Ifé Neuro: Butterfly Genesis Listening Party
Enter Ifé Neuro. Ifé (a.k.a Chevious Smith) is an unassuming dude, young with an air of beyond-his-years wisdom. I wasn’t sure what to expect upon arriving to the intimate room where he housed the listening party for his new project, Butterfly Genesis (available on streaming platforms via Sunday Diner Records). The vibe was great, the team poured drinks and the crowd mingle-danced happily. I thought the night was pretty decent. Then Ifé played his first song.
Ifé and crew celebrate Butterfly Genesis.
It opened with a rich, textured beat that sounded like an SP machine morphing into a transformer. The crunchy, layered drums were pulled together by a hard synth melody that perfectly underscored the artist’s opening bars. From that moment on, I was hooked. Ifé narrated as his DJ proceeded to play tracks that were as experimental and raw in nature as Earl Sweatshirt’s recent work. The instrumentals, produced by Sahar’s Greenery, Eahwee, Fushou, and K-Nite 13, could have convinced me J Dilla came back to life as a cyborg. Ifé’s verses on these beats were open and raw without hitting the common tropes most “honest” rappers opt for. We discussed his vocal inspirations, and he named Mos Def and Q-Tip. The depth and substance present in his verses indicates that he has been a longtime fan of these legends and their contemporaries.
“If Ifé does not make waves with his project, it’s simply because it hasn’t reached enough ears.”
“Rents Due” was lyrically my favorite track. A moody boom-bap beat with a beautiful trumpet loop set the stage for his verses, which earnestly discussed his struggle to stay afloat financially. “Oneness” was probably the best track overall. Replete with dope bars, wavey synth melodies and crunchy-as-granola drums, it serves as proof of Neuro’s originality as an artist. His ability to rap melodically shines through in this track, which sets it apart from his 90s-hip-hop-esque delivery on most of the album. His ability to form vocal melodies likely stems from his time spent in church and school choirs throughout his youth. Someone yelled, “you a genius!” right before his set started, and this wasn’t much of an exaggeration (especially considering he only has two years of serious rap work under his belt). If Ifé does not make waves with his project, it’s simply because it hasn’t reached enough ears. I can’t wait to hear his future work. Look out for his upcoming releases, “Alchemy” and a collaborative project called “Mama Raised me”.