Every week, Milwaukee Music Premiere connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, send an email to Program Director Dori Zori .
Rapper NilexNile has been on a roll this year, releasing fresh videos for “ Enroute” and the SXSW-clip-laden “ Yute,” as well as playing prime slots at Summer Soulstice and Brady Street Festival. On top of that, he recently announced his next big gig at Bay View Bash on Sept. 17.
On his latest standalone single, “Paper Route,” NilexNile demonstrates that magical balance he possesses: aggressively poised in his delivery in one instance and smooth as butter in the next. On his newest, Nile floats more melodic, but his fully realized delivery still punches over the top — perfect for these hazy, end-of-summer days when moving fast isn’t a thing but getting things done while you can is.
Name-dropping go-getter athlete Michael Phelps, “Ditch that paper route” is chanted like a manifestation mantra as Nile shares the trials and tribulations of “pursuing a route to success while reflecting on the atmosphere in which one had/has to overcome to get there.”
Enlisting Milwaukee rapper Huey V to collaborate after meeting him this past March at SXSW, Nile put “Paper Route” to, well, paper in April. “I woke up one random day in April and felt inspired to write about my surroundings,” he explained. Jazz, mellow pop and R&B fluidly fill in the sinewy framework on this inspired, collaborative, late-summer jam.
Listen to "Paper Route" here and on all streaming platforms.