Underground Radar

October 14, 2020

Ricky Felix - High End Theory

Using the members of Van Buren Records and other friends such as Kadeem and $ean Wire to decorate the sky of his Starry Night, Ricky Felix does an amazing job painting the introspective from the varied perspectives and topics tackled, as well as the lyrical versatility of his team, Ricky Felix pulls his strings and everything falls into place beautifully. You hear Van Buren heavyweights such as Luke Bar$, Saint Lyor, Meech, and Lord Felix all over this head-bopping tape, and deep boom bap-esque, deep, rich, Brockton production that has led the Van Buren boys to cult-like heights in their city, an amazing project.

Ricky Felix · High End Theory

Stephen Jailon - Rali

Rali displays yet again what Jailon is capable of in his element, with a Roddy Rich/Young Thug-esque flow and a gritty and grounded production surrounding him, Stephen delves into a deeper aspect of his sound. Themes of fame and glory, muddled with real-life issues such as drug-running, playing with time, gangbanging, and death at the hands of enemies and the government all swim through Rali’s essence and Jailon uses them to power the creative and conceptual aspects behind the tape.

Stephen Jailon · RALI

3am Sound - Still Alive

From the first track to the last, 3amsound comes with the intensity, suave, and confidence displayed in artists such as Bryson Tiller and 6lack, before switching flows and vibes reminiscent of A Boogie and Eli Sostre. His topics are scattered over the tape, however, it seems they are loosely concentrated on love and the ups and downs that follow. The sultry and almost vintage production on the tape gives 3am the atmosphere he needs to build the world that he wants, and that’s exactly what he does on Still Alive.

Autmn Rains - Run2U

Starting off with what is known as an “introlude” by Rains’ standard, Run2U begins with a beautiful diamond-bright entrance by the artist. Rains’ silky smooth tone of voice, and pretty much perfect pitch slowly lure the listener into the rest of what evolves into sea of contemporary vibes, wave after wave of endless vocal talent, while washing over the listener’s ears with a message perfect for that particular vibe, such as “Yeah Yeah” dusky, overcast production, that accentuates her topic of the need for closeness and security in the face of uncertainty, or her Expectations (Freestyle), where the playful sub-bass and hi-hats dance around the grounded 808 pattern, using minimal engineering to put Rains’

Autmn Rains · Run2u

WesWill - In Case You Were Wondering

A wild and dejected ride through WesWill’s life as a black man in America starts off with the anthemic “Clockers” where WesWill tells America that it messed up, and for that reason, they will pay, to reminiscing on his childhood and the responsibilities thrust onto him at a young age, seeing dead bodies in the street, hearing sirens every night, the fear of the what the next day will bring, “In Case You Were Wondering” grounds WesWill’s listeners in the harsh realities he’s had to face every day, and is still facing today, peeling back yet another layer of the artist’s complex and full life.

The Session · WesWill - In Case You Were Wondering [Now Streaming Everywhere!]

Shout out to all the artists featured here for all amazing projects, this is just the tip of the ice berg if you want to see more be sure to go on Soundcloud and find some underground artists to send our way!

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Demon Discography Vol. 1

October 09, 2020

We promised you didn’t we? A whole playlist dedicated to underground talent all around the world, well here we are. Welcome to the first volume of our Demon Discography, a playlist o tracks compiled of underground artists we’ve been listening too over the past few weeks. This playlist will drop a new volume every single month, filled with new sounds and beautiful creations from artists in R&B, rap, hip-hop, and indie and much more!

In this month’s discography, we have artists such as Ari PenSmith, Amaarae, and Eli Sostre, smooth yet affirmative paladins of the underground community, as well as newcomers such as Mustafa, Artie J, Dee Gotti, and Brandon Banks who’re taking their sound to new heights!

Of our substantial and well-endowed list, we’ve picked our heaviest hitters and the most fire tracks in our opinion, however, give the playlist a listen and tell us in the comments what your top five tracks are! We’d love to hear your thoughts!

SwaVay - Okay

Probably the most lyrically aggressive track on our favorite five, SwaVay strikes again while the iron’s hot, with a 21 Savage tag to start the track off the listener already know the Boominati Worldwide artist is going to deliver. Okay showcases SwaVay’s lyrical ability to the max, with bars such as:

“If I did it on my own, tell me, who the fuck I'm gon' thank?
And I'm pullin' up on niggas with that brick, no, I ain't Craig”

SwaVay shows his versatility and hunger as a new artist and puts the now Dolo Records label he’s signed too even further on the map with his pure talent and creativity.

NJOMZA - sad for you

NJOMZA’s titular song off her sophomore album takes us into a magical place off of the first note. The artist’s butter-smooth vocals gliding along the light-hearted synth pulls and comfy 808, which halts and heeds at the very utterance of her lyrics. sad for you was made for NJOMZA if that makes any sense. This meaning we don’t believe anyone could’ve pulled off or added anything else to this song to make it as perfect as it is. The song talks about heartbreak and being past the point of raw emotions such as anger and sadness, with some reflection, NJOMZA realizes she’s simply disappointed in her lover, and at this point in her life, she’s sad for them.

reggie - Southside Fade

reggie blows the competition away with this anecdotal, Kendrick/Earthgang-esque track. Southside Fade has reggie speaking on topics of the lack of gun laws in the Southside, and how Houston is so big you feel like you’re on top of the world when you're on it. A folky indie alternative production helms around reggie’s lyricism, and the guitar progression leads the instrumentals all into place, Southside Fade is a beautiful letter to Houston, one reggie executes perfectly.

Artie J - A Thousand Winters’

This song is on our favorite five for one simple fact, one that’s plagued the other tracks on this list. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do. If Artie J was aiming for a soulful R&B vibe with dreamy, reverbed vocals made to give off a somewhat melancholy, yet hazily beautiful atmosphere? Well, we’d say he’s succeeded. A Thousand Winters’ is produced just right and the piano chord progression ties the song together throughout the 3 minutes and 10 seconds, and the beat switch towards the end gives us a fitting closer for such an outstanding track.

Amaarae - FANCY

Our final track from this months favorite five, FANCY explores Amaarae in a more upbeat and bragggadocious light. She metaphorically dances through the halls of the track, dimly lit and alluring, while the spotlight is all on her and her infectious hook. The song is quite short but is quite a vibe, and doesn’t spread itself too thin in terms of what it’s trying to do. Amaarae flexes all over FANCY, and lets everyone know, she has smpke for whoever wants to try her, and time for whoever wants to call her “Zaddy”

Heat from our favirote underground artists curated by Nefarious Supply

What’s your favorite track from this week let us know in the comments below!! And if you want to featured our next updated playlist be sure to submit your music for consideration here!

Weswill - Puttin' on For Cleveland Heights

January 20, 2020

Yo-yo wassup Weswill wanted to start by saying thank you for coming on and interviewing with Nefarious Supply! So to get the interview started tell us about yourself who is WesWill?

What’s up! Thank you guys for sharing your platform and allowing me to tell my story to your audience. I’m very appreciative! It’s funny because whenever I get this question, I always give different variations of the same answer. I’m Wesley Williams, a.k.a WesWill. I am a 25-year-old singer/rapper/producer born in Cleveland Heights, OH and I have a vast interest in music documentaries, Du-rags, black art, and Soul music. I’m a musician but i’m also a college graduate and the middle child of my family.

Where are you from and how has this area influenced you, your sound, and your aesthetic?

My bad, I let the cat out of the bag in my first answer haha. I’m from Cleveland! The area influenced me due to the fact that there are so many talented acts that hail from my city and state. The obvious one being Bone Thugs N Harmony, however, there are a good amount of instrumentalists and soul singers that come from Cleveland as well! The area I grew up in is filled with hard-working, prideful people. Growing up in this city and living amongst so many different individuals from differing backgrounds than my own has helped me gain a greater appreciation for multiple genres. I might have one friend down the street that’s into rock music, then have another friend up the street that puts me on to some fire gospel music. Cleveland Heights is cool like that. All those different sounds I was getting exposed to aid me in the creation of my own style.

What got you into making music and how has your experience been so far as an underground artist making a name for yourself?

Even from a young age, I knew music was going to be my passion. My mom paid for piano, drum and guitar lessons. Plus, she put me in the church choir. She would play 70’s/80’s R&B, Soul and funk music when I would ride in the car with her. The older I got, the more I discovered different artists and genres of music on my own. Listening to these artists inspired me to write and record my own music around the age of 14. My first recordings are pretty wack like most rappers’ first recordings are.

However, I kept working at it and practicing my singing, rapping, and overall song making ability until I got comfortable enough to begin putting out songs. Ever since then, I’ve been releasing music and performing consistently. My experience as an underground artist has been an emotional rollercoaster with a lot more ups than downs. It’s so easy to get sucked into what others are doing and how much further along they are than you. This can ultimately lead to you getting discouraged about your own career trajectory. However, I have an amazing team and family that helps me stay level headed and on track. Overall, This journey has been great so far and I’m meeting some amazing people while traveling the states! World traveling coming soon, just wait on it.

Who are some of your biggest influences, and how have they influenced you?

Some of my biggest influences are Curtis Mayfield, Mos Def, Angela Winbush, DJ Quik, Missy Elliot, Jamie Foxx, Andre 3000, Terrace Martin, Kid Cudi and Brandy. Every single one of these artists influenced me, and continue to influence me because they are so unique and have their own sound. When you hear Andre 3000 rap, you know it’s him. You don’t have to guess, you just know. The same applies to the other artists I named. I pride myself on releasing music that nobody can exactly replicate. My sound pulls from multiple influences but the overall sound I came up with is mine and you can only get it from me.

What’s your favorite thing about being an artist, and why?

My favorite thing about being an artist is possessing the ability to relate to so many different people through my art! It’s such a great feeling when someone comes up to me and says “This song you made really helped me through a breakup.” Or when someone tweets me about how my music encapsulates a special time in their life. It’s like, wow, my words and voice are actually touching people in a real way.

Okay so let's talk about your music man, I gotta say you know what you’re doing in the studio man everything is nothing but heat. So tell us about your creative style and process, and how do you know you have something you’re happy to share with your fans?

Thank you, man! I appreciate that so much. With my process, I usually start out indulging in music that supports whatever mood I’m in during the early planning stages of a body of work. After that, I channel that inspiration and let it bleed through in my production. My production is spearheaded by Hype Alexander and myself. We collaborate and send drums, melodies, and ideas back and forth. We also set aside time to link up in different cities to work on the sound in person. I pull production from a couple of other producers (Kito, Antoine Christopher) as well.

After I feel like I have a substantial amount of beats done and under my belt, I start writing. Sometimes I write during the beat collection process as well. I make sure I study my influences for inspiration on song structure, new cadences, and rhyme schemes. When I start recording for a project, i’m really locked in on executing my vision for it. Late-night recording sessions, intense writing sessions at the crib, laying verses and then deleting them when I feel like I could deliver my lyrics with more diction and feeling. Once I flush out the meat and potatoes of the song, I go over them to see which ones could use a feature or another voice. I reach out to whoever I feel fits and then I bring them into work on said song.

When I get all the features done, I sit down with the squad and do the process of elimination to see which songs make the cut. From there, we go into the mixing phase (the part that gives me the most headache!). I lock in with Antoine Christopher (my engineer) and I explain to him how I want the mixes to sound and all that. Once we get through grueling mixing sessions, which consist of long nights in the studio running from the car and back to the studio to check mixes, I usually bring in DjTouchMoney (engineer and producer) to oversee everything and help us put the finishing touches on the songs. We usually ride around to the music and live with it before I make the final decision that it’s ready to be put out. If it’s jamming on all mediums (headphones, car, Bluetooth speakers, monitors) we know it’s ready to be mastered and then ultimately completed. It’s a long process but when I see the reaction from my fans and friends, I know that those late-night sessions were worth it!

So you’ve worked with a ton of talent including, Qdajuice, Carolyn Fuentes, Big Rube, Brandon Wild, Sam, Nathaniel Lee, and Jill Grace. How did you link with each of them and how was the studio experience working with a variety of different artists?

Yes yes, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with such amazing artists! Most of these individuals are my friends that I have known for years. My best friend is Brandon Wild and we’ve been through so much together. Plus, we were in a rap group in high school so the chemistry is off the charts. His mom is like my second mom and all that. Everybody that I work with has a special talent that helps elevate the tracks and take them to the next level. More importantly than their talents, I appreciate their dedication and willingness to do what it takes to make sure my vision comes to fruition exactly how I want it. They’ll ask for my opinion on their part of the song and let me know how important it is that i’m satisfied with their contribution. There’s a certain magic that I feel in the studio when I work with these artists. I love and appreciate them more than words can ever explain. S/O to my homegirl JuJu who does a lot of my background vocals!

My favorite body of work from you gotta be “Summertime Slaps, Volume 1” walk us through the EP, and what’s your favorite track on it?

Thank you! So the concept for the Summertime Slaps series is basically me taking my favorite summer songs and creating my own version of them. So each track was inspired by a song that I have made a memory to in a past summer. “Cutlass” was inspired by “Swangin” by Stalley, “Over You” was inspired by “Let’s Get Blown” by Snoop Dogg. I wanted to create a body of work that people could create their own summer memories. The overall project was heavily inspired by Southern and West Coast Hip-Hop classics like “Doggystyle”, “Yellow Album” and “Ridin Dirty” just to name a few. From the skits to the intro, to the sounds used in a lot of the beats, I wanted to create a work that would sound refreshing and unique but still nostalgic. My favorite track is “Cutlass”. I love that hook so much and it’s such a fun record to perform live! If a perfect summer day had a soundtrack, i’d put that song on it.

In addition to “Summertime Slaps, Volume 1”, tell us about GlassHouse 2?

Mannnnnnn! It’s hard to listen to that project sometimes because I know there are so many things I could have done better on it. The mixing, my singing, my rapping. I cringe listening to some of those tracks haha. I still love it though. That was the first project I put out after I graduated from college. I hadn’t put out a project in a little while and I wanted to come back out swinging, you know? I didn’t want to drop something and hear people say “this is what you came up with after all that time of not releasing a tape?”. Nah, fuck that. I wanted to go all out and showcase my singing and rapping abilities, as well as, my overall song making skills.

So it’s a new year and a brand new decade, what are some of your goals this year and where do you see yourself at the end of the decade?

2020, we in this thang mane! Some of my goals this decade consist of;

Releasing music through my LLC. “The On My Way Company”,
Being able to live off of my talent and provide opportunities to up and coming artists from my city,
Go back to my high school and start a music business course because that would have been so useful to have when I was in school,
Drop my debut studio album,
Branch out into other forms of entrepreneurship (investments, other businesses),
Start a family,
Go on a worldwide tour,
Retire my mother.
At the end of the decade, I see myself still releasing music, not out of necessity but out of pure love and fun. I also see myself with my hands in tech and nurturing the new up and coming talent.

Who should we feature next on Nefarious Supply?

For the next feature, you should profile an artist by the name of “Shawn K”. He’s from Cleveland as well, even though I tease him that he’s really a Chicago boy (he’ll tell you why haha). He has such a unique sound and a cool story. I feel like he’d be a great interviewee!

Any last words?

To all the creatives who might be struggling/second-guessing themselves because of real-life problems or people projecting their insecurities on them….keep going! Block out the noise, tap into that talent, stay low and keep firing. You never know is paying attention and you never know when it’ll be time for your number to be called. Thank you guys so much for this interview and I wish you all continued success!

Big shoutout to Wes Will for coming on Nefarious Supply, be on the look out for him in 2020! If you enjoyed this interview with Weswill be sure to checkout his Soundcloud which can be found above, and to stay up to date with him follow him on Instagram as well as Twitter.

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