Wakai‘s thoughts often feel deliberately coded. Poetic in cadence yet stoic and firm in delivery, the content he shares seems to phrase through your hands as if it’s fog when you try to grasp it. Wakai desires your attention, but only those who are sincere in understanding his perspective receive reign to rove around in his thoughts.
“Avant Garde” is no exception. The production feels hazy, a disembodied vocal floats above the snare before descending on a loop like one of those hand-made paper planes you carry to imitate its flight in the skies. Drums are snappy, adding harshness to the Baton Rouge rapper’s delivery. Wakai’s best attribute is his slickness. He weaves between rhyme schemes and cadences quickly, making rhythmic detours feel like scenic routes. Lines like “Burning my fingertips from hitting roach/ travel team, trampoline/into the smoke/ keep a dream/, but I need/ from what I’ve seen is seasonal/” showcases his cadence, his inflection, are the inklings to master the puzzle. He just wants to you to be at ease while you figure it out.
