It's always refreshing to hear a track that strays from the pedestrian "16/chorus/16/chorus/rinse/lather/repeat" format, and San Francisco emcee-producer-singer-guitarist KAI OD accomplishes just that with his latest masterpiece, "Blue Wave."
KAI, a member of the ever so wavy Spiritwave collective, also showcases a fresh new style in "Blue Wave," both vocally and production-wise (he made the beat, too!). In what's been dubbed "ocean soul," the 21 year-old virtuoso submerges listeners in a dreamlike reservoir marked by soothing melodies and a flow fluctuating between cozy and climactic. The artist's presence combined with the beat's oceanic backdrop – a unique blend of hip hop, electronic and live instrumentation – quite literally makes you feel like you're floating and scuba diving at the same time. To further add to the track's density, he even touches on gentrification in SF's Mission District, an overlooked issue that personally affected Kai and his family. He delves further into this topic with a viral video that has garnered millions of views across social media.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9PNWgBPMPA&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
"Blue Wave" is a single off KAI OD's upcoming project, Timelapse, which drops this June and will be accompanied by a nationwide tour starting in July. Stay tuned-in to EARMILK for future releases and check out his debut album, Atlantis Campus, in the meantime!
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