Slicky Williams - Ain't Nothing

Via @slickywilliams Instagram

Part of Slicky Williams' "#SaturdaysWitSlick" campaign, during which the musician of rap crew The Company Only releases new music, he presents "Ain't Nothing."

The new song follows Williams' run of pleasant tracks like "Eastside," produced by Madeintyo and K Swisha, as well as "Here" with Pk Delay, who features on Slick's latest record.

Creating and building out of Pittsburgh, Pa., Williams looks to attract support for his forthcoming extended play, "The Slicky Williams EP." The collective creative effort of everyone in The Company Only, Deem Trill, Fat Corey, Joel Kellem, Pk Delay, and Seas Supreme, by default promotes Williams and his future endeavors.

Listen to "Ain't Nothing" from Slicky Williams below and keep tabs on #SaturdaysWitSlick

Astonished by Eight by Two

"Bedouin" by Eight by Two

A text message read an invitation to a house party in Friendship, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh's East End. The Snapchat geo-tag for the area near Bloomfield depicts a bed of flowers with "Bloomfield" text, a nice compliment to the section of the city described on Wikipedia as "a neighborhood of large Victorian houses."

At the gate leading to a green yard with a tree house tucked in a corner, I was charged $5 for entry. Completely unfamiliar with the artists about to perform, I looked puzzled at the young man at the door who referred to himself as Dutch Master, or Flying Dutchman something like that. He stared back at me and nodded his head as if to say, "do you want in or not?" With a couple of friends already inside, I gave him my five.

People gathered around and in the modest, Lincoln Log-like tree house. I met up with Amani Davis and Hannibal Hopson, students of knowledge and artists working in Pittsburgh. Amani's younger brother, Keanu, produced the musical project everybody would eventually hear, which is the reason all were there. "You two are the biggest Internet niggas I know," Amani said as he introduced me to his brother.

Thanks to the Internet, specifically SoundCloud, and loyal friends, Eight by Two, a rap collective, hosted a house party to unveil and share their debut project, "Bedouin."

Too many people were wandering around the yard and coming in and out to smoke. A person warned the partygoers, "the homeowners are inside and they are getting upset." The house party was one of those types you throw the summer after you graduate high school and your parents chaperone as you practice for college life to come. The parental guidance, however, did not disrupt or takeaway everyone's energy and excitement for Eight by Two's performance.

"We're about to start! Everyone go to the basement," Wathan, the Eight by Two cameraman, yelled.

Down a steep flight of cement steps, 30 people strong huddled in the muggy, dark cellar. There was red mood light, consistent flashes from people's iPhones, and a white sheet hung from the back wall with video of various landscapes passing by like out of a car window.

Before the album drops tonight here's a recap of our show. Thankful for everyone that came out. Make sure you follow @eightbytwo on IG and SoundCloud for future contents.

A video posted by Wathan (@wa_than) on Jul 10, 2016 at 9:37am PDT

Shabazz of Eight by Two opened the set. He asked for a moment of silence to pay respect to those who have lost their lives to senseless racial violence. "I'm going to turn all this negative energy into something positive for my performance," he said.

The volume was not at its peak, and some white noise came from the speakers maybe due to poor wiring. "Turn it up," the crowd shouted.

8x2 got through the first track fine and cranked the volume. In each song they performed, the bass hit heavily. The group rapped over their playback so the audience could get familiar with the new music. Their concert doubled as a listening party for their latest extended play.

8x2 pic.twitter.com/CfdIUUHZUj

— ALex (@AYoungHarvey) July 12, 2016

Then the title track came on, "Bedouin." Jono, a rapper in the crew, removed his shirt, and his partners followed suit. Shabazz removed his do-rag to show his crisp cornrows. All of 8x2 was jumping up and down, shouting the lyrics, pausing for breath, and sweatily bopping through the packed crowd in the nearly cramped space.

Their music is at times introspective, menacing, stylish, and thrilling. "Sets down in the basement, fuck your playlist my shit banging, with my crew you best behave from 'less a clip neck is what you craving," they rap in "Part 2 (Best Ever)." "Pray I make it out of this high tonight, yeah hope that I'm gon' wake up alive, if 12 pull up know I'm down to hide," are some lyrics of Eight by Two's song "No Plan."

People were most active when the upbeat "Henne Man" came on. "Why you won't sip you some Henn? I got that shit tell me when" as a bottle of Hennessy was raised high to the ceiling. Listeners enjoyed the song so much that they encored Eight by Two into playing it again.

The group's talent and people's reaction to the music surprised me and caught others off guard. We were impressed at the live quality of 8x2 because up to that point their work existed on a computer on SoundCloud. "All of this was on the Internet, but we just heard it live," Angelo, an audience member, said after the show.

But, witnessing Eight by Two perform gives greater appreciation to the music once you hear it on a mobile listening device.

Give "Bedouin" a play below and follow the rappers on SoundCloud here.

Tunji Ige Summer Love Freestyle

I was eleven years old when Justin Timberlake came out with his second studio album, Future Sex Love Sounds.  The first time I heard it was during JT's media tour for the project.  It was on Jay Leno's Tonight Show that he performed the song of the year, "Sexy Back" with Timbaland and what had to be the original version of the Tennessee Kids, Timberlake's live band.  The track was unlike any other groove I had heard, and the guy he had playing lead guitar at the time, Mike Scott, was so smooth strumming those funky chords as he rocked his shoulders back and forth that I ended up re-watching that performance over and over again on TiVo.

That song and FSLS, which turns ten in September (!), was the first full-length album I ever listened to.  All twelve songs are classics, but the one song that stands the test of time that my mom will hum every time it's played is "Summer Love".  For twenty seconds all you hear are those blaring organs with a classic Timbo bump until Justin jumps on his swing rap, "Ridin' in the drop top/ With the top down/ So you switchin' lanes girl."  The pauses in the song and the melody is enough to hook you for years to come, and evidently, it had  a similar affect on other millennials, too.

On the heels of his debut album, Missed Calls, Philadelphia native Tunji Ige released an eight-track mixtape today, entitled Prince of July.  Packed with several freestyles, Ige saves his best for last as he goes off-the-dome over the 2006 throwback.  Spitting, "White people/ Black people/ Brown people/ Yellow people/ In the streets/ Make a n**** wanna crack people," he shows how to flex the fundamental bars over a classic R&B sound.  The vibe is refreshed, but I can't help but feel old as songs I only knew by their track number begin to be remixed by today's budding artists.  Check out the summer time rhymes below.

Foursix - Nothing Yet

Prepping for the release of their debut record, "The Manhattan Project," Foursix builds anticipation with another song off the debut release.

Titled "Nothing Yet," the song is the introduction to "The Manhattan Project" and sets the tone for the upcoming album as to prepare listeners to understand the Foursix sound.

The New York natives named the new tune "Nothing Yet" because "we have a lot more amazing pieces that you will hear from us in the future. Yes, they're all fire," Foursix says.

Listen to the track below and stay tuned for details on the release of "The Manhattan Project."

Joel Kellem - Lance Vance

Joel Kellem photographed by Jordan Beckham Studio

Joel Kellem, also known as the chill god of rap collective The Company Only, proves his ingenuity and fly in his newest song.

Kellem raps about how he has felt in the last couple days, like "Lance Vance," a stylish character from the Grand Theft Auto video game.

The music captures Kellem's cool, described as sauce, which he gets from killing the rap game. But also, the song "Lance Vance" has a hazy feeling, a credit to the beat Kellem downloaded from YouTube by MTF MOB and to the copious amounts of weed smoked around the artist. Tapping into his D.I.Y. spirit, the Pittsburgh rapper also designed the cover art to this particular record.

To broader news, Kellem and The Company Only will perform on July 15 at Boom Concepts as they open up for Chuck Inglish, and on July 31 at South Side Event Center as they open up for Young Thug. All together, see what Kellem and his crew have been up to in the latest "Just Chilling" episode here and listen to "Lance Vance" below.