Being as purposefully off-putting, obscure, and abrasive as ever while still withholding the tried and true appealing facets of traditional pop and hip-hop is one of the most defining features that the rising next era of both those genres alike hold so closely. Artists in this light not only have the ability to make music in this manner, but their willingness to do so is just as apparent in the process.
Through any necessary measure, even the most sporadic and off-the-cuff approach to those aforementioned genres can be transformed into such a gripping and entrancing experience — one that is not too dissimilar to far more “traditional” examples of their respective statuses in the past. This notion has become normalized today due to the immense work put in by a number of this new era’s most apparent progenitors.
Among these incredibly influential acts is Novagang’s very own Ways, who has played an integral role in shaping what can only be described as not just the future of those specific genre tags as expressed before, but the grander future of popular music to an extent. Their work up to this point – what with their equal-parts solemn and soaring vocal approach over instrumentals saturated in distortion and striking percussion – has been nothing short of groundbreaking in regards to the progression of the scene they find themselves in and certainly beyond.
Their most recent track entitled “Tweak Anthem” is perhaps one of the most vivid examples to be released yet that ever-so-perfectly encapsulates all that those previous descriptions stand for. This dense, manic, and nuanced single sees Ways yet again delivering his characteristically drowning vocals over a beat that stands in a contrasting, yet flawlessly executed manner all the same.
The beat itself was brilliantly constructed by both CJ808 and prblm — seeing its practically indescribable high-end percussion lay the groundwork for its just-as-resounding low-end to submerge with. The resulting product is breathtaking in its own right, considering how difficult it is to make these facets click in the manner that both of them were able to do with this track.
Ways himself comes through with yet another defining vocal performance here, as he utilized his high-pitched demeanor to simultaneously grasp the listener from its appealing facets alone, while also seamlessly blending in with the given instrumental in the most ideal manner possible.
All of these aspects combine to create one of the most unique and of-its-own tracks of the entire year, and it only makes sense that such a forward-thinking and decisively by himself figure like Ways would be the one to lay claim to such an offering yet again.