Baton Rouge rapper, vocalist, and songwriter Wakai has released the first single from his forthcoming, sophomore LP, Some People Scream, Some People Talk in "Collect Calls." The track, featuring Flozigg and femdot., showcases the same level of focus, lyrically and blends of neo-soul-meets-southern hip-hop production aesthetics that Wakai showed us in 2022's debut project, To A Dark Boy. The project gave eye-catching collaborations with artists like Mick Jenkins and Emmavie and introduced Wakai's lyrical and vocal abilities that fans of JID may be really drawn to.
"Collect Calls" begins with shimmering, reminiscent tones, opening into a thoughtful Wakai verse considering his reality and how it makes him, "make me never wanna pray sometimes" femdot. continues on this thought–"God phone be busy as hell / but at least his voice mails ain't full." Flozigg concludes the track with a sort of distant chorus vocal performance. The track is dense with impactful, meaningful thought to chew on. Production wise, the bright, citrus-keys and rounded bass hits are relatively pushed to the back, allowing a nice, meditative space to absorb these ruminations.
Make sure to stay up to date with Wakai news and updates on his newest project, slated to release in late July, via the links below.