Hippie Life Krew – Bandwidth http://bandwidth.wamu.org WAMU 88.5's New Music Site Tue, 02 Oct 2018 15:23:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2 Visto And T.I.’s Son Get Spiritual In ‘Namaste’ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/visto-and-t-i-s-son-get-spiritual-in-namaste/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/visto-and-t-i-s-son-get-spiritual-in-namaste/#respond Tue, 01 Sep 2015 20:36:43 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=56069 Visto has been on a spiritual kick for a while now: The Virginia-born singer, rapper and Instagram ace heads a tribe called the Hippie Life Krew, and he has a taste for chillout jams, like his recent cookout tune “Smoke It Down.”

Today the rising talent took his erotic yogi vibe to another level with “Namaste,” his new video with Australian singer Emmaline and Domani Harris, the 14-year-old son of hip-hop megastar T.I.

Directed by Minista Cinema, “Namaste” shows Visto perched on a mountain with Emmaline and Harris looking their most pious in the background. Elsewhere, he’s immaculately attired on a wicker throne — flanked by his Hippie Life Krew cohort Pinky KillaCorn — dispensing messages of self-empowerment.

“You gotta show love to everybody, and bow to the god in everybody,” Visto advises at the top of the track. “But you gotta make sure you bow to the god in yourself first.”

Looking quite godly himself, Visto stands to gain some new converts with “Namaste.” Check out the video up top.

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Visto Has Got Your Feel-Good Stoner Song Right Here http://bandwidth.wamu.org/visto-has-got-your-feel-good-stoner-song-right-here/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/visto-has-got-your-feel-good-stoner-song-right-here/#respond Wed, 05 Aug 2015 19:09:33 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=55231 visto-smoke-it-downD.C.-area singer and rapper Visto is a conoisseur of chill: He’s got the drapey garments, chunky jewelry and overall aura of an erotic yogi. His music tends to follow suit; it’s often sleek and watery, with no shortage of come-ons (some subtle, like last month’s “What You Need“; others not, like 2013’s “How That Pxssy Taste“). But he’s always been interested in hooks, and several of his songs come across as a manifesto for his mellow lifestyle.

That’s certainly the case with “Smoke It Down,” the single the Hippie Life Krew honcho premiered this afternoon via Hot New Hip Hop.

“Oh, we’re going to smo-oh-oke it down,” he coos on the track, summoning nearby ladies to his zone of chillaxation. “Won’t you bring your friends around?”

There’s nothing hard-hitting about “Smoke It Down”: It’s straight-up cookout tuneage, except the smoke it’s giving off isn’t coming from a charcoal grill. (Also: I may have to retroactively add it to Bandwidth’s new playlist of D.C. summer songs.)

Listen to “Smoke It Down,” produced by The Democratz, below.

Photo via Visto’s Facebook page

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D.C. Rapper Pinky KillaCorn Wants To Be As Ubiquitous As (Yep!) Corn http://bandwidth.wamu.org/pinky-killacorn-interview-tequila-video/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/pinky-killacorn-interview-tequila-video/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2015 18:01:37 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=54925 “I make KillaCorn music,” says Pinky KillaCorn, the rising rapper from uptown D.C. “I make my own genre of music. I can’t really put it in a category.”

The 27-year-old describes “KillaCorn music” as a personalized mixture of gangster rap, jazz and especially D.C.’s homegrown go-go sound. She got her start rapping over go-go. But before she started freestyling, the MC involved herself in after-school arts programs, performing West African dance and taking part in musicals like The Wiz and Once On This Island.

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Pinky KillaCorn

“I’m everywhere, doing everything and there’s nothing you can do about it,” KillaCorn says.

That explains her unique stage name, which she devised after a talk with her producer. Learning that corn appears in food and even fuel, KillaCorn (who chose not to disclose her legal name) did some research, and found out corn comes in basically everything. She decided she wanted to aim for the same kind of ubiquity — to become as universal as corn.

But the rapper wants to do it on her own terms. “As long as I don’t look like everyone else,” she says, “then I’m cool.”

With candy-pink hair and a bright smile, KillaCorn does stand out. Her relaxed but driven vocal style caught the attention of Virginia rapper and singer Visto, who had spearheaded an informal group called the Hippie Life Krew. A fan of the long-locked, weed-loving vocalist, Pinky happily ganged up with him.

Warning: Explicit language.

Visto and KillaCorn’s highest-profile collaboration yet arrived this year: a hooky, laid-back single called “What Hippie What” that found KillaCorn clarifying who she is — and who she is not.

“Hol’ up, hol’ up naw, see Pinky ain’t no bad b***h,” she raps in her raspy tone. “Boo, I’m a goddess, a hippstress, a savage.” (In Hippie Life Krew parlance, “hippstress” is the feminized version of “hippie.”)

KillaCorn says she has more work on the way with Visto, but her latest release isn’t a song, it’s a video. Today she dropped the visual for her single “Tequila,” coinciding with National Tequila Day.

Warning: Adult content (and tequila-induced vomit).

Originally released in 2014, “Tequila” has the makings of a party staple. KillaCorn’s flow sounds steady but mellow, like she could do it in her sleep. It’s not her strongest lyrical work — “What’s your preference? I prefer tequila straight up like an erection,” she raps — but the track’s occasionally lackluster verses are redeemed by its hypnotic production.

Between the partying and peacocking, KillaCorn hasn’t shied away from serious subjects. Last year she did an introspective tribute to Michael Brown — the 18-year-old killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri — on a track that sampled a witness’ account of the shooting.

But KillaCorn’s main objective is to spread the love.

“I want everybody to love themselves, be themselves, improve themselves,” she says. “I want to inspire anyone I can inspire to love themselves. That’s a big problem in the world because everyone’s trying to fit in.”

Pinky KillaCorn appears at D.C.’s Pure Lounge on Friday, July 24.

Top photo: Screenshot from Pinky KillaCorn’s “Tequila” video

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Watch Visto Seduce A Lady By Harnessing The Matrix http://bandwidth.wamu.org/watch-visto-seduce-a-lady-by-harnessing-the-matrix/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/watch-visto-seduce-a-lady-by-harnessing-the-matrix/#respond Thu, 26 Feb 2015 19:55:59 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=48300 This video contains adult imagery and explicit lyrics.

In the last video from Virginia crooner Visto, he took to the woods, surrounding himself with natural elements: earth, air and fire. Now he’s returned with another visual that swaps the nature for something more high-tech.

The new video for the Hippie Life Krew member’s club-ready track “Shinobi” (also the name of a Sega video game series) is the brainchild of Minista Millz of the Maryland-based Catwalk Studioz, and it finds Visto using some Matrix-style widgets to plot the seduction of a woman who’s with another man. It’s another example of Visto’s ability to keep his fans guessing.

“There’s no one direction for my art,” Visto writes in an email, “and we just thought that a futuristic hippie coming to take your girlfriend was just cool.”

Visto hopes to release a new project by spring, but in the meantime, he says he’s got more music and videos on the horizon.

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Visto Is Completely On Fleek In His New Video http://bandwidth.wamu.org/visto-is-completely-on-fleek-in-his-new-video/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/visto-is-completely-on-fleek-in-his-new-video/#respond Thu, 11 Dec 2014 19:14:44 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=44404 Peace sign tatted on his neck and locks hanging past his shoulders, Virginia native Visto finds himself in suitably natural surroundings in his newest music video. But the song’s name and hook — “On Fleek Tonight” — is born from technology, kind of. It stems from an Internet meme.

That would be “on fleek,” a term popularized by Vine user Peaches Monroee in a June video clip. “On fleek” has come to mean chic, put together, manicured — and Visto has his own interpretation. “My definition of ‘fleek’ is just being on point — being top-notch in everything you do,” writes the singer and rapper in an email. “In my song, ‘fleek’ is beyond outward appearance. I notice the girl that ‘cherishes love and light.'”

But the track itself — produced by D.C.-based beatmaker, DJ and engineer Kid Cannibal — is what gave Visto the idea for his lyrics. The track feels lighthearted, blending a breezy guitar build-up into an electro-pop hook while maintaining some hip-hop elements (throbbing bass, handclaps). “Honestly, the production inspired the song,” Visto writes. “It just makes you feel on fleek!”

For the video, Visto abandons what he calls the “superficial club video with models and bottles,” trading them for green (including the smokable kind) and a fireside party. It’s “showing a group of friends simply having a great time,” Visto writes — and it lent him an opportunity to show off “the diversity and individuality” of his posse, the Hippie Life Krew. (See Bandwidth’s recent coverage of Pinky KillaCorn, a crew member.)

Visto has always straddled the line between singer and rapper — see his previous singles “Shinobi,” “Witcha” and “How That Pxssy Taste” — and his versatility is on full display with “On Fleek Tonight,” finding him in much poppier territory.

“People seem to expect ‘different’ from me, so that pushes me to experiment with sounds and styles,” Visto writes. “I don’t worry about trends — they don’t last. Universal feelings do. And that’s my aim for my style, my sound and my career.”

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Listen To Pinky KillaCorn’s Tribute To Mike Brown http://bandwidth.wamu.org/listen-to-pinky-killacorns-tribute-to-mike-brown/ http://bandwidth.wamu.org/listen-to-pinky-killacorns-tribute-to-mike-brown/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2014 10:00:30 +0000 http://bandwidth.wamu.org/?p=43936 Since news first emerged about the fatal shooting of Mike Brown by police officer Darren Wilson, musicians have been paying tribute to the slain Missouri teenager. Then last week—after a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, prompting protests nationwide—D.C. hip-hop artist (and HippieLife Krew member) Pinky KillaCorn tossed her hat into the ring with “If I Ruled the World – Mike Brown Tribute,” borrowing from Nas and Lauryn Hill’s 1996 hit single to condemn police brutality.

“Imagine being killed in the streets, but it’s cops that’s blasting,” KillaCorn raps, repurposing Nas’ lyrics in her raspy tone. “Just imagine if it was your child.”

Listen to KillaCorn’s “If I Ruled the World – Mike Brown Tribute” below.

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