Writeous <\/em>and following it up with nine more projects since, developing a reputation for sharp lyricism and forthright storytelling so palpable that rapper-producer Logic once randomly sent him a batch of beats to rap on.<\/p>\n\n\tA year ago, he was working on an EP and prepping a project with those Logic beats when he linked with New York-based producer Fontes, who has laced beats for Mach-Hommy, The Lox, Ghostface Killah, and more. The two hit it off personally and creatively, and the feeling he got from Fortes\u2019 production jumped the project to the front of his priority list.\u00a0Radamiz says their creative kinship came at a time when aspects of his old life were \u201cunraveling\u201d and making space for new creative stratagem. A choice conversation with his friend, director Anthony Jamari Thomas, was integral in the switch: \u201cI was like, \u2018yo, I don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re listening to music right now,\u2019\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd he was like, \u2018I have enough things to spiral in my own life. I don\u2019t want to listen to confusion.\u2019\u201d He says Thomas\u2019 thumbs-down of hypocritical projects made him hone in on delivering his most focused album yet. There\u2019s not much creative license or thematic hodgepodging happening on Lightman<\/em>, a scrapbook on his reflections and lessons over the past several years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tThe project starts with him pondering, \u201cWhat do you do when you find out one of our favorite MCs\/Behind the scenes, may or may not have put hands on their past Queen?,\u201d and addresses \u201cthe rapper in my city who was blocking me,\u201d though these revelations aren\u2019t as important to him as simply telling his story. On \u201cS.P.I.R.I.T.\u201d he rhymes, \u201cfeel like Jonah, I cannot tell, have I been teaching them well? Or teaching at all? Responsibility when engineer hits record.\u201d And on \u201cOne\/Slide\u201d he bemoans, \u201cMedia addicting us to someone else\u2019s funds\/I can\u2019t glorify no man but the Son\/They want me outside of the club, demonic and dumb,\u201d pounding the end rhyme with emphasis exemplifying his goal to break up his bars with vocal tricks (He does similar with \u201cOn point\u201d refrains on \u201c6AM\u201d). The track is a collective glimpse of a man focused on being the best man he can be, not the richest, nicest, flyest, or whatever other superlatives artists are conditioned to chase.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\t\u201cYou can\u2019t separate yourself from the things that you create,\u201d he says. \u201cSo if you\u2019re insecure, I\u2019m going to get that from the tracklist. If you don\u2019t know if you want to be gangster or peaceful or a drug dealer or righteous or vulnerable, I\u2019m going to get that from the project. And there\u2019s nothing wrong with\u2026okay, bad, be truthful, sure. But be mindful that you might be speaking six languages in the same 30 minutes, and it may be hard for even you to flesh out a thought and be confident in what you give people to listen to and repeat for themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd while he was minding his penmanship, Fortes was sending him a soundscape of warm production such as \u201cClean Hands\u201d and \u201cS.P.I.R.I.T.,\u201d that Radamiz felt demanded the truth. The 32-year-old has had a winding trip through the industry as part of the New York collective Mogul Club, signing to PayDay Records, then leaving to focus on his own pursuits. He\u2019s been back to the drawing board multiple times during his career, including a six-year gap between 2019\u2019s Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes<\/em> and Lightman<\/em> (he\u2019s dropped seven EPs and mixtapes since then).<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cOne of the things I had to heal was expectations for my career. It was blinding me,\u201d he admits. Today, even if he isn\u2019t yet the arena-packing artist he wouldn\u2019t mind becoming, he\u2019s content: \u201cI am so taken care of,\u201d he says. It\u2019s a refreshing perspective that portends to what hip-hop would be better off with more of. He\u2019s not the siloed artist whose sense of self is tied to metrics, net worth, and public perception. He\u2019s a father, husband, brother, and son first who just happens to be able to rap the competition under the table. No matter where his career goes from here, Radamiz seems ready to take it on with grace. But with the growth, skill, and beat selection on he and Fortes\u2019 project, the trajectory should only be going up.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tAt what point in the album were you when you had that conversation about \u201cconfusion?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tThe EP was pretty much done. I\u2019m finishing the mixing and mastering on this New York trip. I\u2019m at about 40%, but I don\u2019t know I have an album yet that I have to make right. For me, I have an EP that I\u2019m working on releasing, and then I have this mixtape with Logic beats that just came in a spur, so I\u2019m thinking that\u2019s next. I link with Anthony Jamari Thomas [and have the conversation]. Around then I was already starting to unravel at the seams, and something [needed] to die. It seemed like I was already on the right path with what I was making, but it was time to make a hard pivot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat was spurring that unraveling?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tMultiple things. One of \u2019em, is the work. I got back into monologues. I got back into poems being read, I started building performances that incorporated in-the-moment spontaneity. I started having a relationship with the clarity of my lyrics because it\u2019s different when you\u2019re reciting music. It\u2019s just lyrics in this rhythm and this beat, and you can just flow or not. If you\u2019re just talking and there\u2019s nothing backing, you just start caring [more]. I wanted to challenge, \u201cAm I making sense? Do I have a relationship with the things I\u2019m writing or am I just used to writing a certain way?\u201c What came was I\u2019m more powerful when I\u2019m more literal and nuanced and specific than abstract and poetic and emotive.\u00a0 I think my style naturally started catching on to the emotive and the abstract and all that, just the way I wanted to paint a picture. But I\u2019m just not as powerful that way. I think I have a brevity to just be direct.<\/p>\n
\n\tMy increase in my faith challenge[d me]. To pray every day\u2026one of my prayers is, \u201cGod, I want to hate what you hate and I want to love what you love.\u201d That starts changing you, reading the Bible, etc. There\u2019s nowhere to hide. Actually, I\u2019m always under surveillance. Every word that I say reverberates, I\u2019m not even aware of how much is in all the decisions that I make [for] myself, my wife, my child, my friends, my listeners. If I\u2019m taking you to poor restaurants now you\u2019re eating poor food. I just started becoming so aware of how responsible I am to be the best version of a vessel and a conduit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd then I just got my skillset challenged. I was in Topanga before the fires for three days, and Mahershala [Ali] gave me every analogy you could receive to challenge me to be 5%, 3% better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAt this stage in my writing, he\u2019s actually one of the few people who actually just, we just talk about style and technique. And what I walked away from that [is]: Are you being clear about where you\u2019re headed? Do you care about your work now? You are aware I inherited this position that I\u2019m in for good or for bad. T<\/p>\n
\n\tI just had to shift. There was so much insecurity and competition, but it was mental. I was never competing with people, but I was competing in my head to be the best. And for me, that meant jack of all trades, and this was all subconscious. But then also, I just fell in love with rap music. I\u2019ve never heard it before as well. I just really love words, man. I\u2019m seeing it become this vehicle for everyone, this ticket into a group or something. And I\u2019m like, wait a minute, we\u2019re talking about words here. Thank God, humanity got to a point where we have languages and we can cross collaborate.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat were some of the things you were listening to heavily during that period where you\u2019re rekindling your love for hip hop?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tI think first and foremost, it\u2019s just the beats from Fortes and our conversations. It\u2019s like there isn\u2019t much to enjoy in other things because it\u2019s sometimes a derivative [of] the thing that you are working on. So part of that relationship was listening to the beats and listening to me talk and realizing I\u2019m not being clear, I\u2019m not saying what I need to say. And that was so much of the process, to be honest. You write something and then it\u2019s like you get into muscle memory and then you\u2019re like, okay, that\u2019s dope. And then you look back and you\u2019re like, \u201cHow many words did I use to just say that I\u2019m fly? I don\u2019t think this beat is that.\u201d I don\u2019t think this album is that. It also felt like I was hearing rap music for the first time. I\u2019m listening to different interviews. I see what Kendrick is on because some of what he\u2019s fighting is his version of what an ideal rap space should look like. Roc Marci and Ka, same thing. I\u2019m going to be unwavering in what I think is the dopest thing for you to listen to because of how considered these lyrics are. Westside Gunn, his inability to stay quiet about himself. I feel you. It\u2019s like, \u201cYo, do you know what it took to arrive here?\u201d You have the Slick Rick album, and it\u2019s just like, \u201cWow, okay.\u2019 People are just making things. I don\u2019t know. I feel like I just started hearing everybody for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tI heard the 10 J Cole episodes from his [Inevitable<\/em> podcast]. I\u2019m hearing his journey, and I\u2019m like, wow. I just have so much respect for people\u2019s journeys and the way it comes out. I think we all have a responsibility to be great, and it\u2019s for each other\u2019s sake. There\u2019s music that I don\u2019t enjoy that I can appreciate its existence because of its ability to feed families and change lives and hopefully push the genre forward.<\/p>\n\n\tWhat are the specific elements of Fortes production that really struck you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\tI think one of them before the production is [that] I could tell he\u2019s hard to impress. He\u2019s not this boisterous person that\u2019s like, \u201cThat\u2019s trash.\u201d But he\u2019d be like, \u201cYo, who do you think is dope?\u201d And I feel like I just never told him. I don\u2019t even know. I don\u2019t even think that way. I think I just appreciate the fact that people are doing this. We just always had very raw conversations. He caught me at the perfect time because I was ready to step it up when I made \u201cOne\/Slide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd Fortes\u2019 beats have that space. It\u2019s like they don\u2019t force me to move on from a thought. They don\u2019t force me to rush and force me to respect the choices, and here\u2019s enough. That\u2019s all you got to do. I gave you enough for you to do what you need to do with this. Sometimes the beats will be a minute and 10 seconds long. I\u2019m like, \u201cYo, bro, please send me this triple. This needs to be four minutes long.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s harder to be a minimalist because you have to be confident about that brush stroke. You have to be confident about this one instrument. Let not, it\u2019s like the difficulty in Thelonious Monk is having that much to say with just the piano. And for me, this album has nothing else to rely on, but the quality of the thought, the songwriting. And the beats just apply the pressure and give me the space to fully flesh out a thought. I needed that. I needed that in this era of my life as a 32-year-old MC, married father, living in not my city, in an industry that thank God keeps getting older and who\u2019s allowed to participate in a modern setting that age just keeps expanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t[In] marriage, you\u2019re signing up for responsibility. And then being a father, your child is an individual. As soon as they\u2019re born, you can clearly see how you have an effect on them in a tangible way. If I teach you to say, please, then that starts being incorporated. Sometimes my daughter tells me, \u201cDaddy, it\u2019s okay. Take a deep breath.\u201d She\u2019s three. And she\u2019s like, \u201cOh, you\u2019re in a bad mood. Let me give you a hug. I\u2019m sorry, daddy.\u201d She\u2019s apologizing. She could be in a bad mood. And then she gets me in a bad mood and she might just stop crying and just tend to me. And all of this is indicative of the work we put in as a household, as a family. And I\u2019m aware of how much she\u2019s not aware of the work that exists in creating an infrastructure for her. She has no idea what our rent is. She has no idea how much clothes costs. She has no idea why this tv, why that artwork? Why is this your uncle? Why is this your aunt? Why is this the city you live in? And we\u2019re the ones responsible for that framework and contributing to an environment that allows her to be an individual and explore, but hopefully creates the right context. And then you\u2019re like, okay, Fortes just sent a new beat. Here\u2019s a new song. That\u2019s what\u2019s happening in your brain. And then your life simultaneously\u2026.they\u2019re not separate. You can\u2019t be responsible as a father, be faithful and have urgency and follow through as a husband, and then think, I\u2019m just about to waste your time for 40 minutes because I just need to rap. No, that care is transverse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tOn \u201cS.P.I.R.I.T.,\u201d you said, \u201cTook my jewelry off, fell lighter, felt power, felt like I\u2019m not lying.\u201c The idea of what a rapper is \u201csupposed\u201d to be, how they\u2019re \u2018supposed\u201d to move, how they\u2019re \u201csupposed\u201d to look\u2026how do you navigate that now? What was that epiphany?\u00a0<\/strong>Flashes wedding band.<\/em>]\u00a0 I\u2019ve been wanting this and there\u2019s still an awareness of aesthetic and this looks good. But why am I making sure before I go to the video shoot, I have these rings and this chain? I don\u2019t think that\u2019s fly by default. I\u2019m not saying it can\u2019t be. I\u2019m saying by default it ain\u2019t, some people, the outfits would look better if they took off some jewelry. Like you\u2019re getting in the way of the cut on that sweatshirt.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tAnd what are you signaling? Are you being truthful with your taste? Are you being truthful with your expression or are you mimicking what other people have set and established as a barometer, and your proximity to what they\u2019ve established gets you flyer? At some point, I just realize I\u2019m fly no matter what I have on, because it\u2019s your spirit. What I\u2019m aiming to do is to inspire people to love who they already are because you\u2019re probably ignoring your greatness. You\u2019re probably ignoring the thing that makes you stand out. And I know that because I have up until recently and I\u2019m still undoing things.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd that doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t have yogi wise and Balenciaga and Rick Owens or whatever in my closet. It just means that can be justice flyer, not as the $20 thing. My father always said there has to be a little bit of everything for it to be a world. For this to be a world, nice things are to be enjoyed. But when your worth is dependent on their existence around you, that\u2019s where you\u2019re flawed. And I don\u2019t think I feel like I can shine without something shining on me, so to speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tYou referenced earlier that there were new songwriting approaches and techniques that you explored on the project. What are some of those moments?\u00a0<\/strong>\n\tAt some point I had to be honest and say, I\u2019m not here to limit my audience to a 100-person count, so to speak. I\u2019m not here to be the artist that\u2019s like, if y\u2019all don\u2019t get it, y\u2019all sleeping. Nobody\u2019s sleeping on me. I\u2019m out here making lullaby music. I\u2019m putting you to sleep. I\u2019m making it hard to stay awake through an album with my song styles and my song structures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tYou could just hold on to the cadence and the hook, \u201cGrace, grace, grace.\u201d I can\u2019t write a whole lyrical chorus after this. I have three verses that deal with one thought at a time. I just need to have some horns and I need to just repeat the word grace and I need to give space between these verses and on either side and make sure it\u2019s a beat that isn\u2019t challenging you too much either. So some songs are four verses like E, some songs are three verses Grace, grace, grace. Some songs are two verses, some songs are straight through, but there\u2019s still a refrain and a chorus. There was every kind of a way to write a rap song, so to speak on this. And that wasn\u2019t deliberate. I think that\u2019s just how I move. But I feel like it was in my fascination to just do the best with the beats and the rhymes and the song structure and just being honest with what do I have to say and when can I just stop? I feel like it was challenging yet, yet very inspiring. It\u2019s like I respect myself more after making this album because of how much care I expressed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAt this point in your career and your life, what do you aspire to? What are your goals?\u00a0<\/strong>\n\tMy goal is to just make art and trust that I will be provided for it. If I\u2019m supposed to continue making it and doing it and putting it out and wherever I\u2019m supposed to go, I\u2019ll go. If I\u2019m not supposed to make art, I trust that God will take it off my heart and put my mind somewhere else. And if I am, then I\u2019m sure that I will be protected in doing so and encouraged and supported beyond my understanding. I just want to submit.<\/p>\n
\n\tHere are three more dope indie projects to check out:<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\n\n
\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\tOpen Mike Eagle<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRobert Adam Mayer*<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\tOpen Mike Eagle, <\/strong>Neighborhood Gods Unlimited<\/em><\/p>\n\n\tIn 2010, Chicago artist Open Mike Eagle coined his sound, \u201cArt Rap,\u201d telling writer Jeff Weiss that, \u2018It\u2019s the idea that rap is not disposable\u2026I wanted to create a space for myself that was genuinely me. Whether you like it or not, you can\u2019t dismiss it.\u2019 And 15 years later, those guiding principles have made Open Mike Eagle one of the underground\u2019s most respected \u2014 if still unheralded \u2014 acts. Last month, he dropped Neighborhood Gods Unlimited<\/em>, a dense, 14-track project where creative possibility is as vast as his penmanship.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tMike has never shied away from referencing how his Chicago upbringing shaped him and those around him, but does so with a refreshing humility, wit, and relatability. That\u2019s the case from album intro \u201c,\u201d where he depicts a conspiracy theorist at his barbershop who\u2019s obsessed with illuminati rumors, then spends the second verse delving into insidious dynamics that deserve more of our consideration: \u201cRoll the Bill of Rights in a pipe and use it on Nancy Kerrigan \/Cause Hogan said \u201cnigga\u201d, and he was a real American \/Heard what the song say, interpreted it the wrong way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe project\u2019s strongest moments are its most intimate, such as \u201crelentless hands and feet\u201d where he admits, \u201cI had to fight a rapper\u2019s apathy to get this beat \/ I\u2019m fighting self-doubt to walk this street;\u201d on \u201cmy co-worker clark kent\u2019s secret black box\u201d he raps from the perspective of Clark Kent\u2019s coworkers, before becoming Kent in the next verse, with rap as his<\/em> superpower. Another one of the project\u2019s standout moments is \u201cRejoinder,\u201d where he depicts a lost connection where, \u201cYou was gone, cause I left you \/ On your own, I\u2019m so regretful.\u201d Is it about a romantic or platonic connection, or a metaphor for his rap career? The specifics aren\u2019t clear, but the Nolan The Ninja-produced track is too resonant to need explanation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tNeighborhood Gods Unlimited<\/em> is another thoughtful release, layered with minimalist, warm production from the likes of Child Actor, Kenny Segal and others.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
\n\n
\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t$ilkMoney<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMicaiah Carter*<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\t$ilkMoney, <\/strong>WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO LONGER BEAR<\/em><\/p>\n\n\tAs I\u2019ve conveyed before, a $IlkMoney project is a one-of-one music experience. Is known for a feverish delivery and inventive comedic song titles like the ones that permeate his latest project, WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO LONGER BEAR?<\/em> It\u2019s a vital question that orients the project, inspired by Shel Silverstein\u2019s The Giving Tree<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t$ilkMoney raps with the relentlessness of a battle rapper. Whether he\u2019s juxtaposing his delivery over soul loops like \u201cA WHALE IS ONLY AS BLUE AS YOU IT IS, SO, ITS 2,\u201d or having the roaring guitar on \u201cFUUUUCK, BABY. YOU\u2019RE JUST SO SEXY WHEN YOU\u2019RE TERRIFIED Lyrics\u201d amp his ire, $ilkMoney can\u2019t help but compel. It would be a fool\u2019s errand to pick out one line that epitomizes him, but his mesh of intellect, brashness, and disdain hilariously coalesce at the start of \u201cBIGFATJELLYDACHILIDAAAWG LUVAHLUVAH:\u201d \u201cI divide into equal parts, the cosmic egg\/To create the universe, bitch-ass nigga.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThat tone is par for the course on a project that cuts no cards, chastising Jonathan Majors for his career-altering scandal for a good portion of \u201cPROLLY WOULDN\u2019T BE HERE IF WE WOULDA BEEN KILLED THAT NIGGA KING BACH,\u201d where he also crowns Kai Cenat our modern King Bach and bemoans, \u201cI watched an AI rapper say \u2018nigga\u2019 and wonder who built him and gave the script creation.\u201d The social commentary is incisive, even if it comes off humorously at times<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd while it\u2019s fun to hear $ilkMoney\u2019s justified annoyance, he also has moments where he turns things project inward, such as \u201cFIRST I GIVE UP, THEN I GIVE IN, THEN I GIVE ALL Lyrics,\u201d where he ponders \u2018how I could ever be more than I am if I give me all the way,\u201d over a gleaming soul sample. On \u201cTHE $400 CHEESEBURGER FROM THE WINDOW SHOPPER VIDEO WAS JUST A BIG MAC,\u201d he raps, \u201cI psychoanalyze my life, but I kinda prefer it that way.\u201d And even on a heavy track, he thrice samples Martin Lawrence\u2019s as Jerome from Martin<\/em> crooning. \u201cTHERE ARE HILLS AND MOUNTAINS BETWEEN US, ALWAYS SOMETHING TO GET OVER\u201d is one of the track\u2019s romantic moments, as he warmly depicts a lasting relationship, also rapping, \u201cDon\u2019t sous vide my steak when you make it, I don\u2019t want the microplastics to eat me alive.\u201d Humor is never far away on a $IlkMoney record \u2014 and neither is top shelf lyricism, random references, and excellent beat selection.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
\n\n
\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tZayAllCAPS<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKach Offor*<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\tZayAllCAPS, <\/strong>art POP * pop art<\/em><\/p>\n\n\tZayALLCAPs was originally highlighted in No Filler for his \u201cBoy (V)\u201d single. He was likely working on his third album art POP & pop art<\/em>. The Bay artist has been releasing music since 2021, when he dropped a slew of EPs. One of them was entitled I\u2019m Slowly Getting Better<\/em>; he wasn\u2019t lying. Four years later, his latest effort shows a burgeoning mastery of a slinky, convention-defying sound. Zay\u2019s irreverent social media presence and album art stamps him as a wanderer of the art world\u2019s endless digital expanse, where id trumps convention and a choice to croon in autotune (such as on \u201cOde 2 Ivory\u201d) or rap in a gyrating pitch (like on \u201cTasty\u201d) feels like a matter of flow state.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tThere could be quibbling about whether art Pop * pop art <\/em>is an outright \u201chip-hop album,\u201d but regardless, it\u2019s too good to deny. From the project\u2019s outset, with lead single \u201cPimp My Ride,\u201d he steeps the listener in a warm, synth-driven project. It\u2019s the kind of love song that doesn\u2019t insist upon soul-bearing yearning or reeling a girl in with gifts, just the cheeky request to \u201cpimp my ride.\u201d Zay\u2019s playfulness persists throughout the project. It\u2019s a 9-song, 25-minute listen that breezes by. Part of the fun is anticipating where Zay \u2014 and his several collaborators \u2014 are going to go next vocally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-rollingstone-2022\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>