Photo Credit: Nolan Busalacchi
Wave Chapelle
Hip hop moves at the speed of light compared to most genres. Milwaukee hip hop, in general, is also faced with the addition of hundreds of fresh faces looking to get into the game with each passing year. All that is said to say that attention within the local hip hop scene can be hard to attract, much less retain, and Wave Chapelle looks to do just that this year. Rather than putting out a proper project, the prominent emcee has set out to release a new single every week, with the hope of having 52 releases by the end of 2021.
“Going into the new year, I really wanted to be consistent” said Chapelle. “I only really dropped one project last year, and during the time I was reinventing myself. This year, I want to come in with a lot of energy.”
So far, true to his word, Chapelle has put out five tracks this year, beginning with “Safe” on January 1. From then on, he’s moved into regular releases, already featuring tracks with Cody Ray and fellow local standout BoodahDARR. While some have been recorded, and others are leftovers from his most recent Waves Don’t Die album that was released last October, the prospect of being able to create and record freely is appealing to Chapelle.
In addition to putting out a single weekly, Chapelle is planning to compile the singles into monthly sets, and ultimately, a possible album of the most popular tracks. The month is signified by the color of the album artwork, with The Red Pack compiling January’s singles. In effect, the process should yield 12 EPs from Wave Chapelle in a calendar year. It’s an ambitious way to approach releasing music, but in an era where tracks can have a shelf life of only weeks if not less in an already fast moving genre, the plan is both strategic and market savvy.
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“We have songs set aside from Waves Don’t Die, but I’m also coming up with new songs and new sounds” said Chapelle. “Every month there’s a specific color. We make the music match the color. January was red, which is passion, fiery, things like that. So the songs will match the artwork.”
You can check out Wave Chapelle and follow along with his regular releases by following him on all streaming services. Chapelle says that in general, new singles are planned for release on most Fridays.
