Valley of Grace

WATCH THE SHORT FILM www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8_dJ-eVFPw&t=15s US Customs agent: Where are you arriving from? Me: Johannesburg, South Africa US Customs agent: And what was the purpose of your visit? Me: Love Maboneng smelled of burning. There werent many trees in this district. The wine was plentiful and cheap. Which really helped cause its cold in July there. I wore the same army fatigue jacket and black jeans every day. 7 am. Waking with the sun. I'd go to the store in Timberland boots and no socks for sausage to make with eggs that were smaller but creamier than ones I got back home. I settled into my mornings with a spliff, a latte from a fancy coffee spot where white folk spoke Afrikaans and a fatcake from a local spot packed with black city workers in neon green vests speaking Xhosa and Zulu. "So, did you come to South Africa to find your roots?" he asked with a con mans grin. "Nah, my peoples are from the Carolinas" I answered. I didn't come in search of anything, really. But I found a few things I didn't know I needed. I am proud to present Valley of Grace, a self written and produced audio/visual travelogue to my summer of 2016 spent in Johannesburg and Capetown South Africa.

The underground New York rapper's noisy, corroded new mixtape is also uniquely attuned to melody and song structure. It's thoughtful, spiritual, and above all, ambitious.