27/10/2022
5 years ago today brought us KILZEY, the collaboration between Coolzey & Fresh Kils.
https://coolzey.bandcamp.com/album/kilzey
Like-minded accomplices, both artists are inspired by hip-hop but regularly take that inspiration to other genres. This release goes even further, showcasing a new dimension of Fresh Kils production, incorporating everything from country to reggae. In turn, Coolzey takes on a range of lounge, folk and pop vocal melodies while still reminding us of his emcee skills through the tongue-twisting feats of ‘Macrobytes’ Kils also reveals his production arsenal by utilizing live instrumentation including guitar, bass and keys throughout.’
Speaking on the pairing, Fresh Kils revealed, “I essentially gave Coolzey access to my entire catalogue since 2001. He selected all these offbeat gems that had been passed over by emcee's looking for more conventional hip-hop sounds. It's a side of me I never thought there'd be a home for and that’s part of what makes him such a unique and important artist; he sheds light on things, expands the art form and he's unafraid.”
One of these musical curve balls on the album is lead single “Strange Ways” which was actually a musical composition that Fresh Kils wrote and played with a reggae/dub band during live shows. With Coolzey’s chanting and additional verse by Dominique LaRue, the track is a sunny dancehall-punk jam that wouldn’t be out of place on 90’s alt radio.
The only other guest emcee is 8-bit obsessed emcee Mega Ran who appears on the horrorcore track “Please Don’t Kill Me.” Speaking on the project Coolzey echoed the admiration saying, “Kils is the most total package of anyone I know in music including being adept at engineering and mixing. So in one respect he makes it very easy for you to focus on the creative process and in another respect he’s also not letting these songs go until he is satisfied with the final result. We live for challenge!”
