Cool Tay
A Milwaukee rapper with fierce lyrics and a soft flow, Loki Love doesn’t have much of a profile yet, but he’s hoping that will change soon. He says he’s been in talks with Warner Music Group about a possible contract, though realistically he’ll have to stir a little bit of organic buzz first for those talks to go anywhere. Later this year he’ll release his freshman project Letter To The Industry; in the meantime he’s mostly just released song snippets. His latest is an 87-second sample of a track called “Fuck Prime,” which you can sample below. It shows that he's got the raw talent to be taken seriously, but it's time for him to start putting out some complete songs.
Loki Love isn’t the only local rapper hoping to make a splash with his debut. Next month newcomer King Bravo will release his debut tape, Nothing 2 Lose. He’s already premiered the first single from that project, the MikeAKnight-produced “Kiss The Ring,” a black-pride anthem that snaps with authority and conviction.
Some of the most exciting Milwaukee rap tracks of the last year have been produced by Mike Regal. Here’s another: Regal lends his after-hours boom-bap to Cool Tay’s latest single “Fascinated.” It’s an awesome sound, contemporary and nostalgic and the same time, and Cool Tay runs with it, slathering his blazed-out voice all over the track. He sounds like a better Wiz Khalifa.
A filmmaker by trade who applies some of the skills he’s learned behind the camera to his cinematic hip-hop, experimental rapper WC Tank is back with a new album, Vanishing Points, out today (Tuesday, Aug. 18). He’ll play a release show this evening at Club Garibaldi as part of a live “Local/Live” broadcast on WMSE with an enviable backing band featuring Erik Schoster and Nate Zabriskie of the improvisational electronic group Geodes as well as keyboardist Kipp Zavada (Stumblesome, Antler Antennas), guitarist Kendra Calhoun (Names Divine), drummer Renee Bebeau (Wendy Oh Wendy, Cackle), dancer Mauriah Kraker and visual artist Anja Notanja. Ahead of that no-stops-pulled release show, Tank spoke to Tyler Maas of the Milwaukee Record about the new record.
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If you listen to enough local hip-hop, you’ve probably heard at least a few tracks from Milwaukee producer Artifakts. For those who haven’t, though, his new beat tape Spilled Coffee is a great introduction. These seven beats are as concise as they are smooth, never taking the listeners’ time for granted.
Last fall the pop-minded Milwaukee rapper Big Mike released a wildly fun, swaggy little dance track called “Let’s Get It Crackin’
