Jason McCue - When He Drinks

Ciscero - "Beautiful Mind (feat. Oddisee)," a 2021 single on We Are Not The Same. They don't give a fuck about us / They're not feeling what we say / “They don’t give no fuck about us / 'cause we come from 'round the way” On "Beautiful Mind," two emcees from Prince George's County, Maryland team up to reflect on where they're from and how they rise above. The soulful, sun-drenched single features production by Tee-WaTT, Latrell James, J.Robb, with guest violinist April George adding a melancholy touch. The accompanying music video, directed by Adam Hahn, juxtaposes images of Ciscero and his crew with shots of children playing in the street. Watch now on KEXP.org. Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28 Tammi 20212min

KAMAUU - "MANGO (feat. Adeline)," a 2021 single on Atlantic Records. Born in D.C. and raised in Maryland, the parents of Kamau Mbonisi Kwame Agyeman sought to introduce him and his brother to African music, history, and culture at a young age. Now based in Brooklyn, rapper/artist KAMAUU incorporates those lessons into his genre-defying music. (His brother also grew up to pursue music, recording under the name Nkō Khélí.) On one of his most recent singles, "MANGO," he teams up with vocalist Adeline (who is also half of the production duo Nightshade). In an interview with Ladygunn, he explains the inspiration behind the song: “MANGO” was inspired by the realization that in relationships, many of us think we want what’s best for our partners, though we often, more accurately, want to be with our partners in the way that feels the best or most right to us. I found this to be dangerous for many reasons. One being that how things feel can be deceptive. When you have a fever, you feel cold even though your body may very well be a human torch (hot). It’s also dangerous because most of us have trouble figuring out what best for ourselves. To know what’s best for another, to me, especially in situations where I/we can be massively emotionally biased, seems unlikely. This led me to build more relationships with people who thoroughly studied themselves. If I can trust that someone has really studied and worked on and with themselves, I can trust they have a good grasp on what’s best for them. If what’s best is someone else, who am I to block a blessing. Now I’m not saying go and cheat, but what I am saying is that, it’s better to be fully transparent about what we want from our partners, and what we can and cannot, and/or will and will not offer. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

27 Tammi 20214min

Mumu Fresh - "A Healing," a 2021 self-released single. Maimouna Youssef (aka Mumu Fresh) is a GRAMMY-Nominated singer, songwriter, and activist, who mines her rich heritage for inspiration. She grew up singing gospel and jazz in an African-American Muslim household in Baltimore, and learned traditional songs from her Choctaw and Muscogee grandparents. Lately, she has been collaborating with "everyone from Salaam Remi to Tobe Nwigwe" as DJ Gabriel Teodros reports, and today's featured track is "her first solo single in a minute." Teodros adds, "She did this amazing NPR Tiny Desk concert a few years ago here. Hopefully we'll have a KEXP Live at Home with her soon!" Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

26 Tammi 20213min

I Self Devine - "The Disruptor Suite," a 2021 single on Improvised Weaponry. Born Chaka Mkali in Minneapolis, I Self Devine has been called "one of the most influential voices in Minnesota hip hop" by alt-weekly City Pages. In addition to being a talented musician and MC, he is also a "community organizer, racial justice trainer, graffiti artist, muralist, program coordinator and director of organizing and community building at Hope Community Center in Minneapolis," as detailed in his artist bio. (Learn more about I Self Devine in this Sound & Vision interview by Gabriel Teodros.) Today's Song of the Day is a six-part song, produced and engineered by Medium Zach. On his SoundCloud page, he explains: "The Disruptor Suite" is one of many creative reflections from democracy TBD, a series of scenario planning working groups designed to help the Democracy Fund keep pace with the rapid and unpredictable changes to social, political, and economic systems. Democracy Fund wanted to start thinking through how the current pandemic, racial unrest, and election concerns might spark a cycle of disruption and reorganization. Which aspects of our democratic system might prove more resilient, and which might be fundamentally altered. This working group consisting of architects, professors, journalist, organizers, urban planners, strategists, futurists, artists, policy directors, and researchers were led by Democracy Fund, Dot Connector studio, and 8 bridges workshop in two facilitated discussion sessions. The first session was around events that could trigger systems level disruptions. Participants picked a disruptor to think and imagine across the STEEP+C sectors which is looking at the possible intended/ unintended negative and positive impacts of a disruptor from a Societal, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political, and Creative lens. In the second session there was reflection on the potential impact of a given disruptive event using the Democracy Funds Healthy Democracy Framework. The disruptor chosen for this song was defunding the police state. The soundscape created by Medium Zach is a suite consisting of six parts capturing all of the elements of the STEEP+C sectors. This song was done in the spirit of Gang Starr’s “I’m the Man”, and “Speak Ya Clout” . Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25 Tammi 20217min

Erik Blood - "Rent is Due (feat. Gary V)," a 2020 self-released single. Currently based in Los Angeles, but forever a local artist in KEXP's heart, Erik Blood teams up with Anti- Records recording artist Gary V for today's Song of the Day. (Born Garett van der Spek in Durban, South Africa, Gary V is also a former Seattleite residing in the City of Angels.) Using an original instrumental track that Blood created for The Stranger's SPLIFF film festival trailer, Gary V implores the listener to "Take time / Slow down." Via Twitter, Blood confirmed that "all of the money from the purchase of 'Rent is Due' will be going to our mutual friend [Garek Druss]," who was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma located in his esophagus and stomach. Blood adds, "Rent can wait." Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

22 Tammi 20216min

SHYGIRL - "SLIME" from the 2020 ALIAS EP on Because Music. London-based artist SHYGIRL is anything but. Born Blane Muise, she avoided using her real name – “which would come with its own set of implications and prejudices,” she explained to London in Stereo – and adopted the new moniker, explaining "like Picasso had his blue period, this is my Shygirl period." Her latest release – a 7-song EP appropriately titled ALIAS – she continues to explore her other identities, crafting four sub-personalities she calls Baddie, Bovine, Bonk, and Bae. She told Stereogum, "For me, it accentuates different sides of myself and I wanted to explain that better in giving them a whole entire life.” She adds, "At some point the lines are really blurry about what came before, and what exists now, I’m very much in Shygirl — that is my everyday. I’m still learning about what is wholly real for me. That’s the journey I’m on. I don’t know what other parts of myself are yet to rear their heads, but right now these are the most prominent.” Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Tammi 20212min

Blu & Exile - "The American Dream" from the 2020 album Miles on Dirty Science Records. Rapper Blu and hip hop producer Exile returned last year for their first new full-length in eight years: Miles: From An Interlude Called Life (or just Miles for short), an expansive 20-track double LP. “We planted the seeds of creativity and grew about 40 plants,” Exile said in a press release. “We picked the ones that we thought were the best for an album, but that didn’t mean that the other flowers weren’t beautiful.” Today's Song of the Day is a reflective, yearning track features guest vocals from The Last, Artful Dodger, and Blu‘s childhood friend Miguel, now a Grammy Award winning artist in his own right. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

20 Tammi 20214min

Romero - "Troublemaker," a 2020 self-released single. Australian power-pop group Romero follow up last year's debut “Honey / Neapolitan” 7" single with the new track "Troublemaker," a fun, upbeat, '80s-style sing-a-long about a frenemy making eyes at your man. The band's frontwoman Alanna Oliver explained to NME: “Troublemaker” was born after a conversation I was having with my mum about a girl I knew… we both came to the conclusion that she was in love with my boyfriend and my mother called her a troublemaker hah! I was like “Yesssss mum!” I hung up the phone immediately, pulled over my car and started writing these lyrics. I was on my way to rehearsal and when I arrived Ferg was playing this new riff he had just written and it all fell into place that afternoon. It felt very serendipitous. Read the full post on KEXP.orgSupport the show: https://www.kexp.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

19 Tammi 20213min