the game running things solo, Taylor would know more than anybody how to successfully be independent.

Carrie: “What’s the biggest tip you know now that you wish you knew back then when you first started independent?”

Taylor: “The biggest thing you gotta know is there’s no amount - no record deal - is worth what you think it is. Once I figured that out, that’s what made me think alright, F*ck that. I can’t ever owe anybody money tryna make money. That’s crazy as hell LOL.”

This summer Taylor dropped “Come Alive,” and more recently he dropped his video “Easy Outside.” Being independent, you have to work harder to push out your own work versus if you have a label to handle most of that for you. So make sure y’all support our boy Taylor like he’s supporting us and go run it up!

/Carrie for CW