MP3: Well$ – “State of Ecstasy Pt. 2”
Charlotte Rapper Well$ Releases Teaser for Upcoming MTSYD Mixtape
12.18.2013
Critical Praise for Well$:
“WELL$ flows atop the audio grit with some clever rhymes contained by a confident delivery…[The track] leaves us with high expectations…” – Potholes in My Blog
The Song:
When Charlotte rapper Well$ recorded his single “State Ecstasy Pt. 2,“ he originally intended to include it on his forthcoming mixtape MTSYD: The Revenge of the African Booty Scratcher (the album name references the ethnic shaming Well$, the son of Congolese immigrants, experienced as a child). But when he heard the final product playing back to him on his studio monitors, he decided this old-school, North Villa-produced track was too good to hold back.
Rapping over a gritty beat reminiscent of early Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep, Well$ describes the “shady endeavors” that take place on the streets of Charlotte. As he puts it, “I wanted to shed light on some things that don’t generally come in the travel pamphlets.” The track’s dark feel conjures up images of lurking characters on a hot summer night. When singer Jackie Kwenda jumps in on the Damian Marley-sourced hook (“Up in the streets, they call it murder”), we see how bleak this vividly-portrayed scene really is.
Well$’s forthcoming mixtape, MTSYD: Revenge of The African Booty Scratcher, drops in February 2014.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/123725022″ params=”color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]Stream “State of Ecstasy Pt. 2”: https://soundcloud.com/wells-music/state-of-ecstasy-pt-2
Please contact Michelle or Dan if interested in talking with Well$.
Well$ Background:
Like most kids in his native town of Charlotte, North Carolina, Leroy Shingu had a head filled with hip-hop dreams growing up, even trying his hand at freestyling when he was all of nine years old. But a trying background starkly different from the blissful suburban reality of his peers would compel the rapper better known as Well$ to turn that childhood fantasy into a promising career as a rapper.
Quietly released in 2012, $ay La V, Well$’ debut EP rose steadily on the Bandcamp charts to peak at number 5 and eventually become the most downloaded album in the Charlotte area. This remarkable ascent as well as the video for the song “State of Ecstasy The Interlude Part 1″ hauled Well$ out of virtual anonymity, and shoved him onto high profile stage performances with artists such as G Eazy, Chris Webby, Johnny Polygon, and one of his idols, Pac Div.
Links:
bandcamp | twitter | facebook | youtube | soundcloud
Stream “State of Ecstasy Pt. 2”: https://soundcloud.com/wells-music/state-of-ecstasy-pt-2
Watch the “State of Ecstasy Pt. 1” video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smsGIANkDfA
Bio, pics, and more here: http://www.audibletreats.com/wells/