Vancouver-based recording artist Kresnt has been waving the flag for the Western hip-hop scene with four LPs in the span of two years. With over 20 million streams worldwide, and co-signs from major producers such as Ken Lewis, Kresnt maintains his independent status as he pushes the status-quo for an indie artist in 2021.
Not only did he graduate University last year during the COVID-19 pandemic, but his label The Lunar Cycle—which he co-founded—dropped back-to-back albums in just the last year alone. His recent release EVERYBODY KNOWS: REFILL features upcoming Canadian talent such as vbnd, FouKi, Roney, 2021 JUNO Award-nominee Eric Reprid, Isaac Zale, KNOWN. and underground trap soul artists, NO1-NOAH and MAJILLA.
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This time, the Afghan-Canadian singer/rapper/producer connects with labelmate Alon.Wav for Vancouver’s latest anthem. A switch up from his lyrical hard-hitting bangers, Kresnt puts together smooth vocals for the hook: “2 four 0’s, straight from the liquor store // the city where you gotta be rich, To be thought as poor.”
“WELCOME TO THE 604” comes with an accompanying sci-fi music video (already at 80,000 views) to pay homage to alien-themed films such as Village of the Damned and Arrival (as well as a continuation from Alon’s
“Phantom” music video and Kresnt’s “Soul Search” video). “WELCOME TO THE 604” was directed and edited by Ronan Bryson, with VFX handled by Taha. Bryson and Kresnt’s manager Kane Dabir, teamed up to write the treatment for the visual which features models Grace Serrambana and Anisa Brewster.
“Vancouver is a city full of immigrants, you can see the diversity in this melting pot of different nationalities,” Kresnt explained in a press release about the new single. “I wanted the visuals to match the dark euphoric sounds of the song while showing the world that we lit in the 604. You call us foreigners, better yet Aliens from The Lunar Cycle. The whole city is on the come up, shout-out to everyone making their mark and pushing the scene forward.”
Alon.Wav is another Vancouver-native who is emerging on the hip-hop scene The Filipino-Canadian artist made waves last year with his debut project, new.wav featuring standout single “to.the.moon” with Ryan Lore. Alon’s virtual cyborg style blends Asian art in a simulated perspicacity with trap soul sounds to complete the experience.
“Kresnt first showed me the hook, and I just went off that,” said Alon. “The video really showcased what we were going for, visuals went crazy. Shout out the team for making all of this happen.”
“WELCOME TO THE 604” is HipHopCanada’s Song of the Day. The single is available on Spotify and various other digital streaming platforms via The Lunar Cycle. You can also find the track on our official Spotify playlist, Canadian Fresh.
You can follow @Kresnt and @alon.wav on Instagram.
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