Philly’s ialive & andrew. Share Collaborative Split Release Damn The Man / Save The Empire (Swimming Costume)

andrew. & ialive AKA Donovan Days (CREDIT: photographer unknown / SOURCE: @andrewwwdotnet on X)

“Damn the man… save The Empire!” is a line famously uttered by Ethan Embry’s character, Marc, within 1995 cult classic film, Empire Records. Now, let me just preface this by saying Empire Records is one of my all-time favorite films! To my knowledge, when I first saw it as a kid and later, as a teenager and eventually, an adult, I always thought this was just a big/popular film everyone had seen. However, according to Wikipedia, “the film was a severe flop, making only $150,800 in its opening weekend, and by the end of its run in North America, it earned a total of $303,841 against its $10 million budget. Regardless, Empire Records is a classic film chronicling “24 hours in the lives of the young employees at Empire Records when they all grow up and become young adults, thanks to each other and the manager. They all face the store joining a chain store with strict rules.” Empire Records stars a cast of then-relatively unknown actors including Rory Cochrane, Anthony LaPaglia, Debi Mazar, Robin Tunney, Liv Tyler, Johnny Whitworth, Renée Zellweger, and more. It boasts an equally awesome 90’s Alt. Rock/Indie Rock soundtrack with blistering and emotive sections from the likes of AC/DC, The Adolescents, Better Than Ezra, Edwyn Collins, The Cranberries, Evan Dando (of The Lemonheads,) Gin Blossoms, GWAR, Quicksand, and Toad The Wet Sprocket. Anyways, fantastic film and if you’ve never seen it, GO FIND A COPY OF EMPIRE RECORDS RIGHT NOW AND WATCH IT!!!

Damn The Man / Save The Empire is also the title of the latest and first full-force collaborative release from long-time friends and cohorts, ialive & andrew.. ialive (Donovan Phillips) hung up his rapper/producer and solo artist hat(s) after 2020’s Cool Code & Don with fellow rapper/producer Cody Cody Jones. Phillips soon re-emerged as Donovan Days, his slightly more Experimental Pop/Krautrock/Psychedelic Rock-leaning solo project and works behind the scenes as part of Height Keech’s own Cold Rhymes Records. Phillips is also operates one-half of each The Necessary People and The Hell Hole with Keech and Darko The Super, respectively. andrew. (rapper andrew.) is a fellow East Coast rapper/producer, who’s effectively one-half of sleepingdogs with Jesse The Tree. andrew. has somehow managed to singlehandedly drop at least 10 full-lengths and EP’s from 2019-2023(!!?) boasting loose affiliations with labels and imprints such as RED DOOR RECORDINGS, Cold Rhymes Records, U DON’T DESERVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ART, Chong Wizard Records, Three Dollar Pistol Music, and Swimming Costume. andrew. has worked alongside and released collaborative efforts with the likes of The Necessary People, Zilla Rocca, steel tipped dove, Jesse The Tree, Darko The Super, Pagez, Height Keech, Brian Ennals, Slick Devious, C$Burns, and KILLVONGARD, but has mostly self-produced the bulk of his expansive discography.

So, while Damn The Man / Save The Empire is their first proper collaborative effort, andrew. & ialive/Donovan Days have been collaborating and releasing music together since 2019; their previously released joint efforts—I’m pretty sure I caught all of them!—include select ialive-produced tracks from andrew.’s Still In Trouble, andrew.’s W.O.T.W. fully produced by The Necessary People (again, Height Keech & ialive,) “Drewplex” from ialive’s I’ll Wait Forever, “Live, Laugh, Love” from ialive & Cody Cody Jones’ Cool Code & Don, “Unnecessary Evil” with Sudo Williams, Torito & Darko The Super from The Necessary People’s These Are The Necessary People, super-duper posse cut “Flying Colors” with defcee, Zilla Rocca, Jymmy Kafka, Bloodmoney Perez, Jesse The Tree, PremRock, Rich Jones, Cody Cody Jones & ALASKA, “exercise” from andrew. & steel tipped dove’s the trumpet's obviously been drinking, and several co-production/co-writing credits together on andrew.’s Sad Dance Songs / I Don't Know with ialive being credited as Donovan Days.

Earlier this week, andrew. (@andrewwwdotnet) shared a Tweet on X, which read: “Happy Monday, folks! In honor of @ialive_’s birthday, we give you a brand new split project. 10 tracks with me producing for him, him producing for me. [Featuring] @eddielogix & @jessethetree401. Hope this helps start the work week correctly, enjoy & share <3.” ialive soon returned to X noting he had effectively been off social media for the past 2.5 years, but “signed back on to tell you one time and one time only about me (sic) and @andrewwwdotnet’s new project, DAMN THE MAN // SAVE THE EMPIRE, out today.” As mentioned previously, the Damn The Man / Save The Empire Bandcamp page notes that “Both andrew. & ialive have been collaborating since [2019’s] Still In Trouble [on Cold Rhymes Records]. They have done numerous features and recordings together but never a full project. Inspired by Punk splits of the early aughts, this project is a split format where each artist produces for the other’s half. The resulting 10 tracks are familiar yet unexpected ranging emotional whimsy and dark humor. Please, enjoy.” ialive additionally shared via a Bandcamp Notification email that “I wasn’t sure I would do another solo Rap song, but my pal andrew. got me inspired and working again.”

ialive said it was really fun to make these songs and he was happy to be back after a four-year self-impose sabbatical/semi-retirement from rapping and producing Hip-Hop. I reached out to ialive, via email, and asked “So, what are some of the Punk records and splits that inspired you to record and release Damn The Man / Save The Empire in this particular format?” ialive kindly explained, “We started trading beats once I finished my studio build. Once we had a few tracks, we thought a split felt right. We talked about how D.I.Y. Punk bands would often do this to relieve costs, but the aesthetic is tight. Alkaline Trio/Hot Water Music’s Split EP was our main reference point. Additionally, Swimming Costume is a new label running out of Philly. They approached andrew. about doing something and he and Phillips felt as though this particular release was the perfect opportunity. Damn The Man / Save The Empire tactfully incorporates themes, ideas, and even audio snippets culled from the film itself peppered across both ialive & andrew.’s respective sides. andrew. says the split is for fans of "fun, ice cream, general dope sh*t, I Think You Should Leave, current events, chocolate, rhymes, beats, sings, music, awesome people, and more fun!” ialive & andrew.’s Damn The Man / Save The Empire is now available for purchase and streaming exclusively on Swimming Costume’s Bandcamp page. Hopefully, this just the first of many Punk-style split collaborative releases from ialive & andrew.!