This time next week, America could be headed for a new enlightenment or a new dark age. The stakes are that fucking real. One candidate, Kamala Harris, will instantly mark a new, forward chapter for our country. The other, Trump, is the agent of all the social peril in which we’ve been living and promises more until generations of progress, and even the very foundation of America, is unraveled.
This presidential election is the biggest one in our lifetime, and it’s way too close and consequential to sit out. Now’s the time to clap back against the war on women, minorities, marginalized communities and basic decency that’s been happening. Early voting in Orange County is now until Nov. 3 at 8 p.m., and then election day voting is Nov. 5 until 7 p.m. Go vote hard.
LOCAL RELEASES
While the national hype was building at the dawn of this decade for Orlando progressive hip-hop group Seeyousoon, many were just as astounded they could keep it all together as a nine-member crew. But for all the creative energy it gave them, their size turned out to be a terminal issue.
Co-founding rapper Joshua, whose solo moniker is Wahid, says, “Seeyousoon ended up breaking up due to some creative and personal differences.” The crash and burn of the on-the-cusp collective gutted him. But it also became the fire that forged the phoenix that’s now Wahid, who’s rising anew on his own with brand-new album THEY ALL GO MAD!
The eight-song collection is Wahid’s second release this year on tastemaking L.A. label Innovative Leisure. Both it and its predecessor — the Feast, by Ravens EP — are Wahid’s first works since Seeyousoon’s implosion, and they openly bear the wounds. If the previous EP was Wahid coming to terms and finding his sea legs again, THEY ALL GO MAD! is him back at the helm with full sails and a vengeance.
“I guess the fallout merely fortified my focus on my own art and creativity,” Wahid says. On this new album, his pain has sharpened into a chip on the shoulder. Even with the effortless flow of rhyme and song throughout, these tracks bite with incision. It’s in full force with Wahid’s vocals, which snap with the crisp, articulated fundamentals of golden-age MCs. Yet the vivid framing is a tight foil for the futuristic vapors of electronic, R&B, soul, dub and jazz herein.
Whatever anguish lingers within him is now chiseled determination. This new album is the full reemergence of Wahid, at once back to himself and newly armed with earned depth. THEY ALL GO MAD! now streams everywhere.
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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.
