Studying Abroad

What’s good everyone? I know, I know it’s been such a long time (roughly five months) since you’ve read a brand new, satisfying article from me but your boy needed a break— especially with this pandemic. 

Since entering the airline industry last year, I planned on traveling as much as I could in order to enhance my level of artistic offerings. Unfortunately, Covid hit us pretty hard so all of my wild excursions were placed on hold. Despite all of the “darkness”, my spirit remained intact and my creativity blossomed. I recently released my super reliable #FrendyTote—cop here—and even conjured up a slew of other fresh FRNDY LMRN apparel. Another artist that stayed afloat during the worldwide travel ban is Masego.

“I feel like the lack of travel [during the pandemic] kind of made me lean into travel because that’s when I was my most creative,” says the multi-talented instrumentalist as he explains the inspiration behind his latest EP to Apple Music. What’s the name of the project, you might ask? Well, it’s called Studying Abroad (double entendre, don’t even ask me how). The EP, consisting of six eargasmic tracks, intertwines Masego’s past relationships and affinity for flying.

Be sure to listen to Studying Abroad during your next visualization session. For now, peep the video of my favorite song from the playlist featuring Cactus Jack’s own Don Toliver below. Oh, and don’t forget to renew your passport!

Don Toliver Has No Idea

Most of us are familiar with the popular idiom: “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” but in the case of Travis Scott and Don Toliver, the tree we’re talking about is actually a Cactus. I’m not insinuating that Scott’s’ Cactus Jack signee is his “son” in any shape or form—they just share similar tones, and a superb knack for conjuring up mesmerizing hooks.

Last year, Toliver absolutely murdered his guest appearance on “Can’t Say” from his label mate’s mega-successful album Astroworld, which left us wanting more.  Fortunately, we were blessed with a new track from the rising spitter in the form of a guitar-laden lullaby entitled, “Best You Had,” earlier this month. Now, he’s back with another chune that’s even better (in my humble opinion), rightfully called “No Idea” because, apparently, we have absolutely no clue how good this kid really is!

The Wondagurl-produced single is a dark, yet bouncy bop which spotlights Don’s smoother-than-a-baby’s-bottom flow and surprising singing range.  Check out its Grant Singer-directed visual below: