When young St Louis native Chester Watson first came to my attention around this time last year, Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe heaped praise on the then 16 year old and the flow and style he had. Whilst some people called him an Earl Sweatshirt copycat, I've always felt that whilst age and voice may be similar, Chester has always carried his own when it comes to his raps.
2013 was a great year not just for him personally, but his Nu Age crew also had breakthroughs, with singles from Comme and Breeze Pachino amongst the picks of the bunch. Around this time last year Chester has just released his Phantom mixtape, and now, a year on and a couple of instrumental albums under his belt, the Florida based beatsmith-come-rapper is gearing up to release his latest project, Tin Wooki.
The first track to be released from this project is "Lair", which has a hot verse from Chuuwee added in, and sees Chester back at his rapping best, with clever lines delivered efficiently and made easy to digest. The beat, produced by Chester himself, is typically disjointed, yet melodically pleasing, and keeps the track ticking over as the two emcees tear it up on the mic.
You can stream "Lair" below, and be sure to check out Tin Wooki when it drops in full on March 7th.
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Chester Watson
Tin Wooki
- University Records
- 7th March, 2014