Music
Tobe Nwigwe And Killa Kyleon Quote A Wise Man In Their ‘Cujo’ Video
The Houston natives have some advice for listeners from a master in his own craft. …
Tobe Nwigwe has yet to run out of ammo for his #GetTwistedSundays #Cincoriginals campaign. Each week, he has dropped off a new video complete with coordinated costuming, complex choreography, stunning scenery, and a complete breakdown of his songs’ often complicated lyrics like clockwork, oftentimes bringing in high-profile guests to highlight his own lyrical inventiveness. This week’s video features Houston’s Killa Kyleon, putting a rapid-fire verse on “Cujo.”
The video also includes some nods to Tobe’s heritage, with an older woman in traditional clothes delivering the hook, a quote by Bruce Lee. “Be formless, shapeless like water,” she says, capping the exhortation with the Igbo word “Ighotago,” which means, “Do you understand?” The quote, which means to be flexible and avoid getting trapped in a rigid mindset, perfectly describes Tobe’s approach to music. Although he’s a truly gifted rapper, he’s been known to perform songs with almost no raps in them.
He also doesn’t adhere to the traditional business model of building a buzz, releasing an album, or signing to a label. Throughout his breakout 2020, he’s found innovative ways to approach music, settling on his current release strategies while eschewing the stereotypical rapper presentation. His family is heavily involved in his work, flying counter to the trend of rappers in committed relationships projecting themselves as players, and while he embraces some gun talk, it’s more often in service of self-defense than revenge for fallen friends. By swimming upstream — and being willing to take on many forms, Tobe has redefined success in a year when the music business has had to reckon with what success looks like without the usual means of generating profit.
Watch Tobe Nwigwe’s “Cujo” video above.
Artist Spotlight
Neurolapse opens up buried feelings into a rebellious release “Fvck These Feelings”
Neurolapse channel released feelings that had been held inside for too long with “Fvck These Feelings.” That emotional urgency also translates into the writing process itself, with some of the lyrics coming in the early hours of the morning and insisting on being put down. From there, it was developed into a track that turns personal emotional pressure into a collective experience for listeners.
What is interesting about the song is the tension between the emotional base it draws on and the freedom it seeks to create. The song is born of the difficulty of releasing painful feelings, but its effect is anything but restrained. The band wants the song to make listeners dance, shout along, and let go of the emotions they have been carrying. This gives “Fvck These Feelings” an intuitive quality, turning frustration and emotional exhaustion into an opportunity to let go.
Something is refreshing about the song’s directness. Instead of bottling up feelings and keeping them a secret, “Fvck These Feelings” celebrates the messy process of letting them out. It gives people a chance to identify what they’ve been holding on to, and a place to let it out. Neurolapse takes a tough internal experience and turns it into something energetic, expressive, and communal. This is a track designed not simply to be heard, but to be felt and released through movement.
Artist Spotlight
KUILL unveils a testimony from the pain of memory on latest release “Last Night”
KUILL‘s latest release, “Last Night” is a very human approach to memory. It is about those moments we only realize were important after they are already gone. This song is not about a specific event, but about growing up, about time passing and about people and places we once assumed would always be there. Its emotional core is born of the painful realization that a final moment rarely announces itself as it unfolds.
“Last Night” is subtle yet cinematic, letting KUILL’s signature voice do the heavy lifting in telling the story. His restrained vocal delivery creates space for the listener to bring his own memories. Its shimmering world can be the last evening before leaving home, a family holiday, or a carefree summer with childhood friends. The result is intimate, yet it doesn’t constrain the listener’s interpretation.
The artwork accompanying the piece enhances that feeling with broken reflections of KUILL, placing him between past and present. It’s the essence of the song: memories tend to fade with time and become less about the details of what happened and more about how those times made us feel. “Last Night” takes that quiet sadness and lets you sit with it.
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