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‘Lake Effect’ is Making for a Cold Summer as Sango and Waldo Join Forces

 Evan Dale // July 29, 2021 

Sango + Waldo - Lake Effect-01.jpg

One: a dynamically mellow composer of the modern method, infusing everything he touches with the subtle intricacies of his signature production. The other: a lyrically pervasive wordsmith curating spellbinding verse to the thought-provoking mark of his mastery. Together, Sango and Waldo craft Lake Effect, spurring a new age for the pointedly poetic leanings of modernly minimalist, albeit at times explosively experimental hip-hop. From its opening moments, in fact, the project is an exhibition of just how new experimentation in hip-hop can be, and just how much of that trialing, when juxtaposed by a particularly timeless, lyrically oriented rap delivery like Waldo’s, comes from the genius of production. And Sango – the producer – is exactly that: a genius.

 

The Seattle-based producer with ties, too, to Michigan alongside Waldo, has long been a curator of one-of-a-kind soundscapes that breathe of the crisp, rain-ridden grey of the Pacific Northwest, or the same sort of grey that comes from Winters in the Great Lakes region. A keystroke strewn progression is never doing too much to distract from the underlining composition and overarching addition of a rapper or vocalist. Instead, Sango’s collaborators weave in and out of the cool of his beats by way of also doing less as a way to do more. Just check out his 2018 masterclass on the minimal backdrop: In The Comfort Of. No tricks here. Not simple either, but minimally pervasive, the scene that Sango sets is always one that requires of its vocalists and poets, a subdued confidence in their raw ability. And Waldo – the rapper – is exactly that: a confident poet.

 

The Grand Rapids, Michigan native exudes the charm of his Great Lakes upbringing, but more importantly and notedly, perennially channels the storied history that Midwestern rappers have long brought to the conscious arena. Lyrically dominant and socially skewed, the straightforward, no-bullshit kind of approach that Waldo brings to modern hip-hop is one that does nothing but highlight the forefront meaning of his poeticism. A street poet, through and through. For some context, check out the entirety of his 2019 album, Be Ever Wonderful, where even the most energy-ridden tracks like Reality Check revolve around the thought behind the punchlines.

 

It’s a kismet match, really. Both Sango and Waldo so strongly adhere to the tradition of strength in their respective cleanness – in the strength that their respective musical lanes draw from their most foundational pillars (keys and high hats; poetry and flow) – that together, their collaborative Lake Effect is an unforced, ice-cold exhibition of just how potent tradition in hip-hop can be when explored through a modernist lens. As was their 2019 collaborative project with Savon, Grove, which zeniths at the intersection of Waldo’s poetic introspection and the bass-heavy chime and synth beat by way of the two producers on hand. With Lake Effect, at an even more balanced level of composition per the project’s production coming almost entirely at the hands of Sango with collaborative efforts here and there from Savon and from ESTA on Caesar’s Palace, each track of the 16 are pointedly dominant in their study of just such an intersectional relationship between producer and rapper; DJ and MC. Each track of the 16 could seamlessly stand in for any other, boasting a liquid flow from the beginning of the project to the end. And yet, each track also bursts of independent identity, emerging at the steadily experimental hand of Sango, a complex web of collaborators, and Waldo’s responses to all of the meandering foundations underfoot.

 

Case and point: Blade. A sampled introduction gives way to an atmospheric, high-hat beat from Sango before Waldo dives headfirst into his fiery, signature flow. But then, a curveball by the name of Jay Anthony. The off-kilter, offbeat, jazzy flow of the Richmond, California rapper also brings a change of pace from Sango who adopts a more lowkey, piano-strewn bit of composition to allow Jay Anthony’s own brand of funky bizarre to take center stage. And then, the three-part composition enters its final form, progressing out of its first stint with Waldo for another unbothered and steadfast rap attack from the Grand Rapids Grim Reaper of grammatical reverence.

 

There’s beauty in the confident expectation a listener finds in the flow of Waldo. And there’s certainly beauty that his compatriots, like Sango and Jay Anthony, find in it, too. To them – to Lake Effect at large – Waldo is a point of tether to reality where they can anchor the greater part of a project, allowing their creative experimentation to flourish wildly. And for Waldo, Sango’s oft mild and steady composition finding creative exuberance in his own consistency also allows him to grow as a rapper.

 

In his second project with Sango, Waldo’s position in the project feels even more dominant and necessary than it did in 2019’s Grove. Here, his raps are omnipotent; thought-provoking and lyrical sure, but even more noteworthy, the brash energy and confidence with which they are delivered.

 

For the full Lake Effect to be felt, listen to the entire project top to bottom, and see how Waldo and Sango’s unique relationship with another find one-of-a-kind footing amongst the larger modern hip-hop scene. But if you’re really after a taste that will get you hooked for more, recommendations go to the album’s final four-track push where collaborators are pushed aside, and instead a listener is immersed in the grungy, experimental, yet unendingly clean hip-hop of producer and rapper, DJ and MC, Sango and Waldo.

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