Maryland’s hip-hop impresario K-0tic Couture has just released a new EP in collaboration with producer tha one who trevs, entitled Hey Hello Hi. The album marks the first release for tha one who trev‘s own Unknowne Landes label, and a defiant shot across the bow for those in the hip-hop community.
Young Talent
Hey Hello Hi showcases the lyrical talent, creativity, and attitude of Couture over the monster beats of songs like Shades, Don’t Give Up, the title track Hey Hello Hi, and the summer club anthem FTBS (Fuck The Bull Shit). This is new school hip hop at its most creative; apparently the title of the album comes from the text transcription created by Google VOIP when K-0tic beat-boxed the beat in a voicemail to ‘trevs.
Long Working History
While this may be the first release for Unknowne Landes, Couture and producer the one who trevs actually have a very history of working together. We spoke to ‘trevs about the release:
K-0tic Couture and I are both from Kent County, Maryland so I knew who he was growing up but he’s some years younger than me so we were never in the same school and never really got to hang out. It was on a visit home after moving to Toronto that we started talking about music and have been working together since then. In those 5 years we’ve done mixtapes, singles, videos, remixes, and live shows in DC, Baltimore, Philly, and our hometown. This is our first release with all original production, and both of our skill sets have improved so much over time that I’m really excited to put it out there.
Minor Threat
Of note is a rather ambitious reworking of the Minor Threat song Straight Edge. Trev explained:
I brought forward the idea of covering “Straight Edge” by Minor Threat because neither of us drink or do drugs, and where we come from the general feeling of the youth is there’s not much else to do around there but get wasted. That, and I’m just getting really tired of the constant lyrical focus on drug use in modern hip-hop (even if the beats are dope!). Really though, I think that is part if the reason that we work so well together, because we’re both on the same level that way, but we also love all our friends who aren’t always sober!
First Unknowne Landes release
K-0tic Couture‘s Hey Hello Hi is available now through the Unknowne Landes Bandcamp page.
