By Shamus Hill
2 min read
Representing the ever prominent city of Cambridge, Massachusetts is Connis – an unfiltered rapper who’s discography is full of heartfelt emotion and deep self-expression. Constantly putting his truest form of being at the forefront of his musical journey, Connis has time and time again delivered powerful music to his consistently widening base of listeners. Just last month, the promising artist collaborated alongside fellow Massachusetts native, bby.j, to gift fans an exceptional body of work titled Crashing.
Fresh off of the release of his debut instrumental tape, Songs to Sleep On a Bus To, bby.j has seen an immense amount of progression within his catalog of music this year. Both as a solo-producer and alongside theworldbirdie as bby.bird, bby.j has unleashed more music in 2021 than ever before – attributing to the successful development of a plethora of local artists along the way. On Crashing, he furthered this narrative by providing a soundscape for Connis to flow freely.
Taking on a mystical feel throughout, Crashing’s eleven minutes of runtime becomes a sonic escape into the worlds of both Connis and bby.j. Utilizing elements of R&B, Hip-Hop, Lo-Fi, and Drum and Bass production, the sonic structure of this EP constantly grapples the listener’s mind. Floating atop the underlying instrumentals with autotune-laced vocals is Connis, who’s work here becomes reminiscent of Mac Miller on Delusional Thomas. Seeking nothing but the approval of themselves on this tape, Crashing is a fully-fleshed piece of art that local music fans should not be casting aside.
When asked about the inspiration behind this project, Connis tweeted “I feel like j & I really put this project out for ourselves. We weren’t trippin over how to let it fly because these songs are weird and otherwise never would’ve seen the light of day.” Rather than appealing to what the pair thought their listeners wanted to hear, Crashing ultimately stuck to making the music that they wanted to create. No matter what the final output ended up being, having fun throughout the process was the ultimate goal – something which should inspire creatives everywhere to stay true to themselves no matter what.
If you’re someone that enjoyed this EP, then I strongly suggest streaming Connis’ most recent album, Somebody, which debuted this past October.
*Originally published in-print in Boston Compass Newspaper #142 in January 2022
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