MP3: Well$ – “Dreams Of An Insomniac”
“Well$’s work always hits hard, and is overwhelmingly personal.” – Complex
“WELL$ 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
“Charlotte-based rapper Well$ is redefining swag one music video at a time.” – OkayAfrica
“Sludgy riffs, dusty drums… it’s a discernible throwback to that ’90s New York aesthetic.” – MissInfo.tv
“Watching him rhyme while sitting on the couch next to his grandmother is not only a beautiful sight, but also shows how easily he has this rap thing down.” – Noisey/Vice
19-year old rap phenomenon Well$ has released another new single from his forthcoming MTSYD: The Revenge of the African Booty Scratcher mixtape. Premiered by Complex, “Dreams Of An Insomniac,” shares some of the personal hurdles he encountered as he was striving to turn an adolescence littered with petty crime into a career as a music artist. “I had no money, no job, no nothing – just some raps and a busted iPhone 4S,” he says. “I wasn’t feeling myself too much at the time. Although people would come to me and say you will make it you next, I felt like giving up.”
Produced by Atu, a looped vocal sample echoes “I know, I know you what like” in the background of the instrumental. “It’s mesmerizing,” says Complex, “the production alone will remind you of those late nights when you’re up at 3 a.m., laying in bed and your mind keeps racing, which is exactly what Well$ intended.” Speaking on how he came up with the titled of the song, Well$ adds, “It’s hella nights that I couldn’t sleep thinking of how to get on. And there are all these things that come to your mind when you’re alone with your thoughts, and that’s the only way a insomniac ‘dreams’… through his thoughts.”
“Dreams Of An Insomniac” is the latest in a flurry of recent releases from the Charlotte, NC lyricist. Just last week, he debuted the “Lil’ Tommy” single in an interview with the Huffington Post. His “Savoir-Faire” music video created quite a stir after appearing on Noisey, as the rapper stood by his grandmother who wore Jordan sneakers and bobbed her head along to her grandson’s braggadocios rhymes.
Listen to “Dreams Of An Insomniac”: https://soundcloud.com/wells-music/dreams-of-an-insomniac
Check out the Complex premiere: http://www.complex.com/music/2014/04/wells-dreams-of-an-insomniac-premiere
Read the Huffington Post’s feature story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/02/wells-lil-tommy_n_5079338.html
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/144206914″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&show_playcount=true&show_comments=true” width=”100%” height=”81″ iframe=”false” /]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.
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“Dreams Of An Insomniac”: https://soundcloud.com/wells-music/dreams-of-an-insomniac
“Lil’ Tommy”: https://soundcloud.com/wells-music/lil-tommy/
“Savoir-Faire”: http://youtu.be/bVVggr8eheY
“Black Swan”: https://soundcloud.com/wells-music/black-swan
“State of Ecstasy Pt. 2”: https://soundcloud.com/wells-music/state-of-ecstasy-pt-2
“State of Ecstasy Pt. 1”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smsGIANkDfA
Bio, pics, and more here: http://www.audibletreats.com/wells/