Four years after the release of his last project, Tempo, Chicago-based artist, producer and multi-instrumentalist Phoelix dropped his third solo project this week. It’s called W/E, and is available on all major streaming platforms.
Since June, Phoelix has dropped every song from W/E each week as a single, creating buzz before the EP’s release on July 26. Phoelix is blessed with many talents; he’s a top-notch producer and multi-instrumentalist who recently earned a Grammy Award for his work as co-executive producer on bassist, singer-songwriter and composer Esperanza Spalding’s album, Songwrights Apothecary Lab. He’s also secured his first gold record for production and background vocals on Saba’s track “Photosynthesis” from the West Side native’s 2016 project, Bucket List Project. This year, he wrote and produced “The Sign,” the first track off Lizzo’s new album, Special, which dropped July 15.
With W/E, which stands for “whatever,” Phoelix wants the EP to reflect the hectic energy that he goes through on the daily as a musician; going from doing sessions in Los Angeles and then in Houston to working on being a music director for other artists. W/E is sample of his capabilities.
As a multi-talented artist, Phoelix has the ability to sing as well as rap. His single “The Left” is a short groove. Although less than two minutes, it has a feel-good vibe that highlights Phoelix’s unique rhyming schemes and cadences when he chooses to rhyme.