when i finally got the courage to ask @southwestlansky if he might rap on a track with me his response was immediate. “you’ve always shown me nothing but love so why wouldn’t I?” always the most generous, kind, and authentic. at the venue or online. prolific and humble. and the more i listen to this track the more i’m like—fuuuuck Cash is a good rapper! every word lands with such weight. honored to rock with ya bud!

recorded the beat straight to cassette a while back. one of those pieces you kinda find later in a time capsule. wrote to it for #previous2mind and the feedback from the crew was pretty unanimous—this is dope but it doesn’t fit this project and please don’t lose the christian slater “rap king of arizona” sample. so i sat with it for a sec before learning i wanted to ask Cash if he might rock on it.

i also felt some kinda way about the slater sample. as it goes it’s pretty much the greatest sample in history for an arizona rapper (thank you staff picks at @casavideoandfilmba for sharing the magic of 1990's pump up the volume) — but at this point i had to laugh about calling myself the rap king of anywhere besides my backyard shedio.

so i reformatted the track a bit for that to come in right before Cash. i like how slater says he’s the rap king of az all confidently then follows with an unsure “i don’t know”—because the truth is these feelings shift for all artists. for all peeps. some days we’re way super confident and others we question literally everything. imposter syndrome. the inner hater. all this stuff we battle to keep going.

i ran Cash and my verses through effects a few different ways, recording a few takes to tape and putting them back on the beat. then i ran the whole track back through the setup, recording this to tape a few more times. s/o @originalityfirst for sharing that DJ Quick vid where he talks about how tape catches the vibe of the room. (reply or send me a dm i’ll forward it to you!) so eventually i had all these weathered cassette versions back on the comp and was able to cut in and out of them to create all the lil slices.

wanted it to look, sound, and feel like a random 45 you bought at a swap meet. like a kinda weird homemade record that actually bumps. max max respect @sparkeestarkx for always making this shine thru with the mastering!

imagined finding this at that indoor swap meet that used to happen out in east portland, where they would have someone on the mic calling out sales at certain tables and everyone would run over. deroo and i used to hit this back in 2003. maybe you buy this record and take it home and are like huh?! that feeling. i wanted to add some surprise. to stretch what a rap track could be a bit. and i know you can also do this without all the fuzz but the fuzz is what keeps coming out of the studio so i’m leaning in.

hyped to humbly share 💜

#CREWLOVE

raps—Cash Lanksy @southwestlansky

beat/raps/art—illslur @illslur

mastered—Alter Echo @sparkeestarkx

Released March 8, 2023

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#CREWLOVE