The Ones: Channel Tres’ “Black Moses” [ft. JPEGMAFIA]
With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.
Channel Tres - “Black Moses” [ft. JPEGMAFIA]
After carving out space in the hip-house community for straight-faced smooth talk, Compton’s Channel Tres takes his music to a much slower and even darker place with “Black Moses.” Evoking his inner Isaac Hayes, he plays the big shot so effortlessly that it feels like an afterthought, his voice never raised above a murmur. “I used to ask for change in the streets/Now I’m changin’ the streets,” he chants, his command apparent. He’s joined by JPEGMAFIA, who has yet to find a song he can’t make even weirder and more interesting. Tres and JPEG aren’t exactly an ideal match but in their inverse relationship they feel like complementary circus acts: Tres the calm beast tamer and JPEG the risk-taking firebreather. The rapper is his usual eccentric self, boisterous and unflappable, rattling off out-there one-liners like “I pistol-whip a nigga dressed like I caught the bouquet” and “Thought I wouldn’t buss back, bitch, I ain’t Rosa Parks.” Neither performer is quite as cool as the voice of Shaft, but together they’re close.
Check out previous Ones, and listen to new rap from Channel Tres and more on our Spotify playlist, Apple Music playlist, and SoundCloud playlist.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
