Defcee, CRASHprez & knowsthetime Join Forces As "Midwest Hip-Hop Super-group" defprez for SUNDAYS NO.1 EP (self-released)
First time I had heard Defcee rhyme was on "Angel Dust (Leak Brothers 2)" from Zilla Rocca & Small Professor's 2017 URBNET debut, Good Luck With That, as Career Crooks. I've since delved deep into Adam Levin—no, not Maroon 5's shirtless frontman!—AKA Defcee's catalog, which now spans six albums and EP's dating as far back as 2007's One Eye Open. We recently featured Defcee's December 2018 project, A Mixtape As God Intended, Vol. 1 right here, across the pages of The Witzard. It's my first newly-released album-length exposure to Defcee's music, as released on Chicago-based Machine Wash Music; a phenomenal 20-minute display of what Defcee has to offer displayed across one single track, which features an array of well-known beats originally used by Drake, Rick Ross, Nipsey Hussle, 6LACK, The Alchemist, Goodie Mob, Group Home, and Nasty Nas.
A Mixtape As God Intended, Vol. 1, also, features a number of original beats nestled within as produced by frequent Defcee collaborators goldenbeets, WHOLESQUAD, and knowsthetime. Now, Defcee has returned, once again, with his SUNDAYS NO.1 EP with CRASHprez & knowsthetime collectively billed as defprez, an apparent allusion to beloved Conscious Hip-Hop crew, dead prez. While putting together our feature on A Mixtape As God Intended, Vol. 1, Defcee mentioned he was "currently working on a two separate projects with CRASHprez & knowsthename as defprez, as well as a 2019 full-length entitled Unlegendary entirely produced by goldenbeets." It appears as though SUNDAYS NO.1 is, in fact, one of those three aforementioned then-forthcoming Defcee/defprez releases. However, now, it appears as though SUNDAYS NO.1 is merely the first in a planned trilogy of EP's. defprez's SUNDAYS NO.1 EP is currently available to stream or download exclusively from knowsthetime's personal Bandcamp page, for the time being.
"SUNDAY NO. 1 is the first extended play [EP] in a trilogy from The Midwest-based super-group known as defprez: Defcee of River Forest, IL & CRASHprez of Fort Washington, MD, produced by knowsthetime of Milwaukee, WI. The project's inception comes from a simple invitation to work: Def, spending a weekend at Ca$hout Studios in late Summer 2018, called on CRASH to lay a verse on a remix. That song became the only vocal track on knowsthetime's Summer's End mixtape. The following day—"SUNDAY NO.1"—the trio crafted three records in a marathon afternoon: raps written from scratch, beats made fresh from the crates. When long-time friends and collaborators converge in the proper closet booth, the results are unprecedented, indeed!
defprez is an exercise in immediacy, in trusting the process to locate one's truth. Each session is done in one run, foregoing polish or perfectionism in favor of distilling the artists in a moment. Defcee, the grizzled educator with incisive wit and battle-primed dexterity, aims every detail like a gut punch. Whether the guide through your traumas or the villain to your artistic efforts, he intends to be felt, no matter what. CRASHprez, the vigilant citizen with many feelings and more mediums, reaches a rare form of unhinged. He leans further into himself to find the light and takes the time to bask in his bliss. knowsthetime, the reclusive genius unbound by genre, chops the soul without mercy. In mere hours, he achieves a timely sound through timeless means. SUNDAY NO.1 is a spontaneous romp through memory and melancholy, spawned from the labor of an "accidental" Rap group. Preservation of the form, progression of the craft; raps and beats and nothing more."
- defprez (@defcee, @crashprez & @knowsthetime)
