"Another opportunity to really make them feel the heat"
Following the unprecedented success of his 2021 project “GO LIVE,” Gios4ma is back with another mixtape that focuses on his chops as a producer. On this project Gios4ma is locked in as a producer, leaving the rapping to a strong stable of collaborators who contribute their own visions to his distinctive instrumentals. These include several fellow Mississippi artists, the entire CQCX collective, and several more of the most exciting underground artists from around the country. The tape functions as one continuous mix, with various audio samples providing carefully plotted transitions and weaving all of the songs into something greater than the sum of their parts.
The project's lead single, “Excuse Us,” highlights Gios4ma’s CQCX collective with features from Lil Du Bois, King $ly, & Savvy Mcfly. The four artists come from Mississippi, Utah, Illinois, and South Carolina, respectively, and each bring their own unique styles to the track. All of the rappers recorded this song together during CQCX Chicago sessions last summer at Feature Form Studios. In each verse you can hear a distinct confidence and inspiration that came from finally getting to work together in person. CQCX Creative director/A&R Tyler Blank even added an outro to the music video version of the track.
The second single, “88 Degrees,” brings together two of Chicago’s most exciting underground voices in the aforementioned King $ly and R&B singer-songwriter Morgan Gold. Morgan Gold comes out of her regular comfort zone and provides a rapped verse about the struggles of balancing artistry with everyday stress while King reminisces on his journey from childhood to his current position as a rapper. It also starts with a drop from Kiran the Nomad and has an official lyric video.
The third single, “Together,” brings it back to Gio’s roots with fellow Mississippi artist Teddy Rogers providing a show-stopping performance on the track. Teddy is likely the MVP of this mixtape, appearing on Heatwave tracks "Hands Dirty" and "Tell Me" as well. He also shot a music video for the track that was directed by Joseph Blashka & Galen Smithhisler.
The final single, “Product,” features Tennessee rapper Kareem Ledell. Kareem provides a lyrically dense, poignant verse about the systems of oppression that produced him. An animated visualizer for the track was made by Austin Oliver, an animator with credits for Adult Swim and HBO Max.
Additional artists featured on the rest of the project include Gio Genesis, Kwajo, Reed Starks, RobisRoyal, Jeph Early, Patrick Mallory, Tylo May, Fluseph, SiSi the Lyricist, & daniel versailles. The mixtape also features radio-style drops from Paris Price, Kiran the Nomad, Lil Nat, TK, Adam Dash, Quantré, Camn, & DJ Internet Daddy.
You can stream the album everywhere here! You can find Gios4ma everywhere @gios4ma and follow all of CQCX on Twitter @CQCXmusic
Written by: Tyler Blankinship, @TylerBlankCQCX on Twitter.
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