Leaked to radio earlier this summer, SpaceLAB Recordings presents the visuals to “Banana Backwoods”, the 2nd single off the upcoming 10-song collaborative LP Dying In Designer.
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The gritty beat merges hard drums with warped 1960’s psychedelic guitars, & once again unites the gritty Upper West Side emcee Westside Ward with his longtime collaborator - Tennessee-by-way-of-Brooklyn producer Jake Palumbo. Named after the initially difficult-to-find flavor of cigar, the song comes across much like its namesake – slow-burning & intense, like rolling an entire eighth in a Backwoods.
Where sheep reside, wolves will lurk in the distance sizing up their prey, Ward has long painted a verbal picture detailing an alternate perspective of Manhattan’s famed Upper West Side, far removed from luxury apartment buildings with doormen. While Ward employs a vocabulary as extensive as any great emcee, his approach is very direct, & isn’t trying to leave room for intellectual interpretation – get with the program, get out the way, or get got.
The working relationship between Westside Ward & Jake Palumbo extends over a decade, with Ward beginning his career as a member of the cerebral rap trio Gotham Heights who released their debut album The Power Of 3 on SpaceLAB Recordings in 2012. As a member of Gotham Heights he appeared on many SpaceLAB releases such as Jake It Till You Make It, & was a large part of the 2012 Space Camp label compilation, appearing on 11 out of 15 tracks.
Westside Ward took a brief pause from music in 2019 & shifted his focus to YouTube, gaining a new audience as part of “Eddie & Michelle”, a channel that earned hundreds of thousands of subscribers & views for comedy skits & relationship advice. As an artist who used to avoid the camera & media altogether, Ward eventually connected with YouTube viewers through his humor & honesty, & cultivated a brand new audience for himself – an audience that eventually demanded to hear more music.
Ward & Palumbo released their first single off the project – “Collect Call” – in October 2022 & it was very well received by DJ’s especially; an intense record clocking in at under two minutes, it was an easy fit into any DJ’s mix, & was the perfect appetizer for “Banana Backwoods” If the violent urgency of “Collect Call” got the listener’s attention, then the slightly more relaxed “Banana Backwoods” should lighten the mood in the room…but not too much
Westside Ward & Jake Palumbo’s Dying In Designer LP is scheduled for a November release on SpaceLAB Recordings / Soulspazm Records.
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