M!les Ave. (Artists To Watch)
As much as Hip-hop reminds us of how community is the foundation in this industry, it often gets saturated. All for the sake of revenue. But then there’s artists who are independent, who lead with building a brand and base that organically produces a connection that many artists cannot replicate. I’ll never take for granted that I can genuinely hit up an artist that deeply inspires me, and give them the flowers that they most graciously deserve. And for me, I want to shout out M!les Ave.
I think as simple as an artist being available to reach out to, and lucky enough to support their journey is something that you don’t scoff at. Neither is the difficulty of being independent and literally having to build the brand and art that you feel so passionate about. Then having to sell it for consumption, which can sound capitalistic coded, however for a lot of artists, it doesn’t feel that way. It’s genuine, it’s gracious, it’s honest, and most importantly, it’s organic. But with the eyes that you see with, everything you indulge in has a group that’s the most hardworking having the blind eye looked at them, ripped away from the talent that they possess. That’s how the music industry can be to the people who deserve the most exposure. That’s why artists like M!les will always have my support and flowers.
Hailing from D.C, and writing for close to 17 years, there’s an everlasting desire to grow and understand the game of life within his music. He had a great relationship with performing while coming up, so it’s easy to rack up confidence when you had a head start to find your voice, if that makes sense. Through his childhood of talent shows & school events, to local poetry slams, to later on establishing his sound and sharing it though listening parties for his upcoming album releases. The rappin’, living through experiences that might be rejuvenating or even traumatic, there’s always an opportunity of finding inspiration. All of that is easy when you view the life you live as source material. There’s a quote that I seen from a writer or poet a long time ago and M!les reminded me of it when I listen to his music:
“You have to live, in order to write. If you’re having some writing blockage, it could be possible that you’re not living enough.”
I threw a dart in the dark when I reached out to M!les about his creative processes. Not that he’s Hollywood or anything malicious, it was more of mustering the courage to talk to someone that inspires you and what you do as a writer as well. And to my appreciation, he responded. I had asked him:
V: “Peace to you always, bro. You really inspire my creative process. I gotta ask though. What keeps your creative edge going? I know we get some blocks sometimes, but what keeps you motivated to always progress creatively?”
M: “This is a skill I’ve been developing for so long, nothing to particularly fall back on so I gots to keep going. And reading / watching films always spark”
M!les created a sound that is, in my opinion, the yang of music that comes for the nation’s capital, and even DMV as a whole. It all starts at young age. You got your free car, your krank, your go-go, rva drill, even some alternative and punk sounds that can be a little obscure, but M!les’ sound is otherworldly in reference to his peers.
His writing is heavily rooted in deep internal reflection, an invitation to the lens of a Black man (especially Black creative), and rhyme patterns & schemes that you genuinely have to sit and reflect on. From my interpretation, it easily reads as poetry, more on the freeverse style. Where there are verses lyric-esq. deeply personal, more so coming from first hand experiences. I think “Precious Energy” from his “Wayne Perry on Ice” album, “Mitochondria” featuring Niontay, or a song like “LAW” featuring El Cousteau, can highlight his otherworldly pen. Even songs like “Pink Runtz,” where a rhyme scheme is consistent, but his style is prevalent within the rhymes. I think that’s why I appreciate the paradox of rhymin’, because you have DOOM, right?— Where he finds the most odd syllable structure to loop a rhyme. In the topic of both artists, listen to a DOOM song like “MORE RHYMIN” that has monorhyme scheme, where there’s a syllable regardless if it’s at the beginning or near the bar, it rhymes with the previous bar, and “TATT Blakk Jesus on My Wrist,” where it’s on a cusp of a couplet rhyme where the previous bar might rhyme from two bars back, might connect to the current one, or sometimes back-to-back like intimations.
You can tell that not only is M!les heart pure in his processes, but what he chooses to express through the music. Every verse, every video, every vision is made with the intent to convey the story of M!les Ave., and it is apparent in his art. He cares deeply about his craft. He cares about paving a lane for himself and doing it as authentically as possible. I say all of this to say: M!les Ave. is easily one of my favorite artists of all time. There will never be an artist like him. And to help anyone get into his art, I’m linking a playlist of my personal favorites by him (Apple Music/Spotify). With any artist, listen to their entire discography, understand the growth from years back to now, and sit with the work and processes an artist makes. They’ll greatly appreciate that!