With Let's Not Wait Till Summer... nearing its one year anniversary, Linwood's latest offering, "Hate Breaking Hearts," is another light serving to his fan base. Rationing his sound through singles, videos, and features spread out over several months, focuses Randolph's music to commoditized spaces, such as Apple Music and Spotify.
"I think what's cool is people don't know exactly what to expect from me music-wise," he said. The strategy of hyper-selectivity works for some. "We grew to realize how much value our music has. Whether it's dropped or not, it sits. To a lot of people, it's still valid in the years to come where we can...create opportunities. Finding other places where you can add value to your work is important."
A beat intended for Wiz Khalifa has equally become this spacey, crank of a track he uses to ponder the reaction of his career accomplishments, "Funny how they all fucking with me now. I remember nights when they wasn't down," [undisclosed song title].
Long assimilated into Pittsburgh culture, Linwood spends some of his time fixing the giant ketchup bottles at Heinz Field. There's no doubting his allegiance over here.
"We're trying to shake the city image. It's like everyone is striving to pop in the city. Of course, I want to get love from the city, but I almost don't care if I pop here first or not. I'm worried about the rest of the world. The opportunities we get presented are that big, so why not work towards being presented on that scale," he said.
ITR: I think that's admirable considering where we are right now, which is the ID Labs space--thinking about the early work of Wiz and Mac Miller. While of course, they wanted love from the city, they represented the city, they were also able to accomplish fame worldwide. Thinking about that legacy, what does working here mean to you and how does that shape your music?
LR: ID Labs means a lot, but I also have to remain humble because sometimes I don't take advantage of the space the way I should. It's really important. It's like we're held to a standard almost. The dude who owns the place obviously fucks with us pretty heavy to the point where he wants us to boom it out of the city the same way Wiz and Mac did. Living up to those expectations is motivation on its own. We know where we gotta get and even surpass, lowkey.
Linwood's first full-length project has been in development for some time, although he is unwilling to provide a release date or declassify the title. "We're at the point now where we have a full track-list, but we're still subbing shit in-and-out," he said.
During this Monday evening in May, the soon-to-be-crowned Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals had just taken a series lead over the Penguins two-to-one. Randolph received the update over a phone call with a lady friend inviting him to the South Side.
"I'm at the studio with InTheRough," he responded.
Throughout a couple hours, Linwood bounced around his iTunes library revealing 11 unreleased songs that fans may be privy to one day. Ideas for lyrics and beats came to mind at any time as he constantly tapped out new rhythm patterns on the computer desk while we listened. Linwood's sound is reminiscent of my Night Owl playlist on Apple Music that features a lot of Drake, Lil Uzi, and Travis Scott. Songs like "Madonna," "Nuyork Nights @ 21," and "Impossible" are examples of these "smooth," "vibey," and melodic trap beats the Pittsburgh rapper makes as well. His formula of hook verse hook is tried and true repeating, "I'm racing home down West Taylor Road, took a bar on the bus ain't no bars on my phone, let's pick up where we left off. Don't leave me alone...leave me alone," on one song that sounds like a derivative of "Drugs You Should Try It" by Scott and Future's "My Collection."
"It's kind of just like a sweet way to go out. Short and sweet--to the point," he said.
The titular track from the looming LP, and one of my favorites from the night, puts the listener in this ominous space. It evoked images of a freshly cut, chic Abel Makkonen Tesfaye suffocating the mopped-headed, outdated Abel in the dimly lit "Starboy" music video.
