ialive & Height Keech Join Forces for Forthcoming Rapper-producer Album TIMEWAVE ZERO & Cody Jones-directed "THE OUGHTS" Music Video (Cold Rhymes Records)
The Witzard regulars should almost instantly recognize the names "Height Keech" and "ialive," but for those who might not be familiar, here's a quick refresher: Height is a seasoned Underground Hip-Hop rapper-producer, Cold Rhymes Records founder, and 1/3 of Shark Tank, while Donovan "ialive" is a self-proclaimed "rap-singer-songwriter" who's affiliated with fellow Philadelphians Darko The Super (The Hell Hole Store) and Cody Cody Jones (Four to The Floor.) I'm sure ialive & Height's paths have previously crossed within their various East Coast-based Underground Punk-Rap circles and now, they've teamed up for a proper full-length on Height's Cold Rhymes Records; quite simply put, TIMEWAVE ZERO is ialive's rhymes over Height's beats and marks the first time the latter has produced a whole project for someone, aside from himself. Height Keech has been co-producing his own records on-and-off since 2009's Baltimore Highlands, credited to "Height with Friends," and this year's MIND MOVES THE MOUNTAIN was his first fully self-produced solo record. This would, then, effectively make TIMEWAVE ZERO the third Height Keech-produced record of 2017—including Shark Tank's recent fourth album, Dan's House. ialive & Height's first proper rapper-producer collaboration, TIMEWAVE ZERO, will be released Monday, October 30th on Cold Rhymes Records and it appears as though we'll be getting album teasers every Monday until its release. TIMEWAVE ZERO will feature a couple collaborations with rapping friends like Darko The Super on "Psychedelic Primates" and Yikes The Zero, Cody Cody Jones, and Height himself on "The Four-Man Correct Style."
Monday, October 2nd, Height Keech posted this very Facebook status: "This is the cover art for TIMEWAVE ZERO, the next Cold Rhymes Records release. It's a collaboration between ialive and myself. It's his rhymes over my beats. It will be my first time producing a whole project for someone else. The record comes out on Oct. 30th. Sneak peaks and pre-orders start next week," along with the Donovan ialive-designed TIMEWAVE ZERO cover art. The following Monday, October 9th, ialive & Height unleashed the album's first proper audiophonic teaser with "These Days." Dualling as TIMEWAVE ZERO's 13th and final track, "These Days" offers a unique perspective into Height & ialive's newly-minted working relationship. Height tediously places a crisp, horn-led beat beneath ialive's "These Days" rhymes, which echo Asher Roth's post-RetroHash output and ialive himself describes the album's contained content as "drawn from various points of my life and observations in others lives. I think a lot of it has to do with our relationship to one another (as people.)" It appears as though, through their first collaborative endeavor, both ialive & Height Keech have been able to express themselves unlike any of their previous projects—free of any constrains or preconceived expectations. Finally, this past Monday, October 16th, Cold Rhymes Records let loose their latest TIMEWAVE ZERO teaser by way of "THE OUGHTS" music video. Directed by ialive's Four to The Floor touring partner and fellow Philly-based emcee Cody Jones, "THE OUGHTS" is a simple, yet effective fisheye-oriented shot of ialive spittin' his laid-back rhymes; meanwhile, a scene of party-goers including The Hell Hole Store emcee Darko The Super, STATIC BROTHERS' Quinn AKA Riff Quantum, and horned rapper Torito ensues, while ialive appears largely unfazed throughout the on-screen festivities and assorted shenanigans.
