If we had to name artists that impressed us thoroughly in 2023, it would be a pretty long list. One of them we would have to include would be midwxst. He is not necessarily a new kid on the block, but he definitely snuck up on us. Last year, the Indiana multi-hyphenate went and dropped his debut album E3 and it saw him operate in the lanes of hyper pop, R&B, hip-hop, and etc. He really went for it all and it paid off. Fairly soon, he will be following that up with another project sometime this year and to promote it, midwxst is back with a new single “FIRE.”
This is not the first track that is rumored to be on BACK IN ACTION 4.0. In late February, midwxst dropped “mistakes” with 9lives, which was a cut about toxic relationships. Similarly, “FIRE” explores those themes, but also sees him reflect on how he has been struggling to feel happy with himself. He is also having a hard time admitting his faults, especially when he says, “I’ve had problems since I was a youngin’ / Need to cut out the lies and the frontin’.”
Like “mistakes,” midwxst has decided to tap a guest. This time fellow emo rapper and singer DC The Don is joining him. These two have a solid work history together, featuring on a couple of songs for each other. While their voices do sound similar back to back, DC does pen a solid verse. “My ex-b**** just wanna be famous / ‘Cause she a crash-out, hit ninety while she lane switch / Afraid to die, but she don’t wanna die nameless (Ooh).”
What are your thoughts on this brand-new single “FIRE” by midwxst and DC The Don? Is this the best track from either rapper as of late, why or why not? Does this get you excited for midwxst’s upcoming project BACK IN ACTION 4.0? Is this their best collaboration after hearing this? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding midwxst and DC The Don. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on around the music world.
Quotable Lyrics:
You know what they say, “Play with fire, you get burned” Come away with nothin’ from the lessons that I learn I been runnin’ ’round in circles, I been stuck at every turn If you don’t wan’ tell the truth, then you can happily be adjourned Ruin everything I touch, sometimes, I feel like I’m a germ I’m not good at listenin’, no, I don’t like to come to terms
Midwxst is a rapper that sort of flew under the radar for us, but over time, the South Carolinian really blew us way late last year. He specializes in what is referred to as hyperpop which is a combination of genres that he used to near perfection on his debut album. E3 had plenty of impressive cuts like “pretty girls,” “lost,” “heartache blues,” “hate how much,” and more. Now, midwxst is back to revive that momentum with “mistakes.”
This is his first true solo release since the “warning” single for the aforementioned debut. For “mistakes,” midwxst is teaming up with a producer he some rapport with, 9lives. The beat on this one has that familiar sound from the debut and it would definitely fit snuggly into that tracklist. It has a bit of a lo-fi start before the melodic drums in. This is a sound that midwxst can really making a living off of because he sounds great it on it once again.
He is rapping about an ex-girlfriend that was really dragging him down. She even went as far as to say that he would never get better. But, midwxst finds some resolve and breaks things off. In doing so, he finds that he can get through any issue he comes face to face with. It is a nice low-key song to play when you are feeling down, building yourself back up, or when you are headed out on a night drive.
What are your thoughts on this brand-new single, “mistakes,” by midwxst and 9lives? Is this one of his best breakup/love songs ever, why or why not? Is E3 still in your rotation and if so what songs? Are you excited to see what direction he goes in going forward? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding midwxst and 9lives. Finally, stay with us for the most informative song posts throughout the week.
Quotable Lyrics:
Learning from all my past mistakes You swore that I would never change Finally broke free out of your chains ‘Cause you’re the one that was hurting me Now there’s nothing that I can fix Swore I wouldn’t break my habits
Midwxst might have put out one of the best albums in terms of pushing musical boundaries in hip-hop. The Indiana-born artist has been making waves ever since 2020 during the worst part of the pandemic. While it took a little bit of time for listeners to get wind of midwxst’s music, people are starting to realize what he can bring to the table. His debut album, E3, is a rollercoaster that takes you through the sounds of hip-hop, pop, rock, hyperpop, and emo rap. Honestly, there could be more we are forgetting because midwxst really tries so many different things.
It is one thing to try, but he succeeds here. Furthermore, what is more impressive is that there are no features either. It is just midwxst, his raw emotion, and the production, in which he had a big hand in too. It is 12 tracks and runs around 34 minutes. Midwxst shared a lot of details on this project as well.
According to Genius, midwxst says this has been in the works ever since he was 17 years old. “This album rollout has been in my head since I was 17. I have a full notepad in my phone with the script for the interludes on the project and the ideas that eventually became ‘E3.’” He continues to say, “The album is an emotional journey through the mistakes I’ve made as a person and that ‘E3,’ the protagonist of the story, is constantly facing and having to finally come to terms with.” Those ideas do ring true throughout with songs like “old me,” “lost,” and so many others. This album is worth a serious listen, as midwxst has something special brewing.
What are your initial thoughts on this brand new album, E3, from midwxst? Is he one of the most intriguing new artists combining multiple genres with hip-hop? Which songs are you gravitating towards the most so far? We want to hear what you have to say about all of this. So, be sure to leave all of your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the hottest album releases and all of the latest breaking news around the music world.
Instead of using January to catch his breath, Curry featured on Armani White’s “Goated” single. He’s keeping his foot on the gas today, January 25, by releasing “Tally” alongside Midwxst. Curry also announced two May shows at New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club.
Fittingly, the beginning of the video for “Tally” has a very jazzy feel. Curry is from Florida, and Midwxst has roots in Indiana, but we find them in old-timey California .
“It was 1944 in Bel-Air, California. The bars closed five hours ago, but the smell of whiskey was still in the air,” a narrator says while black-and-white shots of Bel-Air flick across the screen. “Midwxst, Denzel Curry, and the rest of the crew own the town without any opposition or conflict. Little did they know that danger was wearing a new dress and was awaiting their arrival.”
A cloaked Midwxst makes his way up an elaborate staircase holding a gun. He encounters a gorgeous woman in a room and immediately drops his gun to talk with her. She appears to successfully be seducing him, but he never loses the upperhand.
“I met this girl down in Tally,” he raps in the chorus. “She said she flew in from Cali ;Not LA, though, she live in the Valley /Got a twin and I think her name Sally / Not my type, so I curved her real proudly.”
Curry is similarly skeptical, lighting her cigarette at a dinner table. She watches him as he delivers a hard verse that nimbly manages to reference people and things that normally wouldn’t figure to go together, like Kobe Bryant, Jeffrey Dahmer, Speaker Knockerz, The Notorious BIG, and Davy Jones’ locker.
By the end, Midwxst and the woman are cruising down the street. All seems to be well until she draws the gun on him.
You grew up on Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kanye. Can you discuss what drew you to their work?
At the end of the day, the storytelling elements that they had in their music. Like, they were able to captivate you and keep you entertained. They would actually genuinely pull something from their heads and make fantasy feel like it’s real life. The way that Tribe did it, the way that “Bonita Applebum” and “Can I Kick It?” and all of those songs, they give you a certain kind of vibe, and you feel good off of it. Graduation by Kanye is like a feel-good album. You go ahead and listen to some of those cuts and hear them beats, get inspired. It lifts you up.
They’re also creating an entirely new soundscape for you and an entirely new experience for you as a listener. A lot of people overlook a lot of the small things, but at the end of the day, my writing is rap style, rap-based. I rhyme the end of each sentence with one another. At the end of the day, I’m still writing, making music as if it was rap song. It’s just sometimes it turns out to not be rap.
I read that you have enough material for an R&B project.
I can confidently say… Hold on, let me check what my SoundCloud says. I have over 400 unreleased songs.
Wow. Would you want to dabble in different genres? Maybe put out a jazz album or something?
Bro, a jazz album would be crazy! Jazz album would be crazy if I could bring Glenn Miller back from the dead. I would go crazy. I might just have one of my friends sample “American Patrol / Moonlight Serenade” and have him throw it over a drill beat or something. Just imagine 808s… mad distorted! That’s the best way though. Why you think I like Dougie B so much? People look at me, and they don’t expect me to listen to half the music I listen to. I be listening to Beethoven. I be listening to classical music to study. I listen to the soundtrack for Zelda, Akame ga Kill! All of that. I listen to a bunch of weird stuff.
Mental health is a big topic in your work, and I know you struggled with depression and ADHD meds. Why do you think it’s so important to address these issues?
With me, it’s like, I want people to understand and live in my shoes. I want you to really feel what I’m saying because it’s true. There are days where, “every day that I wake up / never feel like I’m enough.” There are days like that. There are days where I do get tired of trying, but I push through it and I persevere. I want to be the voice of kids who feel the same way I did, who don’t fit in at school, who may be a little shorter than their classmates, but still have the fuckin’ pride of a lion. I want to be able to save people.
I don’t want you to think that death is the only route that you can escape what you’re feeling. I don’t want you to think that the only way that you’re going to find peace is eternally. I don’t want anyone to ever have to think or go through those things because those are scary thoughts, and it can be very harming if you’re already in a very negative mood or in a bad social setting. If you’re around enablers of people, they’re not going to help you in your best interest. People have to understand that in life, you can’t take shit for granted. You don’t have that privilege. Tomorrow’s not guaranteed for any of us, yet so many people carry their life on like it is.
“Lock It Up” with Yeat and Matt Ox is one of your most popular tracks. Can you tell us how that record came about?
I’ll tell you how it came about. I pulled up to L.A. because I had a session with Whethan, so I pulled up to Whethan’s crib. While we’re chillin’, I tell him, “Yo, I want to make some triumphant shit. I want to make some crazy shit,” and then he pulled that beat out, and I was like, “Word! That’s how you feel?” I instantly started bopping my head to it. Matt Ox literally texted me two minutes before that, and he was like, “What you on?” I was like, “Yo, I’m at Whethan’s. You should pull up on me.” He said, “Aight, bet.”
So then, like an hour later, he pushed up on me. I had already gone in and done my verse, and I was just chillin’, so he pulls up. I met his mom, I met some random girls. That was the first time that we had linked because we hadn’t linked before… July 8th of 2021 is how long that song has been made. It’s just been coolin’. And then Whethan texts me one day, “Yo, I think we about to get another feature on your song.” I was like, “Word? Who is it?” He said, “I’ll let you know when we confirm.” I was like, “Aight, bet.”
He texted me. He said, “It’s Yeat.” I was like, “I’m not mad at that. Hard.” Bro, me and my friends bump so much of that. It’s kinda bad. My DJ, Charlie Shuffler, when we on tour, I have to tell him, “Please no Yeat tonight,” ‘cause he plays it out so much sometimes, but it’s so funny. It’s so hard.
Better Luck Next Time is the ultimate breakup project. Can you share the mindset you had while recording it?
I already knew that was finna to be a heartbreak album and it wasn’t even me truly tapped into the harshness. When I made that album, like the EP, a lot of the songs came from just moments of time and stints that I felt really bad that day. It’s hard breaking up. It’s hard detaching yourself from somebody, especially if you’ve spent a large amount of time with them. Not even just with them, but genuinely together. It’s really hard to detach yourself from a person like that, but with me, it’s just like, “Bro, put it in music. It’s not gonna hurt you.” So then after that, I just took it by storm. I just loved it.
“On My Mind” is such a great closer, and I heard some of your friends sang on the track. Do you have any more interesting behind-the-scenes stories while recording?
“Riddle” and “Shame” were both off of an EP that I had scrapped, but they were both some of my favorite songs I’ve ever made, so I moved them over. Originally I had another album which was supposed to be more of a concept about ego death, and the fact that you are human. At the end of the day, we’re all mortal, we all have emotions, we all have feelings. Talking about getting off of your god plane level of thinking and coming down and being grounded. That’s how it was originally going to be. It was just me. I was deadass heartbroken. I cried to some of my friends. I was on the phone with my mom sniffling, all of that. The whole 10 yards because it hurt, especially at the start of college. It was mad weird adjusting to everything and getting my settings right, acclimated while I’m also in emotional distress. But one day I just sat down and I made “Misery.” And then after that, I was just like, “I need to go crazy.”
You’re performing at the Life Is Beautiful Festival in September. How are you feeling about that? Especially with a stage and an audience that big, is there extra stress or do you feed off of that kind of energy?
To be honest, no. I love performing. The larger the crowd, the more it fuels my energy on stage. I don’t care how many people I perform for, I’m gonna give my all on that stage like there’s ten thousand people in the crowd when there’s only ten people there.
Knowing that you’ve got eclectic taste, is there anyone else on that Life Is Beautiful lineup that you’re particularly excited about?
I’m excited to see Jungle, Young Nudy, and JPEGMafia. They all go hard.
What’s your personal experience with festivals? Did you go to any as a fan, and any favorite memories?
I had never went to a festival before Summer Smash last year. I was performing at the afterparty and went to the actual festival in the daytime. My favorite memory is performing on the main stage of Day N Vegas at the age of 18. That was really cool.
Did college life live up to your expectations?
Go Bruins! I was getting turnt. Just know I have fun. Nashville is a fun ass town. They had some cool shit. They had house shows. They didn’t have house parties. They’d have bands performing at some cribs and shit. Sometimes you pull up, and it’d be like whole bands, rock bands, alt bands, indie bands. They had some bonfires. Bro, I was out there living my life. I had a cool ass friend group. I was untouchable. I was unmatched.
You went to fashion camp and you’ve dropped merch that’s done really well. Are you planning on doing a clothing brand in the future?
I’m planning on doing a lot of things. I really want to do, like, a separate brand on some dolo shit. Focused on just making sure the quality is good, designs are good. I don’t want to copy anything from anybody ‘cause a lot of the way I dress I take a lot of inspo from early ‘90s, early 2000s back when Billionaire Boys Club was that… I’m a BAPE head. I got on Bapestas right now. Like, I love Bapestas. I love Undercover. Damn near anything Japanese. Ice Creams. Dawg, don’t get me started on the Ice Creams. The Running Dog jeans. Iconic…
I have ideas for a lookbook, you know, a trailer, and the way I want to be and all of these things because the creative side of things is what I love. I love it. It was my idea for the “Trying” music video to even have a vibe switch midway through that would shift the entire atmosphere of the video to go from bright colors and pastels to blacks and darks. I just want to be able to create something that I know I’ll be proud of and something that’s gonna be fire, be straight-up just hard.
What can you tell us about your collab with Pi’erre Bourne?
You got to talk to Pi’erre about that one. I’m cool and I’m chillin’ over here. I really want to, you know? It’s coming for sure. It definitely is. Like, I just be bullshittin.’ I’m not gonna lie.
Wait, so there is actually a collab, right?
Nah, nah, nah. I’m deadass serious. There was a throwaway off of Back in Action that was supposed to be with Pi’erre, but it just didn’t get cleared in time, and then there was supposed to be me, Ken Carson, and Pi’erre, but I don’t know. You gotta tell me on that one. Me and Pi’erre just be working. We don’t even text about music. We just be texting each other like, “Hey, man. Hope you had a good day, man.” “You too, gang.” Straight back and forth.
What’s next? I heard you have a new single coming soon.
June 29th. It’s called “Broken.” Whethan actually helped produce on it with San Holo. It’s just kind of a full-circle moment for me ‘cause I used to listen to San Holo as a kid. Like, I don’t know if there’s anybody out there that knows, but he had that song, (singing) “I just wanna see / I just wanna see the light.” That shit had a chokehold around like 2018. So I have that song coming out, and then I’m excited to put something out afterwards too. There’s a lot to look forward to, especially for this year.
