Lok&Ki
“Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field”
The Southwest music scene has an interesting repertoire of artists. One of the artists that has had a long-standing presence in the region is Tae Zu. He has been featured on the site Desert Heat and toured the southwest and always finds a way back to our pages and to our readers. His musical influence is that of the Blues, Jazz, and Funk that his grandfather introduced him to. His bio on his website DesertGhodTaeZu mentions classic artists like Slick Rick, Busta and Wu-Tang and you may even catch that influence in his writing style and his approach to his production. His music is heavy on the story, the narrative, the visceral images depicted through poetic bars that delivery in confident and metered breath. You cannot catch a dull moment in his music, and his ability to paint a picture with a thousand words is one of the reasons why you should check out his music as well.
His latest project Lok&Ki seems to be the next evolutionary step for Tae Zu. He’s is constantly outdoing his last body of work and this album is no different. He raps out of El Paso, Texas but without prior knowledge of such you might think he was from the golden era of hip hop or even from one of the East Coast cities as his writing style is not familiar to that of the Southwest. He doesn’t indulge in the brand of hip hop that is identifiable as Western Texas or Southern New Mexico. He has this ability to speak to concepts that other artists generally don’t. His production is fitting for his music and doesn’t ride the waves of the modern era, doesn’t reduce his lyrical prowess to the lowest common populist denominator and its listenable. Some artists who seek to be heady and flowery with their writing forget about being palatable and having replay value. This is the type of music an old head can enjoy but this is also the type of music anyone who has an appreciation for writing and art can enjoy. Listen to the project below and follow him for more quality music as always!