SKYWAY

[mp3] Introducing // Skyway
Posted on August 31, 2011 by Will • 0 Comments



I am lucky enough to be surrounded with some really smart friends. I read plenty of music blogs daily, but I am often inundated with hyperbole and platitudes. Everything is supposed to be super-awesome and killer. No one will ever say something is just “meh” or “decent.” We are trying to outdo each other with grandiose statements. I just like honesty. (And I am pretty sure I am talking out of my ass at this point.) Luckily, I have a group of people around me who provide sound musical advice. I don’t often find myself adrift in a sea of bullshit.

End of rant.

This next group is a recent discovery that a good friend of mine from Oregon recommended. She said just stumbled across it within the last few weeks. Then she played it for me and I was instantly hooked. My first thought, “What is the hip hop equivalent of chillwave?” Skyway delivered a song that instantly washed over me. The duo, which consists of rapper Rufat and producer Chromatic Flights, is from St. Petersburg, Fla. Their song “Out of My Mind” is one of two that is posted on the group’s Tumblr page. It has me excited for future release.

The beat is epically blissful, offering a healthy dose of eletro-tinged goodness, and the delivery is honest. “I am faded with the height,” Rufat muses as he wrestles with questions of infidelity and the nature of devotion. The song has a dream pop feel to it. It’s a solid and promising marriage, leaving me excited for future collaborations between these two. Here’s to the future. - Tympanogram

Well this just made my week. With Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, and countless other indie artists hitting sales records while the rest of the industry is in decline, would it be that far of a stretch to believe that, in the web-based world in which this industry now operates, an endoresment from Kanye West means just as much (if not more) than one from, say, Rolling Stone?

We know Kanye’s not adverse to indie acts — he’s been on stage with Peter Bjorn & John, he’s friendly with Feist, and he’s blogged many videos and MP3s from under-the-radar bands in the past (recently Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Friendly Fires, etc). But nothing is more astonishing than his recent fix: FL’s Blind Man’s Colour.

In a post titled “SOME DOPE SHIT FOR MY APARTMENT”, Ye spread the word about “Jimmy Dove,” a track we premiered earlier this month for January’s Music Pact Alliance. Although he linked another site, Indie Rock Cafe, we’re told by the band that IRC found BMC on IGIF. To think that there are just two degrees of separation between Ye and this blogging establishment makes me all mushy inside, but to think that Blind Man’s Colour are actually making waves (when they certainly deserve to) is even more satisfying. - I Guess I'm Floating

Florida rap duo SKYWAY present the visuals for “FWTB” today. Hailing from St. Petersburg, Florida and making reference to the city’s landmark bridge in their group name, Rufat (Emcee) and Kyle Wyss (producer/vocalist) have been working their way to this point since meeting back in 2009. The pair made their way to the grimy warehouse neighborhood of Bushwick in New York City to link up with director Jason Ano (director of A$AP Rocky’s “Purple Swag” video) to curate the visual treatment. Look out for the duo’s self-titled free LP SKYWAY, set for a drop in the coming months. - HYPETRAK

?A recent read on the Penned Madness blog led County Grind to Tallahassee-based Skyway, which features a few components that might already be familiar.

The vocal half of the project is laid-back rapper Rufat from the Q-Tip school, who possesses an interesting flow ("I'm feeling like Dave Hoff, cuz I ain't gotta Hassle") and has some collaboration experience with a South Florida fave, Amtrac. Hear them team up on "Kick Back." Kyle Wyss from the psychedelic experimental troupe Blind Man's Colour provides the beats.

In short: This is music for the morning-after-break-up sex and chill-hop of the highest order.

When you hear these, you'll understand why Kanye West likes to chill to Blind Man's Colour at his crib. While this sped-up vocal background on "Out of My Mind" embraces a template closer to 'Ye's older material, there's enough of a dubstep influence on both tracks that'll remind all of the Weeknd's recent efforts. - New Times- Broward/Palm Beach

A little late on this one, for this 'Ekoms Fridays' the Tallahassee natives After The Smoke has done something different. By showcasing another group called Skyway (Rufat & Producer Chromatic) from the same area with their track "Trenchcoats" featuring Whuzi none the less. For more music from SKYWAY, head over to their SoundCloud page. Check It Out And Enjoy. Follow me @Ebonicss - Earmilk

What we have here is a video release prior to a single release, which is pretty unorthodox. Then again so is wearing a ball cap with the word “C*NT” plastered across the front in capital block letters. Those are just two subtle methods that SKYWAY, the St. Petersburg, FL duo of Rufat (emcee) and Kyle Wyss (producer/vocalist), are using to try and set themselves apart from the pack. The pair have been in cahoots since 2009 and are now preparing to release a self-titled free LP this summer. These visuals for “FWTB” were directed by Jason Ano, who was also responsible for curating the video for ASAP Rocky’s “Purple Swag”. - Pigeons and Planes