New Music: Tree – “Like Whoa”

RESPECT. Staff — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 18:02:05 +0000

After a solid 2013, which saw the release of his excellent mixtape Sunday School II: When Church Lets Out, raspy-voiced Chicago rapper Tree is back with another “soul trap” joint. Aiming at Black Rob‘s cultural monopoly on the phrase, “Like Whoa,” Tree wrestles the term from Black Rob‘s grip and gives it some new life. More triumphant than boastful, Tree encourages us to put in the necessary work, not necessarily just for ourselves, but for the people who support us. For Tree, shining “like whoa”isn’t about showing what you have; it’s about showing who you represent. If you really care about them and what they’ve done for you, you have to shine.

If you frequent Tumblr or SoundCloud, you know that artists constantly coin weird, seemingly interesting terms to describe their music. Most of the time, these terms aren’t very reliable: it’s the same old stuff. Tree‘s coinage, “soul trap,” actually means something. Sonically and lyrically Tree combines the encouraging hope of soul with the unrelenting ambition of trap. His upcoming project, The @MCTreeG, is being released through Scion A/V in the near future. Listen to “Like Whoa” below.

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New Music: Tree – “Like Whoa”