UMA Nominees Blowing Up My Playlists for the Second Year
Max Good$; p/c Justin Irick
Disclaimer: None of what I am about to tell you has any bearing on finalists or winners at this year’s Upstate Music Awards.
Being on the selection committee for the Upstate Music Awards means you have to listen to a lot of music. There are hundreds of nominees in 14 different categories and, if we are doing our job correctly, we listen to every single one of them. Many are old favorites, some are fresh faces, a lot are wildly talented at their craft, and some, sadly, should find other ways to spend their time.
Vilai Harrington; p/c Grayson Johnson
My favorite part of the process is discovering those fresh faces on the scene or even just artists that I simply was not previously familiar with. It is easy to scan the list of nominees and see familiar names like Shyland Flowers, Luxx, Vilai Harrington, and Max Good$ and assume that they might be the de facto winner in a particular category. The fun part, then, is listening to those artists that I had never heard of and falling in love with a few new voices from the local scene. This week I would like to take a moment to share a few of those new acts with you for your own listening pleasure.
Reggie Rocc
The hip-hop scene came strong again this year with a trio of surprises in the form of Reggie Rocc, Zebulon, and DNLD BLKSMTH. Reggie Rocc’s collaboration with Al Harris on the track “Junkies” was an instant standout for me and both Zebulon’s 2021 EP’s Escape From Toon Town and Doom Island had me bobbing my head and looking forward to a full length album. Finally, I do not know anything about DNLD BLKSMTH beyond what is on his Soundcloud page but my first listen of the single “Atychipphobia” took me right back to the first time I was introduced to the Wu-Tang Clan. Strong yet melodic beats combine with raw but intelligent songwriting for some of the best new hip-hop with an old school vibe that I have heard in a long time, local or otherwise. I honestly cannot wait to hear more from each of these artists.
Credit goes to Wes Gilliam for sending me the text asking if I had gotten to Miles LCS yet. A little more pop and electronic than I typically go for, his album Dollhouse is one of the most interesting albums of the year and definitely one that requires more than one listen. I have no idea how someone of this caliber of talent could fly so far under the local radar like this but it is someone I highly recommend taking the deep dive into.
The Best Video category definitely served up a lot of variety (and quality if I am being honest) but I have to say that Manifest Sons’ video for “Get Right Right Now” was a damn masterpiece, if not the weirdest video for anything I have seen in quite some time. The song is great by itself but the video turns it into an entirely mesmerizing and surreal experience that I could not divert my eyes from, start to finish. It all comes together for an interesting commentary on modern growth and greed that, whether you agree politically or not, you have to respect the artistic expression of the opinion.
I should also add that there is another category of artists worth mentioning – the names I was aware of but really developed and/or upped their game since I last gave them a listen. WVN, Aubrey Key, and Scotty K all caught my attention last year for completely different reasons but none of them felt like standout or award-caliber artists at the time. Each of them took 2021 to produce material that completely changed those opinions and took my playlists by storm.
Scotty K’s album Blindfold Cinema opens with an absolute earworm with the track “Break Me” and does not let go until the album’s closing notes. Aubrey Key went from someone I saw as a Daniel Johnstone-esque indie oddball to one of the most interesting songwriters the Upstate has to offer. As for WVN, I knew last year that the Anderson based rapper might be something special with a little more polish but she exceeded all of my expectations with her 2021 releases. Her collaborations with Shyland Flowers (“’96 Lex”) and Jodii Jo (“Russian Roulette”) are two of my favorite releases of the year and I simply cannot wait to see what else she has in store for the year ahead.
Scotty K.; p/c Justin Irick
