Underground Kings at The NOVO DTLA

The new age of online music has been met with a variety of artists, each stemming a different  experimental sound from all corners of the world – with SoundCloud being the main source of discovery for new talent in this industry. Through all the different musical personalities online, one group stands as the Kings of the new age of underground music.

Forming around 2013 after the rapid rise and fall of the Raider Klan empire – the four creatives: Bones, Xavier Wulf, Chris Travis, and Eddy Baker, would make the brave move to Bones’ brother, now manager of the four, Elliot’s garage in Southern California where they would spend the hot summer recording songs that would later reach several million SoundCloud plays and organizing packed warehouse shows that would shake fans to their core.  They would then become the Seshollowaterboyz – the most influential powerhouse of online music who would then set the blueprint of true independence in todays new age industry. These are today’s underground Kings.

Xavier and Chris hailing from East Memphis, Tennessee, Bones emerging from Michigan to Southern California, and Eddy representing Ontario and Los Angeles – bring a plethora of sounds varying from the gritty south, to slow melancholic tunes, hard trap music, ethereal earth-like songs, even punk-metal and  blues-jazz – they cannot be put in one box. From topics and themes ranging from death, destruction, drug-deals, blades, and blunts –  to love, life, creation, friendship, the outdoors, cars, even drinking water – these four provide a surplus of emotions to whoever listens to their wide range of music – a whopping 114 mixtapes and EPs between the four artists across a span of about six years.

Years later after their creation in their home city of LA, the group held a show this past month on the 13th at the Novo, Downtown Los Angeles. A show that was met with first time supporters as well as many of the original warehouse fans. Outside, lines wrapped around the second story of the Microsoft building, several lines on the first floor, and several more lines outside the venue on the sidewalk. Entering the venue, I was met with hoards of fans swarmed at the merchandise booth and filling seats both on the floor and in the balcony. Once we were seated, I felt the angst of the fans anticipating the artists’ arrival in the air, not to mention the ever-so-thick blunt smoke that lingered, with Three Six Mafia and Lil B playing back to back as seats filled.

When the show started, bass thumped and blunts sparked as the four performers brought the most charismatic energy to an audience that I have ever seen. The crowd on the floor resembled an ocean of people moving and swaying to the menacing beat of each track performed. Throughout the night, the chemistry between artist and audience was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Each track performed was as if there was a direct line of emotion between the stage and the floor as they played their variations of genres – bringing out an acoustic guitarist for one of the songs and playing a head banging crowd moshing trap song promptly after, all the while getting the same amazing emotional response from the crowd each time. Between every couple of songs, the artists reminded the crowd of their grave importance to each artist, and how grateful they were for them to be a part of the independent journey in the new era of music. They reminded them of the love that was there from their original warehouse shows, up through that very moment.

From sold out U.S. and European tours, a team full of videographers, musicians, producers, and graphic designers, their own retail stores and clothing lines, their own sneakers, automobile shows, hundreds of millions of collective online plays and streams, and 114 projects released together online – these four individuals have shown the results of what comes from a genuine work ethic and creating something from nothing from the ground up. No signatures, no label contracts or meetings, no handshakes, just pure independence. Bones, Xavier Wulf, Chris Travis, and Eddy Baker have set the blueprint for what it means to be their own boss in a new era of music where major label talent is ever-so-slowly becoming an endangered species in regards to the loyalty of fan bases and true grit in their work ethic. These four are the definitive example of true independent success in today’s music industry.

Bones – https://soundcloud.com/teamsesh

Xavier Wulf – https://soundcloud.com/xavierwulf

Chris Travis – https://soundcloud.com/christravis

Eddy Baker – https://soundcloud.com/eddybaker

Elliot O’Connor, Management – https://www.instagram.com/elliottoconnor

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