Listen: Let Everything Go - @keysera_; A Niles P. Joint

Keys Era has been quiet for a few months, but certainly not unproductive.  The Chester, PA emcee decided to remind everyone of how dope she is with her freshly released joint Let Everything Go.  You can tell by the cover art that the song is decidedly weed-scented, but there’s more depth than that.  Keys serves enough food for thought for anyone with the munchies.  Over a beat that’s skyscraper high, she ponders the effects of hangers on when she’s in need herself.  “Soon as you start making your own wave, people try to hop in” she laments, while understanding that it’s up to her to sort the real from the fake.  This song is perfect while you relax in A/C in the dog days of summer.  Check it out after the break.

Review: 11 - Keys Era (@keysera_); A Niles P. Joint

  Keys Era’s evolution continues.  Hip Hop is littered with the bones of promising emcees who never fulfilled their potential for one reason or another.  But the Chester, PA product has put in enough work in her young ass career to ensure she won’t underachieve.  It all comes to fruition with the release of her long awaited debut EP, 11.  She’s got some freestyles and a loosie to her name thus far, this EP is her first cohesive project.  And while I liked her previous joints, I was curious to see how she’d progress.  And she did pretty damn well, actually.

  The EP format (under 30 minutes) is a good route to take for your first project.  Angel Intro sets everything up with a Tupac vocal sample that mentions how “more kids are being handed crack than they're being handed diplomas.”  This leads into the first actual song, Pressure.  The beat is a breezy DITC-like soundscape, aurally similar to other instrumentals Keys has used before but different enough to not be considered a retread.  Feeling pressure is something every single person alive can relate to, making this song accessible for everyone.  Full of quotables, the one that stands out best is when she calls out dudes “claiming you my brother/playing agent undercover/trying to get me under covers.” It’s an unfortunate situation that many women have to deal with, yet isn’t addressed much.  I’m glad she ties it into the topic. In the second verse, Keys speaks of “lessons learned, watch the bridge burn with no regrets/ I’m at my best/ nothing more and nothing less/ I progress and proceed” signifying growth in matters of crisis and shows her growth as an artist.  The blend of beat, lyrics, and her newfound singsong-y chorus (which uses a simple yet effective decrescendo) makes this perfect for long stress relieving drives at night.

  Speaking of crooning on choruses, Keys makes use of it for Asking Me.  With a slinky bassline over mellow percussion, she laments the questions she gets about her everyday life.  She’d rather just smoke without being asked about anything.  This includes her weed habits, which she enjoys as a stress reliever.  The song sequencing is gorgeous so far.  While I don’t smoke, I’d imagine this could be perfect on any stoner playlist.  Next up is Retros, which isn’t a sneakerhead's anthem, despite the title and use of the sample from the Jordan V commercial.  Instead, Keys examines society’s obsession with kicks, observing that “niggas sell their souls for some souls and it’s pitiful.”  While many songs have been released about overindulgence of material things, this might be the only one I can think of that is shoe-specific and timely.

  The grand finale, Ways, wasn’t even supposed to be on the EP initially.  But when a different planned track didn’t materialize in time, this one was repurposed as the closing track.  It’s crazy because I couldn't imagine 11 without it.  The violins in conjunction with the jazz trumpet is pretty clear bellwether for a love song, which is exactly what we get.  In this case, Keys specifically raps about longing for a phone call from a lover, which will have to suffice in lieu of quality time because said lover is busy.  The strife of getting notifications from everyone but that special person is hilariously discussed between verses.  The second verse takes the form of a bitter voicemail.  It sounds purely angry at first but you can hear the longing through the vitriol.  Keys makes the rookie mistake of occasionally packing one too many syllables in each line, but it doesn’t hurt a stream of consciousness song like this.

  This was the last hip hop release of the year that I was looking forward to.  And Keys Era did a stupendous ass job in playing the role of the closer.  Coming from someone who caught on to her from the beginning, I love how she’s made the transition from freestyles to single to a fluid project.  Being that this is an EP, it feels like it’s over too quickly and will have people wanting more.  But what it lacks in minutes it has in structure and quality.  There are no throwaway songs, and each one bleeds into the next while still sounding unique.  Her ability to craft hooks shines through and will be a valuable skill going forward.  And while her flow is still a work in progress at times, you can see that she’s making strides and coming into her own, experimenting with different areas of her voice with winning results.  The next step for her is a long form mixtape (and arguably a video,) which is coming in 2016.  But for now, enjoy Keys Era’s offering of 11 and keep her on your 2016 watch list.

Rating: 4.65 out of 5.

Stream 11 on Soundcloud here.

Listen: Juice - @KeysEra_ ; A Niles P. Joint

Keys Era is not going to slow down anytime soon.  GOOD.  While prepping for the release of her first EP 11 which will be released in December and her eventual 2016 untitled mixtape, she released another gem via SoundCloud.  Juice gives the listener two looks as it uses the relaxed, 90’s inspired beat while the Chester, PA emcee switches up her flow.  Keys spits more nimbly than she has before, which is akin to a pitcher adding a fastball to their arsenal.  The topic of juice holds much weight within the lyrics.  Keys Era is advocating people coming together and sharing their knowledge gained from struggles and life in general with each other.  This can then can be passed to the next generation, ensuring humans are more woke in the future.  She feels that she has said juice and wants to allot it to those around her.  There’s a lot going on in a song that’s a shade over two and a half minutes but it streams excellently.  

On her first song via Soundcloud, Keys Era proclaimed that she was on her lazy shit and now she’s sharing the juice with anyone who wants to listen (which should be everyone because she’s dope.)  Her growth as an artist has been remarkable in a short period of time, and she’s just getting warmed up.  Check out Juice after the break and stay tuned as WTM will have more Keys Era coverage in the future as she releases songs and albums.

Feature: Keys Era (@keysera_); A Niles P. Joint

It’s rare that you get to see an emcee’s career take shape from its inception. I’m not talking jumping on a bandwagon after a mixtape gets publicity on Hip Hop DX.  I’m talking finding out an Instagram friend raps and being up on their career for the first four Soundcloud joints.  Even more rare is finding an emcee that comes from a without much of a hip hop background that’s paving their own way without the help of a crew/collective or cosign from a veteran.

The rapper I’m talking about that fits all of the aforementioned criteria is Keys Era.  She hails from Chester, Pennsylvania; it’s an area that has bred many athletes but no emcees from what I can see.  The budding emcee has been influenced by rap royalty including 2Pac, Big Daddy Kane, ATCQ, Nas, Big L, Lauryn Hill, Mos Def, and also newer rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, and Capital STEEZ.  The last two are noteworthy because despite being from just outside Philly, her sound thus far has been very Brooklyn inspired.  That, coupled with her name might invoke a connotation with Pro Era.  However, her moniker derives from a shortened version of her name along with her love for the golden era from the 90's and the fact that every time she gets on the mic she’s just being her and this is her time.  Her whole aesthetic was influenced by her father who exposed her to the music of hip hop’s golden age as she was growing up.

Now that you have some background, it’s time you meet her music.  Her Soundcloud currently has four tracks.  The first one is “Lazy” which describes the feeling of sloth perfectly over a slinky and carefree beat.  Keys Era utilizes a relaxed flow on this one that oozes out of the speakers/headphones.  Luckily for us, she doesn’t stay on her lazy shit for too long and has more molten lava to spit.  “Brooklyn” actually starts off with a guest verse from Geronimoe but make no mistake this track is owned by Keys.    She rides a vintage head-nodding beat with the precision of a vet.  She goes the freestyle route on “Parents” but you couldn’t tell because she does an exceptional job speaking on parents not understanding rap dreams along with the uncertainty that brings to one’s psyche.  Her most recent aural combination is “Hip Hop (Freestyle)” which showcases her lyrical nimbleness and emphasizes the need to strike while the iron is hot.

Despite being a rookie, Keys Era has more polish than any other new rapper that I’ve heard in recent memory.  Possibly ever.  She has a gift inasmuch as her modus operandi makes you forget that she’s not a veteran and you're not listening to a 90’s rap classic.  She transcends time in that respect.  Any time you’re a new jack can not only bucks current trends but also bring a listener back to the essence of a better era in hip hop and do so with the confidence of a seasoned pro, you put yourself a cut above your peers which has the potential to win fans and respect.  I have utmost confidence that Keys Era has the potential for a long and fruitful career if she continues on her trajectory.

Speaking of which, the fact that she’s showing this much poise and promise so early should be both frightening for other new rappers and intriguing for hip hop heads.  Enjoy the four loosies she’s provided so far.  Get excited for her forthcoming EP “11” which stands for her path number and angel numbers.  Keep an eye out for future WTM articles on her including video premiers, reviews, and hopefully an interview with the young spitter.  She’s creepin’ on a come up, and remember you heard it here first.  Until then, I leave you with words from a new contender in the game and the wise beyond her years Keys Era herself as she said “Spread positivity, angel numbers got me here and our one true creator, always follow your intuition.”