MP3: Wasiu – “Bout 02 Blow” (Prod. by V X N Y L)

In Anticipation of His Debut Album, the 24 Year-Old Rapper Sets His Sights On Stardom With His Latest Single, Debuted by Pigeons & Planes

04.06.2015

The Song:

Montreal rapper Wasiu is putting the city on hip-hop’s radar with his visceral, aggressive, in-your-face music that speaks on both optimistic and pessimistic perspectives of human themes. His latest single, “Bout 02 Blow,” which features production by V X N Y L, premiered via Pigeons & Planes, who stated, “There comes a time in every young artist’s career when it feels like the stars are finally beginning to align and making everything fall right into place. It’s right when their name is starting to create a buzz and they know their time to shine is rapidly approaching. Wasiu’s ‘Bout 02 Blow’ is the result of just that.”

“Bout 02 Blow” is Wasiu’s latest track from his yet-to-be-titled project releasing later this spring. The beat by V X N Y L carries harrowing notes that reverberate throughout the production, and the dark undertones lay groundwork for Wasiu to inflict some laconic humor and dry wit into his rhymes. The Nigerian and Haitian, Quebec-bred rapper previously released his remix of RAW Records founders/artists Thomas White andDear Lola‘s “I Know” via Complex, who noted “Wasiu is another one to look out for this year,” commenting on Montreal’s rise as a hotbed for hip-hop with its budding talent.

Having received praise from the likes of Noisey, HYPETRAK, Okayplayer, and more, Wasiu is under way as one of Montreal’s hip-hop representatives with his distinct sound and hard style. His forthcoming debut album funnels his experiences into a culturally defining opus, with songs that explore a diverse set of themes on human life. “I’m showing what people view as both the good and the bad,” he says, “and how without the bad, you can’t have the good, and so you start to appreciate the bad… for the good.”

Listen to “Bout 02 Blow”: https://soundcloud.com/w-a-s-i-u/bout02blow/

Check out the Pigeons & Planes premiere: http://pigeonsandplanes.com/2015/04/premiere-wasiu-bout-02-blow/

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Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with Wasiu.

Wasiu Background:

For Wasiu, being a pariah has always been a constant. A child of divorce from a Nigerian Muslim father and Haitian Protestant-Christian mother, he was torn between worlds, seen by both communities as impure, and a “mixed breed”—not entirely Haitian, not quite Nigerian. Even though he’s Québecois (a Québec native), his immigrant parents tainted his claim to the province. Raised by his mother after his father moved to Toronto, he felt obliged to fit in with her side of the family. Resentments towards his father’s beliefs and culture led him to drop his father-given middle name—Wasiu—so that he wouldn’t be teased in his predominantly white school, where he battled black stereotypes by pushing his intellect past expectations.

”I wanted to fit in and didn’t want to feel like a stereotype, so I’d force myself to excel but make it seem like it was no sweat,” he says, “In a sense, I was assimilating myself to white Christian standards, and dropped my middle name to evade humiliation. That same name now is the one I use to represent myself, and it empowers my blackness due to its African origins.”

Overcoming adversity and using those lessons as lyrical fuel is Wasiu’s strongest suit. He is preparing his debut album which funnels his life experiences into a culturally defining opus that balances both optimistic and pessimistic perspectives on human themes. “I’m showing what people view as both the good and the bad,” he says, “and how without the bad, you can’t have the good, and so you start to appreciate the bad… for the good.”