"Tidal Wave" on Super Empty

Our buddy Ryan over at Super Empty wrote some nice things about me and Ace Henderson’s new track “Tidal Wave!”

Here’s what he had to say on his music segment The Roundup:

Patrick Phelps-McKeown, aka Treee City, is not known as a hip-hop producer. His newest collaborator, Ace Henderson, isn’t a traditional rapper. And their new song, “Tidal Wave,” isn’t a rap song. At least, it probably isn’t considered one within a camp like Jamla.

But elsewhere, Drake, Anderson .Paak, Childish Gambino and Phonte, to name a few, have gone a long way to challenging what a hip-hop song is anyway. What do you get when you combine sing-rapped verses, muted synth chords and a driving bassline? What category is that?

Most listeners probably won’t concern themselves with the answer. Borrowing from the sonic textures of another genre-bending, pseudo-hip-hop act in KAYTRANADA, there’s no way of hearing this song and not calling to mind the Canadian producer’s work with Goldlink, or Vic Mensa, or Mensa’s self-produced “Down On My Luck” track from 2014.  

“Tidal Wave” is a downright good time, and the kind of song that should bring more attention, well-deserved, to both Treee City and Henderson. If you’re not promoting this song, don’t ever complain about the NC music scene ever again.

Thanks to Ryan for the kind words. The whole article has a lot of really great NC music in it so go check that out here.