Lando Chill Black Ego

stream Lando Chill's "Dah Vapor," see him in NYC with Miho Hatori

LA-via-Chicago rapper Lando Chill is releasing his new album Black Ego on October 12 via Mello Music Group (pre-order), and we’re premiering the second single from it, “Dah Vapor” (ft. Swansuit), which follows “Peso” (ft. Quelle Chris and REY). The song is impossible to pigeonhole. It’s got elements of glitchy IDM, airy R&B, hardcore hip hop, and more, and it’s constantly changing throughout its 4-minute running time. Lando Chill has a real sense of artistic songcraft, and he’s also a beast on the mic, which is very evident on this song. Here’s what he says about it:

Black culture is popular culture; with versions of various racial caricatures and appropriated stereotypes within every facet of our entertainment. There is a pure difference between reverence and obsession, and on ‘Dah Vapor’; produced by Lasso and featuring Swansuit, we delve deep into that paradigm. We as a consumer base have varying levels of societal awareness in regards to the appropriation of black, brown, & queer culture, and waver between accepting it as a causality of our progression toward representation and true equality or as an aspect of colorblind or supremacist ideology rearing itself through the whitewashing of our history and the degradation of civil rights. In ‘Dah Vapor’, the exploration beyond the surface level of appropriation searches for authenticity; or lack-thereof, and the commodification of what starts as cultural & regional distinction but morphs into either a commodifiable flashpoint or misconceptions built from ignorance. We, as a people, are an untapped potential; a spout controlled by gatekeepers who search for the flavor of the month, and by the shackles surrounding our own perception of self.

Listen below.

Lando currently has two upcoming shows, one on each coast: LA’s Satellite on September 25 and NYC’s Elsewhere (Zone One) on October 5. The NYC show is a strong double bill with local support from Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori.