Finals’ first video premiere (double hammer emoji)! From the legendary PTP camp (relevant Finals interview [here](https://finals.blog/posts/The-GENG-PTP-Interview)) comes the the FLY visuals to King Vision Ultra’s “[Fangs](https://algierstheband.bandcamp.com/track/fangs-with-desde),” which was embedded in this blog post at the same time as it was taken off “unlisted” status on YouTube.

Shot in the industrial basement of the LES’ Abrons Arts Center, this utterly NYC affair was directed by Shenaia Ramsey and features rapper Desde. I like how Desde raps flanked by pipes, concrete, and PTP crew, with Ramsey’s location and lenswork vaguely recalling the urban claustrophobic experience of Method Man’s “Bring the Pain,” and the scene literally representing the underground. And shoutout flex dancer Ski, whose moves are perfect for an especially serpentine song from KING VISION ULTRA’s 2023 (re)mixtape/album [*SHOOK WORLD*](https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/algiers-king-vision-ultra-shook-shook-world-interview). 

Watch the video, and check out what KVU (aka GENG PTP), Ramsey, and Desde had to say about it, the music, and what’s next for PTP. And def check for all of their work going forward. I'll add that I saw Desde perform a bunch of KVU-produced tracks recently and it was crazy! Beats tectonic, raps all-darts. That’s all I’ll say on that. 

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**Desde**

**Whats your favorite bar on "Fangs"? Why?**

“*Airheads seek asylum in the sky / so why should I fight my gravitational pull, if pigs could fly too?*” 

That’s my favorite bar because it’s loaded lol! But very simple still. At the root of it I’m asking: why would I pull away from my grounding to join you being distant and running away from the grounding essentially, when the impossible can be possible? 

If “pigs can fly,” I imagine anything can come true. I don’t want to be in the air and unfocused and gazing into space when the reality is right in front of me.
 
If anything can come true I want parts! I want my wildest dreams to be possible and I want to make it happen. 

**How is your album with GENG coming and are there any themes developing on it so far?**

It’s coming! Slow and steady. We’re making it gem by gem. 

Honestly I suck at writing about my own themes lol! Everything is thematic by nature but it’s always hard for me to pinpoint it with words. I’d ask others who listen what do they hear the themes being? What stands out to them, what ties do they make listening to the music?

I think it’s because all the themes I’m writing about are currently being lived through. I’m tryna understand them myself. 

--

**KING VISION ULTRA (GENG PTP)**

**Where did the sounds come from on this music? Idk if that’s guitar, idk if that’s tambourine…the beat sounds like a rattlesnake.** 

hahaha i'm def not about to whosample myself to death but the shit is crazy flipped and i think it all comes from only 2 sources. the main chunk of it I chopped in like 2017/2018, originally with some totally different drums, from one of my favorite albums of all time. for the version Desde got, I had removed the drums and layered those sounds with something that i literally sampled and then broke down into stems - so it's not even a standard "drum break." i wanted to expand on the effect of that tambourine... it def sounds like a rattlesnake which is why i suggested "Fangs" as the title in response to hearing what Desde wrote to it ... specifically after "your teeth don't hang low..." like, "bet... that connected the dots."

**What’s next for PTP as far as spring/summer shows and releases?**

at this moment, the label release schedule is set for a new album every month til November... a lot of surprises and [*RESIST...*](https://purpletapepedigree.bandcamp.com/album/resist-colonial-power-by-any-means-necessary) comp alumni haha. Plus a book or two.  Show-wise, in June, I'll be in Philly and Atlanta with Dreamcrusher as Centenny Gzzz...plus DJ'ing one night in NYC which is something I rarely do. Amani doing a ton of work with STILL/MOVING. H31R just came back from UK/EU. Dis Fig is touring with The Body. YATTA is back in NYC.  There's a lot of us and a lot happening. I'm personally organizing less in terms of shows and more focused on screenings and space activations with the PTP Archival Coalition. More community markets too. Stay tapped in, you heard.

--

**Shenaia Ramsey**

**What did you want to accomplish with this video?**

Overall, I really wanted to bring the raw, and gritty feel to life that the song “Fangs” provides. Also, to collaborate with GENG, Desde, and PTP as a whole to make sure their ideas were included too, and I think we did that very well. I plugged the homie Ski in because he's just a crazy dancer all around which also really matched with the rawness of the song-- I really wanted some crazy movements in it to create an airy, spooky feel to compliment Desde’s rhymes.

In the beginning, when I initially was proposed with the idea to do the music video, off rip I was thinking flickering strobe lights, a dark space, dark figures/shadows, and the inclusion of the train because you can hear a scene of the train passing in the song, on top of Desde mentioning it in one of their lyrics. All in all, I am very happy with the outcome of the video, I believe I accomplished everything I wanted to, and I'm so very thankful for everyone involved.

**What was it like shooting in the Abrons Arts Center’s basement?**

Mannnnn, shooting in the Abrons Arts Center in the basement was like the perfect spot perfect location! Shoutout to maassai for the tour of Abrons first and foremost. Desde, GENG, and I linked up there to do a quick location scout tour back at the beginning of January 2024, a couple of days before the set day and it was fun we were looking at a few different hallway options and stairwells but the basement’s hallway was the one that we knew for sure we wanted to use. The day of the shoot was legendary in my opinion, we had a couple of homies in PTP pull up to be extras in the scene, they bodied and it was very smooth for me, not too much to handle as far as giving directions. Then of course I have experience with shooting with Desde already because we shot “[Ock Deli](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcVlufcVCBE)” but I could tell that this shoot would be different because of the different directions and just having to do different takes and different types of shots compared to the one-straight natural shot. So that was fun directing them and reassuring them that she was doing a good job! Everyone on set was just so supportive and uplifting, it was high vibrational the whole set. 

GENG, man he’s funny yo, I got to see more of his personality and how youthful he is. It made the set very comfortable to be able to just be myself while staying focused because it was just a safe space. I think my favorite moment during it was doing the one one-on-one shot with Ski dancing. It was very intimate and I don't know I just felt how connected he was to the song through his choreography. Overall, shooting in Abrons Arts Center’s basement was exactly what we envisioned.

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Video w/ Commentary: "Fangs" by KING VISION ULTRA ft. Desde

“It’s honoring yourself in any way you can.” So good & such a beautiful reminder. Can’t wait to hear what’s next for Amal Zenab, seething at the thought of it! Amazing interview! 

![Screen Shot 2024-04-10 at 6.34.37 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2024_04_10_at_6_34_37_AM_424540317d.png)

Before the homie Hattie Lindert takes it away here: I got into [Amal Zenab](https://amalzenab.xyz/) last year, and found her because I listen to everything the producer/guitarist/photographer [Nathan Bajar](https://www.nathanbajar.com/) does. Their 2023 EP called *Safe 'n Sound* pairs Bajar's beats and guitar with Zenab's layered, honeyed voice and comes up with something perfect. It's the kind of producer/artist combo that's so good, I wanted them to become a permanent thing like Ice Spice and Riot. As soon as I heard "Ride" I was like, this is rare chemistry. 

But talking to Zenab (it's her middle name), it turns out she has great taste in producers and wants to explore. Yesterday she shared me an unreleased track produced by [10.4Rog](https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/10-4-rog-discography-list), who is a friend of mine and a certifiable genius, and she struck synergistic gold again. As she explains in the interview, she works deeply with producers who she appreciates not just as musicians but as people, making real relationships that give the music a richer essence. 

This season she's moving from her home of Queens, NYC, to L.A., to work more with Rog and to tap in with her community she's been building there over the past year as a bicoastal person. Don't worry though, she'll continue to work with Bajar, as well. She told me Bajar and Rog are "my bruddas frfr." It's just, she's expanding her world. 

Her move will be a loss for the New York scene, a gain for L.A., and the music she makes out there will be a blessing to us all. Here is Amal Zenab in conversation with Hattie Lindert, lightly edited for clarity.   

<iframe style="border: 0; width: 350px; height: 588px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1251345386/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" seamless><a href="https://amalzenab.bandcamp.com/album/safe-n-sound-2">Safe &#39;n Sound by Amal Zenab</a></iframe>

**HL: Safe 'n Sound is gorgeous and I’m curious about your chemistry with Nathan Bajar, how you connected, what you liked about his approach to music, the way you guys worked together…**

AZ: I met Nate at a jam session somewhere in Bushwick, summer of 2022. I pulled up to the jam alone, our mutual friend Evan who goes by 13th Law invited me, and so it was summer of exploration, my summer of being out and about and knowing what it is to immerse myself into uncomfortable experiences. I walked into the session and sang for 20-30 minutes when it started, and then other artists did poetry, singing, rapping, etc. Toward the end of that, I was like OK let me go up again before I head out and meet up with friends. So I went up again, and it was all off the top freestyling. And then I was done, and as I was walking out, Nate stopped me and he was like, “Yo, did you come up with that yourself, off the top?” I was like “Yeah,” and he was like, “That’s crazy, would you want to link up sometime?” And I was like, “Yeah for sure.” I’d heard of him through another friend of ours, and heard his music before, but the thoughts didn’t connect until after the fact. From then, we had our first session on August 10th, and that day I pulled up on him after meeting with someone I was talking to at the time, and was overwhelmed with emotion for them and didn’t really know how to process everything. We didn’t live in the same city and I didn’t know when I would see them again. So I was going into this new experience with Nate full of grief and emotion and just falling for someone and feeling super lovesick. That was the perfect combination to start the journey. Our first session, he also invited our friend Maiya Blainey who pulled up that day. Amazing artist. And you know, I kind of was like, I know you guys don’t know me like that, but I’ve had a day. I just need to get into the booth. And hopefully we can make some beautiful stuff out of it. And that’s how I made “August 10th,” during that first session.

**Sometimes, I guess that’s what it takes, the right people on a crap day.**

The right people who have the skill and ability to channel what you’re feeling. You know, it does take a village to do anything. I’m grateful that by happenstance we were all in the same place at the same time.

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**Was that your introduction to Maiya Blainey too?**

Yeah that was my first time, and she’s so sweet. Very quirky, and eclectic, and vibey. And you know we were all just gauging each other, and we realized we were all fall babies. I believe she’s September, I’m October, and Nate’s November. So the autumn council.

**Is there anything that stood out to you aside from being able to create this great song, about your chemistry together? Or between Maiya and Nate? Or you and Maiya? Or all three of you?**

With Nate, he felt like my music, I don’t know if I would say soulmate, but my musical telepathy twin. With him it was very easy, no expectation, very comfortable. He set the tone with having a safe, open space with me, compared to my past experiences with producers who were very predatory or didn’t have good intentions, especially as a femme artist I was very grateful for that. The more my comfortability grew, the more seamless the process was. We spent August 2022 through February/March 2023 just putting all these finishing touches on this project. And so you know, I’ve never experienced that before. I never wrote songs that fast. And truly having fun, and both of us losing our shit when we hear the demo that we made, being excited about it. Through that new experience we cultivated a beautiful friendship. He’s like a brother to me.

**That’s amazing. You speak about these predatory experiences, and then the surprise about how great it was to work with Nate, is there an ideal environment for you to really make your art flow?**

My non-negotiable is establishing some form of friendship or relationship with the person before diving into working with them. Sometimes artists go into sessions with new producers, and there’s no sense of community building, or actually getting to know each other properly, and dive into it without that interpersonal connection. But I make the best work with people I’m close with. It’s very important for me to be comfortable. In an environment that’s not open, or not judgment free, or accepting of flaws, you’re mentally on edge and it shows in how you process the art. You hold back, in discomfort.

![Screen Shot 2024-04-10 at 6.34.08 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2024_04_10_at_6_34_08_AM_af5eda20b4.png)

**That philosophy, did that come to you when you were young? What was your upbringing with music like?**

Growing up, my parents would play a very diverse selection of music from all over. I was always singing, always in musicals, and choir, and I was in church choir…

**…in Queens?**

Yeah, born and raised. I’m used to being in community with other creatives. As I was growing as a person in my youth, I was enveloped in so many beautiful, interesting lessons through music. I also had the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall in like junior year of high school, we sang Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music, and that was a canon event for me. I think people know that music is spiritual, but it’s another thing to truly feel it. That showed me that music was my passion, and that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. I was studying international affairs, and was on track to be a diplomat, but honestly art is a calling. Just in paying attention to how I feel, in settings where music is around me, if I’m learning music, or freestyling, or anything, it’s just really important for me to feel safe and be surrounded by brilliant minds that you can have energy exchange with. How else can you grow, learn, expand?

**Is there anyone that you’d love to collaborate with that you haven’t gotten the chance to yet? Or an artist you love that you sense you’d have a connection with?**

I would love to work with Mndsgn, Liv.e, Kelela, Solange, Nick Hakim, a lot of alternative R&B or indie artists that I’ve listened to for a long time. I feel like there’s fragments of all of them in what I do, as well.

**Those are incredible artists and I think they definitely come through in your work. What are some of the concepts or ideas that you’re working through in your music right now?**

So I’m working through a lot. I honestly am definitely being intentional with how I write, how it makes me feel, and how it translates to other people. I’m trying to release a song hopefully in another month or so, and I wrote about what’s happening in the world right now. I’m pro freedom, pro Palestine, and as an artist I think we are obligated to talk about injustice. So I wrote a song about that with my friend Moki, he goes by Lion Milk, and I’m excited to bring that into the world. It’s gonna do something, I pray. I hope that in a small way, I can be impactful and get people to think more beyond the superficial. I feel like we’re becoming desensitized, so the song called “Save Us” because I think we need to be saved. From atrocities, and internal atrocities and turmoil. I’m working through life. My inner and outer chaos. And making it tangible because I know other people can relate.

**In a moment like this that feels so bleak, and overwhelming for an individual up against systems causing atrocities, do you have strategies about how to keep making art in the face of these hardships that are going on everyday?**

People underestimate their art, just being in comparison mode, or their perception of what the standard is. I believe that art is anything from a journal entry to releasing your emotions and crying, or just any form of output is art to me. I think that it’s all about being imperfectly consistent. It doesn’t have to look like a full-fledged studio session every day, but I’m neurodivergent also so routine gets mundane, and with that you have to acknowledge that whatever tiny amount you do, it’s art. I journal every day, document every day, through voice memos, or practice my bass…it’s honoring yourself in any way you can. Once you do the release, and contribute that small little thing, you’re freeing up your mind space to when you are ready to create something more tangible it’s easier to enter that flow state. For people that struggle with that, acknowledge that what you think is a standard, does not exist. A tiny little bit of something, a scribble on paper, you honored yourself by doing what you wanted in the moment and that should be enough.

![Screen Shot 2024-04-10 at 6.34.19 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2024_04_10_at_6_34_19_AM_3634039ec5.png)

**That is really good advice. You’re born and raised in Queens, how does the area influence you creatively?**

I’m blessed to be from Queens. A lot of legends are from Queens. There’s a historic neighborhood of Addisleigh Park, and a lot of jazz musician like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and even Muhammad Ali, and Jackie Robinson, Black legends lived in really nice homes in this area. Growing up I listened to A Tribe Called Quest, and Nas, and Nicki Minaj, and all of these Queens icons, on top of pop music, Whitney, Mariah, Michael, Luther, and gospel music. And so I just think that I have a beautiful blend of culture within me. And Queens is the most diverse borough. It’s the largest borough. All the friends I have, I feel like friends are like puzzle pieces to who we are, and with growing up in such a beautiful, diverse place, I have accumulated an encyclopedia of knowledge and tidbits, down to food, and communication, and shared experiences. Being from here, I’im very proud of it. Being a New Yorker you have to grow up fast, and navigate a crazy city at a young age. Tying that into my artistry, and who I am, it’s a big part of me. I also feel like with my roots, you can almost see the theme of Afrocentric-ism, and even Africanism, because that’s my big umbrella. I’m all for the advancement, and the abstract, the ethereal, and growing up spiritually as well, I try to tie that into my work even down to how harmonies feel, or how airy and spacious a song is. As much of a tangent as what I said just was, my whole life I think is puzzle pieces, and the songs are fragments of that. That sounded mad artsy. 

**No, I connected with the puzzle pieces.** 

People from Queens, we have heart. And me as an artist, you’ll see it, you’ll feel it. People who talk to me, feel better after talking to me. I’m aware of my energy. And it can be impactful in a good way. My inner world, and who I am, it shows and reflects in how it makes people feel. I don’t know if that makes sense. Cuz it’s hard, but it’s really important. If we don’t take care of ourself, it’s a downward crumble. But remembering you’re not alone, I struggle a lot. My brain is running a million miles a minute. And remembering that I’m not alone, and so many people that have shared experiences with me that I can learn from, that’s what sustains me and keeps me going. 

**Community is so huge. I don’t know where I am without community. So you’re going to LA tomorrow…**

Yeah I’m working on a song for another release this year. And I’m also moving there this spring. It’s been calling to me. I was bicoastal all last year. So I’m looking forward to not buying a flight back and forth. It will be my Big Girl move. 

**What are you most excited about for this year?**

I’m excited to experience more people, and be in rooms with different energies out there. I really feel like this is the beginning of the uphill climb, and I’m excited to be around my community out there. And grow as an artist, and a person. I’m in my late 20s, so I’m doing the work, and excited to build a beautiful world, someway, somehow, in my artistic expression and I think a change of scenery will do me well. I’m excited for all the beautiful people I’ll cross paths with. This summer’s gonna be lit. 

The Amal Zenab Interview

Mano

The GENG PTP Interview

![New Project (66).png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/New_Project_66_fc807da8d6.png)

Shout out Hattie Lindert, whom you may know from her Finals blogging or from her work at Pitchfork, for coming through with a buzzer-beater EOY list. Personally I'll say her list gives me something I've been missing in my life: the feeling of being out in NY, experiencing music. Thank you Hattie for bringing me into these moments!

--

It’s a Finals Blog world and if your ears perked up at a [RiotUSA](https://finals.blog/posts/RIOTUSA-on-Ice-Spice-Clearing-Samples-and-Influencing-NY-Drill) or [Cash Cobain](https://brickthemag.com/blogs/archive/cash-cobain-got-where-he-is-by-not-copying-you) beat this year, you’re already living in it! Thanks for including me here and lets talk about some live music. 

I saw a lot of shows this year, and I saw a lot of them in New York. Some of them were awesome, some of them were mid, and some of them I had to bring my laptop to (my apologies to Matt Ox). Here are my favorites: not necessarily the best, but the ones that will stand out the most for whatever reason when I’m old and gray and still debating Drake eras. Let me prostheletize for a moment and say that this is more interesting! 

**Drake and 21 Savage @ Barclays Center** 

Anyone who has spent some time with me eventually finds out that I love Drake, and so Finals Blog readers must know it too! I *love* Drake, [dog mask](https://people.com/drake-wears-dog-mask-ahead-for-all-dogs-album-release-7564446), [questionable airplane conduct](https://twitter.com/broderick/status/578496578614390784), and all. The freedom of getting my license at 16 and a novice obsession with beats are inextricable for me from listening to *If You’re Reading This Its Too Late*, so it was odd taking the subway to see Drake for the first time at Barclays this summer. But now I was 24, living in New York, and approaching Cancer season with all the stoic moodiness of the *Scorpion* cover: I had to hit this show! To a wildly green arena show attendee, It’s All A Blur Tour had everything: a random teen girl wondering if I knew where the link was after, a nine-year old from Sweden sitting next to me whose parents excitedly chirped it was his first concert ever (he knocked out before 21 even took the stage), crying adult men, AI Aubrey. It might’ve been a master class in a career-spanning set list if he managed to make it more than halfway through any of his songs. But a minute of “Marvin’s Room” did the trick, and when a giant illuminated sperm floated around the audience it almost felt like a weird dream conjured in the blossoming brain of the European child fast asleep by my side with a soda on his lap. What a setting to feel utterly at home in: turns out I’m as linked to Peter Pan as Drake. 

**Babyxsosa @ Babys All Right** 

A Babyxsosa performance in the flesh is a rare occasion, and despite mixed feelings on this venue I popped out and wasn’t disappointed. Veering away from the spare, spiraling demos on her self-titled EP, Sosa sourced audience requests and kept the stream of bangers steady from her favored perch, hunched over a laptop at the back of the stage. Wearing a handmade halter mini strung from holiday baubles, a regular Miami Martha May Whoovier, she rustled when she moved, sometimes even when she laughed. She threw in some Nettspend, which was glorious; at one point, she played a SoundCloud ad. My highlight that night was the squadron of radiant women who hung back with Sosa in their own silent play, kekeing and perfecting little dance moves to spread through the audience. When Sosa opened up their scene to the whole crowd—“I want my fucking girls up here!”— the stage became a whirlwind of pretty, leather on skin, loose waves and tight braids, glinting lip-gloss and piercings and tooth gems and grins and gracefully unbothered hot girl shit that simmered in me, making every errant boyfriend look prime for [shipping off](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=MQNCReUT1t0&ab_channel=DeadAlready). 

**Mannequin Pussy @ Saint Vitus** 

I ended the year on a big MP kick, and it turned out to be perfect timing for an end of year show that still eked its way onto the list.  This venue smelled terrible, “[Drunk II](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ0Xjl5KusI&ab_channel=EpitaphRecords)” was better live than I ever could’ve hoped, we all screamed in unison at one point, I was kind of overdressed and not a soul cared. Watching lead singer Missy, I remarked to a coworker that it’s moments like these I realize I’m not built to perform off the page: what happens when you’re tired, or annoyed, or feeling a movie instead, or the song really hurts that day? What if your voice breaks, and you don’t want to go on stage? What if you don’t *wanna* be strong? I’m not very good at mitigating that stuff—I like to power through or wallow, usually alone— and I think that’s why I love the audience of a show like this in the first place: the beer is cheap and the controlled catharsis, ephemeral and flailing, is priceless. Nobody wants to wake up every day and do every single thing that they have to, and that’s why it’s so dope to scream as crowd surfers rise and fall out of view. Given the atrocities that have been carried out under the guise of religious freedom this winter, it also felt pretty satisfying to holler in unison: “What if Jesus himself ate my fucking snatch?” 

**[Swami Sound](https://finals.blog/posts/An-Interview-with-Swami-Sound)/Dazegxd/Gum.mp3 @ Elsewhere Rooftop**

Elsewhere’s rooftop is a great place to spend too much money on a really good frozen drink in a sheer top, and an even better one to get your best girls from college down with Swami. The 2023 Eldia Summit was the perfect convergence of daytime bored energy, late afternoon sun, and sliced-up garage and two-step mixes untamed enough to evoke the sensation of being showered with ocean spray (turns out the music is just as effective when you’re bathed in sunbeams in the open air as it is when you’re choking on fog as the train rattles past at Market Hotel). Waving cartoonish weapons to punctuate splices of exhiliratingly recognizable Crazy Frog and Sigur Ros, the Eldia trio delivered on an ideal late-spring afternoon, in part because they were having just as much giddy fun as we were. 

**Chappell Roan @ Brooklyn Steel**

Can a twenty-four year old girl in this day still be an active awaiter of Carti leaks (by some accounts, lowkey over) and also know Chappell Roans “[Hot to Go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaPNR-_Cfn0&ab_channel=ChappellRoanVEVO)” dance (by other accounts, even more over)? Yes! Like Bob Dylan, I contain multitudes of “over” qualities, and Chappell’s chameleonic alto—not to mention her championship of  all things gauche, garish, and glittery—led me to her Brooklyn Steel show dressed for a slumber party, the last strains of the redacted Glee Cast song I had pregamed to ringing in my ears. At each tour stop Chappell recruited local drag queens as openers, and watching them swivel through splits to the tune of an especially horny Kim Petras song in front of a crowd dressed for a sleepover. The confetti may have exploded over the crowd during closing hit “Pink Pony Club” but it really belonged at the end of her rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” a home run from a true [paws-up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPC7v245TLg) disciple. 

**Grateful Dead @ Citi Field**

Bucket lister of epic proportions for a second-generation Deadhead with a kink for above-ground trains: first Citi Field show, first Dead & Co., and on the last day of my first full-time journalism job. Kismet! Slightly shrooms-addled and completely uninitiated on Drums in Space, I walked into Shakedown Street with one favorite Dead song and left certain I had no idea what a Grateful Dead “song” even was. So my mom (as she reminded me) used to see the Dead with Jerry regularly for free at small outdoor venues. So what! I saw them in a giant concrete baseball stadium that smelled like hot dogs and patchouli and I’ll remember it—especially Bob Weir’s quavery aging vocal on “All Along the Watchtower” and a victory lap “Eyes of the World" — as starry-eyed as she does. Maybe that’s the one blessing of being too young and online to have actually twirled barefoot through those halcyon days: the lemonade out of lemons ended up tasting pretty sweet even *when* there’s a Gen Xer in your ear telling you it’s piss, comparatively speaking. 

**PC Music Boat Yeah @ Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises** 

Esteemed Finals Blog contributor Kieran Press-Reynolds joined me for this one: shoutout [KPRblog](https://www.kprblog.fyi/) which you should definitely read. Anyway, it’s not everyday you see Arca, potato salad, and the Statue of Liberty all in one space. But the day came, and both the weather and soundtrack from A.G. Cook (as DJ Warlord), Doss, Umru, and crew were appropriately volatile and chopped. Waterlogged with rain and still a little bit confused about what [sigilkore](https://nobells.blog/the-life-and-death-of-sigilkore/) was even after a thorough rundown, I felt really old and twelve all at the same time, yearning for the respective heydays of hearing “[Hey QT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MQUleX1PeA&ab_channel=DrinkQTVEVO)” in high school and being dry and warm a few hours ago. I should’ve been doing scene journalism, but the black water and sharp, wet air made wandering around our strange little hyperpop boat like the ghosts of a shipwreck feel much more appropriate. The dystopian cruiseship/walled city on water that lumbered past us—the waterslide could have been a rollercoaster—just put a bow on things. The perfect sendoff to the strange chaos that was the collective: I’m sure they’ll all reconnect at Charli XCX’s wedding. 

**Tim Bernardes @ Le Poisson Rouge** 

Tim Bernardes was one of my favorite discoveries this year, in large part because I walked into his packed Le Poisson Rouge show not knowing a single song, or even what his voice sounded like. Turns out it's like silt, weighty and soft, enveloping you in a cloud without drowning out the multi-instrumentalists lilting compositions. My date and I sat at a candlelit table next to two other pairs, and if the environment hadn’t felt so peacefully still, I might’ve recalled a [scene from Goodfellas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrkKL45qB0Q&ab_channel=Godardfan). Things amped up a little bit once Bernardes shyly smiled through the announcement that he’d have to finish up soon, and mesmerized fans realized they only had so many moments left to hear their favorite. Having entered without one, I left taken with the 2022 cut “[A Balada de Tim Bernardes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DxuOigChbk&ab_channel=TimBernardes),” a ballad of time passing that grows into a definitive ode to singing: in the shower, on the subway, for plenty of lovers and presumably some lonely hearts on Bleecker Street. Although Bernardes says he have to leave, he’d fit right in with the rest of us. When he slides up to a higher register in the chorus, you can almost see him swinging on a streetlight like Gene Kelly.

**Veeze @ Gramercy Theater** 

This was the sold-out opener of Veeze’s first national tour off a debut that had been bubbling for years, and you couldn’t dampen the buzzing vibe if you tried. Veeze is Michigan to the core but this show still took on qualities of a big homecoming in a small town, bustling but locked in; the raised auditorium seating even looked a bit like bleachers. But this wasn’t some high school D-III game, this was the real thing, and from the line around the block to the perfect lyric recitations from the crowd, having a good time didn’t mean not taking the moment serious. Hearing “[Safe 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iy_dGPAna4&ab_channel=VEEZEWEAKASS7),” one of my [favorite rap songs of the year](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/best-rap-songs-2023/), live in stereo surrounded by a healthy mix of critics and fans– and for one of the first times, feeling somewhere in between the two–felt like my own milestone, one I was more than happy to celebrate with an artist whose 2023 was laden with them. 

Best of 2023: Hattie Lindert's Fav NY Shows

![New Project (65).png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/New_Project_65_84a9da5e04.png)

The strong homie Lei has been published in NY Mag, been a guest on SHOWStudio, and for his day job writes his ass off for Complex (any time you see a banging style article there it was either Aria Hughes or Mike Destefano or Lei who did it). When I told him Finals was doing NY-focused year-end lists, he came through with his year in gear. Thanks Lei, you went crazy!

--

*Peace Andrew, Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to all the beautiful people that follow Finals! You asked me to make a little “Best of NY” list and I’m not going to lie, it was kind of hard figuring out what to do. I decided that I was going to lean into my fashion bullshit for this one. So let’s see what happens!* 

*However, you might have encouraged me to do a nice little round-up of my favorite graffiti flicks of the year, follow my [substack](https://crooknyc.substack.com/) for more ;)* 

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 9.15.12 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_9_15_12_AM_1efa3a5931.png)

**The Best Piece I Copped From A NYC Brand**
As one can imagine, I cop a lot of gear throughout the year. Personally, the best drop I picked up this year were some raw denim Born X Raised Levi’s 501s– [Rest in Peace, Spanto](https://twitter.com/Lei_Takanashi/status/1702057441406451891). But I wanted to take this opportunity with Finals to reflect on the many local NYC brands I love.

Yes, there are a lot of New York City brands out. To be honest, many of them are hella corny—like what the fuck is a Bushwick Yacht Club? And with all due respect, I’ll stick to Polo before you catch me lining up for you know what. I’m not going to waste any words on any of the NY labels we all know about already. I’ll say that Awake is my favorite mainstream one at the moment though—who else got a JA throw inside their store? 

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 8.44.23 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_8_44_23_AM_81be4cd799.png)

So let me run through my many local cops this year. When it comes to home goods, I own a decent amount of stuff from [Blue Bodega](https://www.bluebodeganyc.com/) at the moment. It’s a label that creates art editions informed by New York culture but particularly speaks towards graffiti—which is a common thread when it comes to the brands I love. A lot of Blue Bodega’s products give me a [Subware](https://www.complex.com/style/a/lei-takanashi/subware-stash-nyc-streetwear-supreme-collaboration-interview) vibe. It also reminds me of a time when art-toys used to be [closely intertwined with graffiti](https://www.kidrobot.com/blogs/news/graffiti-toy-trucks-by-tyo-toys). This water-barrier piece they made with the Uptown killa [SKAM](https://www.instagram.com/undetected.ny/) is just genius and I got to give them props for creating my favorite home decor pick-up this year. 

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 8.45.34 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_8_45_34_AM_b2b975f6e4.png)

Another local I gotta show some love for is [SHA](https://www.instagram.com/333.333.333zzz/). He stays posted up at [All City Legends](https://allcitylegends.com/), wielding that airbrush like a magic wand, conjuring up tees that would make Phade’s head spin.

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 8.46.58 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_8_46_58_AM_e6e6dc9d76.png)

Also shouts out to the [Chadie](https://www.instagram.com/chadieonline/) boys in Queens, for this screen printed beauty blessed by the hands of CNONE.

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 8.48.18 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_8_48_18_AM_7143d8b419.png)

But really, if I’m going to wax poetic about any pick ups from a NYC-based label. I'm giving a well-deserved shoutout to this hoodie I copped from [Brigade](https://www.instagram.com/brigadeusa/?hl=en). I remember I first saw this joint on Papo 2oo4 when he [opened](https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=hhkwnZQpoSOV3m5y&v=5cm5t36CUMo&feature=youtu.be) for this YL x Starker show in Brooklyn. 

*Swish!* Any Polo head knows how fly the OG K-Swiss hoodie is—peep [*Wreckin Shop*](https://youtu.be/zUAuCQN-AJI?si=daJvWNXKnMKtjy3U&t=542) if you don’t know what I’m talking about. But respectfully, Brigade made the new school version of that shit and this hoodie is not just quality. It’s **cozy**! I’m not gassing it at all. Let’s break down the science by what I mean by “quality” and “cozy”. 

A Supreme hoodie is **quality**. You put that shit on and you already know that cotton spun differently because it feels like a weighted blanket. The only qualms I have about Preme’s shit is that it’s OD stiff. I think they intentionally do that so it literally feels like a statement. Like “I’m wearing a Supreme hoodie, the fuck you talking about?!” 

 But really, most of us prefer sitting on the other end of the hoodie spectrum, which is “**cozy**.” You know, hoodies that are actually just soft and comfortable to wear for serious lounging. So when it comes to cozy, my vintage Polo Bear hoodies feel like the creme de la creme. But with all due respect, they don’t feel like “quality” simply because of its age—the [Dick Tahsin graphics](https://www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/polo-bear-designer-dick-tahsin) are minty though and that’s what counts. This Brigade hoodie is the perfect marriage between the quality of a new Supreme hoodie and the coziness of a vintage Polo hoodie. I was flabbergasted when I first put it on and it has been my go-to since. Good shit [Aaron](https://www.instagram.com/enduringthewaves/?hl=en), you did that. 

**The Best Merch I Copped** 
One, I don’t ever really go see live music anymore unless I’m really feeling it. Two, I don’t ever cop merch unless it hits crazy. I was fortunate enough to find both at the only two live music experiences I went to this year.

After many long years of being a fan of YL and Starker, I finally committed to seeing them at Elsewhere this year. Naturally, I had to come correct for this show because anyone who collects Polo in NYC knows that [Starker is the real deal](http://highsnobiety.com/p/polo-ralph-lauren-new-york-collector/). So I backed out a red wool RL2000 ski bear knit and a little Cross Flags duffle bag I ain’t seen anyone else wear. Just to clear the air, I’m not trying to flex like I’m some Polo god or anything of the sort. I just got a real appreciation for true Lo hitters. The rest of the fit was pretty mid to keep it 100—just a regular red 2017 Nuptse jacket and some brick red Denim Tears Asics that I’m beating into the ground.

There’s a good reason why YL and Starker are muses for brands like Aime Leon Dore at this current moment. Their music and personas represent a sense of New York style that can’t be bought at Rogue Garments or any of those sad Dimes Square vintage clothing boutiques trying to move bummy CdG Homme sweaters for bread. Put it like this. When I listen to RRR, I feel like I’m wearing something like an OG Front Page shirt by [Julie Castillo](https://www.instagram.com/p/Crgho9ttXtO/?img_index=6). Their music has an air of authenticity that simply can’t be replicated, even though many respectfully try. 

You knew this was a YL and Starker function based on how many flavorful North Faces filled the room. Big shout out to my guy [Brarnold](https://www.instagram.com/brarnoldsvintage/), another true Lo collector based in Philly. Bro pulled up all the way from steaktown in a ‘92 America’s Cup jacket—he also [shot one of my favorite Starker videos to date](https://youtu.be/dgH9ndhQ1rM?si=mADRySUQiBbFgBpd). At the end of the show, I perused the merch and this Starker long sleeve naturally caught my eye. He later hit me in my DMs and put me on to the reference, [a mom and pop sneaker store chain](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1445770659/SPORTSLANE_NEW_tw_400x400.JPG) in Brooklyn. While I can show a flick of this long sleeve, I’d rather show this Starker spread put together by the good people at [*Living Proof New York*](https://livingproofnewyork.com/)—the greatest graffiti magazine/podcast out right now–that showcases Starker’s untouchable flyness.  

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 8.56.02 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_8_56_02_AM_8a31d09310.png)

While this was the hardest piece of merch I copped, I must say that a worthy contender is this T-shirt designed by Ain’t Wet for MIKE’s Young World 3. 

![youngworld3.jpeg](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/youngworld3_fd93f5b6ac.jpeg)

I love how I can pick up one of hundreds of graphic tees I own and just remember everything about the moment I picked it up. I ain’t going to delve too deep into how ill Young World 3 was  since anyone who follows music in New York City already knows what’s good with that. I will say though, it was a trip going from 454, to MIKE, to 2017 Jay Critch, and then closing out with a NoName show without spending a dime—I still gotta upload videos to my YouTube but some footage is [there](https://www.youtube.com/@CROOKNYC/videos). But word to [Ain’t Wet](https://www.instagram.com/aintwet/?hl=en), they snapped on the event poster and T-shirt, as they always do. I’m going to likely need that GTA-inspired [*Burning Desire*](https://store.10k.global/release/429846-mike-burning-desire-gta-t-shirt) tee before the year closes out. 

**The Best NYC Pop-up I Went To** 
New York Fashion Week is always stacked with activations, shows, and so many other events that it sometimes feels like a competition of what brand has the biggest marketing budget to spend. I’m not knocking fashion shows. What I’m saying is that so much goes on during NYFW that a lot of it truly feels soulless, bearing little to no connection to actual New Yorkers. Aside from Abrons Arts Center's excellent [‘Objects of Permanence’ exhibition](https://www.vogue.com/article/objects-of-permanence-abrons-art-center) by Mellany Sanchez, the one event that really stuck with me from NYFW this September was Primer Rebelde De America’s pop-up at Graceland New York.

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 8.59.31 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_8_59_31_AM_132e62d9f4.png)

I’ve been closely following Victor Vegas’ label all-year and have resonated with the fact that his clothes are saying something real. Each T-shirt, hoodie, and crewneck he’s dropped is telling a story about Indigenous people in the Americas. I love it when I could research a T-shirt graphic and actually learn something from it—like how this [tee](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr08OPzOToL/?img_index=1) put me on to César Chávez and Dolores Huerta’s United Farm Workers of America. After the pop-up, [he shared at length](https://www.instagram.com/p/CxJOCbrukie/?hl=en&img_index=1) why he wanted to do it in his hometown of Ridgewood, Queens and I admire any designer who stands on their brand’s ethos like that. I ended up picking up this [“Broken Arrow”](https://www.learnanddestroy.com/product/broken-arrow) T-shirt he made in collaboration with Learn & Destroy—another dope NYC label by Ray Morales that’s also making some [tough AF clothing](https://www.instagram.com/learnanddestroy/?hl=en) locally. 

![figuresofspeech.jpeg](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/figuresofspeech_866de51130.jpeg)

**The Craziest Street Rack Find** 
Man, I think I went to the ‘Figures of Speech’ exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum like five times. It kinda gave me the same therapeutic experience of walking through a good brick and mortar store—much love to 867 Madison Avenue.  While I certainly do wish that it was laid out in multiple sections of the museum like the original one at the MCA in Chicago, Antwuan Sargent’s rotunda of Abloh’s greatest works just hit like a perfect loop. Of course, like everyone else, I took a L on the Brooklyn AF1s. While I was walking by [Village Works](https://www.villageworksnyc.com/) on St. Marks this summer, I stopped by a random street rack and found this sitting there for just $50. It was an instant purchase and I couldn’t believe the vendor just found it at a thrift in Brooklyn.  

![Screen Shot 2023-12-24 at 9.04.13 AM.png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/Screen_Shot_2023_12_24_at_9_04_13_AM_f286b10a99.png)
*I ain't tryna flex my entire receipt*

**The Market Market Sale**  
I feel like most sample sales aren’t even worth talking about or going to in New York City. They always look hella mid on Tik-Tok and really are you saving THAT much money? I don’t know, I’m not a sample sale fiend by any means. But I would say from what I’ve seen on social media, it’s a lot of line waiting for deals on weak designer clothing that’s still breaking your wallet. 

But then, there’s Dover Street Market’s Market Market sale. This is really one of those things where if you weren't there, you smoked a crazy fat L. Chris Chance really documented how nuts this shit was for [MadeintheURL](https://madeintheurl.com/The-Great-Comme-Stimulus-Inside-the-sale-of-a-lifetime). Put it like this, if you went early, you could have been like one of my Grailed peeps and copped every embossed ERL puffer ever co-signed by a famous rapper. I won’t lie, it was hella weird shopping during one of the worst days of that Canadian wild fire smog, because you really feel dumb af for risking your health for some garments. 

But as someone who collects [graffiti artist collabs](https://www.instagram.com/p/B8aKfP_pXMa/), the sale blessed me like crazy. I came out of Market Market with a Futura x CDG Shirt zip-up, and legit, every colorway of a CDG Shirt x Supreme  top that was graced with [Earsnot](https://www.complex.com/style/a/lei-takanashi/irak-earsnot-kunle-f-martins-interview)’s handstyle. 

![dsny.jpeg](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/dsny_21194eb767.jpeg)

**The Hardest NYC Merch**

These days, between vintage clothing trends and Only NY having every New York City agency in a chokehold, super distinct merchandise from various NYC organizations feels tougher to find these days. For the record, I love Only NY’s collaborations in this realm and happily own that [trash can pen holder](https://onlyny.com/products/trash-can-pen-holder). But when Grailed sellers like 4GSeller are trying to sell a Bronx Science hoodie—that was released when I was there during the 2010s—[for $890](https://www.grailed.com/listings/51499603-vintage-vintage-bronx-science-nyc-bx-hoodie?g_aidx=Listing_production&g_aqid=a9ff81bb56b012270faa40ee1e2f4b6c), you know this market is getting nutty. While I have been trying to chill out on saved eBay searches this year, I’m always on the lookout for this type of gear. This piece by [Sebastien Meijias](https://www.instagram.com/minivanboy666/), a photographer and artist who actually works for the DSNY, just goes dumb. I personally feel like [vintage DSNY merch](https://www.instagram.com/p/B5k0cNtJAKv/?img_index=1) always hits. 

Lastly, here’s a playlist of music that made me feel as fly as Max B spitting bars out the whip in a B.B. belt. 

<iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write" frameborder="0" height="450" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;border-radius:10px;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.music.apple.com/us/playlist/lei-takanashi-finals-2023-best-of-nyc/pl.u-KVXBY7VTZozoK8"></iframe>

Best of 2023: Lei Takanashi’s NYC Buyer’s Guide

![New Project (60).png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/New_Project_60_87e34e1414.png)

As stated in the (brilliant) [kimdollars1 post](https://finals.blog/posts/Best-of-2023:-kimdollars1-Mix-and-Essay) kicking off Finals' EOY content, this year I feel like making it all about New York City, out of a sense of gratitude to this great city that I will not expand on. So that’s what we’re doing. 

With that in mind, I got friends of the blog to kick in their top NY stuff of the year. We got City Island restaurants, digitally-damaged rap, the end of the unofficial drill ban...stay tuned for at least a couple more installments before we enter 2024. 

First, my fav New York 2023 music developments, as I look back on the year.

**Drill blackball lifted**

The fast-changing, clone-infested but ultimately still exciting local rap subgenre was finally allowed in clubs, I think, a development which allowed new stars like Brownsville’s 41 to more properly shine, unlike virtually all NY drill before them. 

**Ice Spice on top**

Perhaps the initial force which may have sweetened the police’s/mayor’s/talent buyers’ stance on drill, Ice put a pop spin on it last year and hit big with “Munch” (peep [my interview with her producer Riot](https://finals.blog/posts/RIOTUSA-on-Ice-Spice-Clearing-Samples-and-Influencing-NY-Drill) from basically minutes before that happened, when I was compulsively jamming “Name of Love”). This year she went supernova, bringing a plethora of styles to the masses, both solo and with collabs that got serious radio play featuring Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and Pinkpantheress.

**Cash Cobain and Evilgiane break thru**

These two long-rising NY producers are now getting major looks (Drake, Kendrick, Pinkpantheress, Travis Scott) by making drill adjacent music *their way* like Burger King. Crucially they stood out from all the type beat producers (though, no hate to them) by innovating. Instead of following trends, they trusted their ears and guts and blazed new trails, while connecting with rising pop stars and A-list rap. 

**MIKE is a primary color for New York**

The free Young World day festivals, which MIKE curates, have evolved into NY’s underground Summer Jam. This year was amazing as usual, highlighted by Earl Sweatshirt’s debut performance of one of the songs of the year, “Making the Band (Danity Kane).” That, plus a bunch of great rap projects + his 10k label hitting home runs = crazy year for MIKE. He’s been excelling for 7-8 years now, and has established himself as an essential force in the city. Can’t imagine NY without him. 

**AMANI curating the underground** 

AMANI is a crazy talented artist in his own right (message me and I’ll slide you his deleted Spook Sampler project from last year), but this year he was all about spotlighting others. His roving, mostly-Brooklyn show-organizing as STILL/MOVING was genius — he was out here throwing incredible showcases, often. These were events where “opener” and “headliner” made little difference to the people who showed up; they knew the whole thing was gonna be sick, top to bottom, whether rap, rock, jazz, whatever. 

And now, Kieran Press-Reynolds’ fun and idiosyncratic top 7 NY music from 2023 (either music from the city, or which was performed in the city), with some anecdotes.

![New Project (61).png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/New_Project_61_54aa1f1da7.png)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lJ0uWSRlGt0?si=G802u-GkCgW9D7Sw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

OLTH’s “sOng fOr jOrdan.” It’s impressive how the vocalist sounds like windshield wipers being eviscerated by a blizzard. When this came on at their October Baby’s All Right show, I jumped into the pit with a viking hat (I dressed as a viking). Some hecklers grabbed my hat and tore it from my hands. I have no idea what happened to it. All I came out with was a single horn.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/scF9xH-7t0w?si=bWHRlWSvOaCBYl-1" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

MGNA Crrrta’s “@ NIGHT.” Imagine if the resident DJ of the Night Club on Club Penguin played some crazy hard techno. It makes me feel like I’m raving at a sixth grade school dance.

 <iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1656947436&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe>

CTRLFR33K @ Halloweeb Trans-Pecos. Shoutout Jameson for pushing the sextrance agenda and telling me about this show (the mix is tagged “fairytrance” but same cooked vibes). 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UqmUxkRPBS0?si=DLwOBm3x0et2u61S" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ice Spice’s “Deli.” Those dissonant drums are addictive. On Halloween night, I saw a woman dressed as Ice Spice twerking to “Deli” in Tompkins Square park. Across from her, some aspiring comedian types were hosting a freeform spelling bee, asking random passersby to spell phrases like “jealous loser syndrome.” It felt like a real New York panorama.

<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1349187106&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true"></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YmSuRjj5DhU?si=SEafWeIN5e3Lxk4u" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

xaviersobased’s “1c in tha cut 2” and “u dk how 2 hoop.” I’ve seen Xavier live many times but the speakers never capture what this music sounds like with high quality headphones, the abyssal bass thuds and melted gurgles short-circuiting your brain. It’s some of the most entrancingly fried music ever. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qex38yGRAYY?si=R-vDUgtvhyuCQf55" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

cumgirl8’s “Pritney LLC.” A goofy little tribute to a dog that pukes in shoes and steals cigarettes, with an equally bizarre and bumbling beat to match. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/StPx4sI54yg?si=UEhz8FUk-sXdwfk2" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Taraneh & Elusin’s “Spell.” I saw Taraneh play at a quiet spot in the deserted end of Bushwick; I can’t separate this bewitched and blissed-out goth rock from the surreal feeling of walking along those empty streets in the rain with the bright Manhattan skyline lurking behind me.

Thanks Kieran, that was fucked up and awesome! Now we pass the ball to Ali. 

![New Project (62).png](https://finals.blog/api/uploads/New_Project_62_2a60a584cf.png)

Ali wrote her own bio: 

"Ali Rosa-Salas is a curator whose approach is rooted in the belief that curatorial practice must serve the public good. She finds inspiration from the cultural ecosystems of Lenapehoking (currently called New York City), where she was proudly born and raised. Ali is the director of Abrons Arts Center, a cultural institution on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In addition to New York City and Abrons, she loves buttered rolls, her twin sister, citi bikes, and envisioning the DJ sets she’d do if she knew how to use CDJs."

Let's pray she learns those CDJs! As a new CDJ user myself, I'll say go for it Ali, it's easier than you probably think. Anyway here she is, with a multi-category list that I fking love: 

**Book of the year:** 
My sister Marcel Rosa-Salas and our dear friend Isabel Flower finally released their long anticipated book [*Documenting the Nameplate: Jewelry, Culture and Identity*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690257/the-nameplate-by-marcel-rosa-salas-and-isabel-attyah-flower/). A culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of research, this beautiful volume explores the dynamic history of nameplate jewelry through photography, commissioned essays, and the personal anecdotes of nameplate jewelry wearers. 

**Culinary experience of the year:** 
Every Labor Day, Isabel Flower and I make our annual pilgrimage to Orchard Beach, where it is mandatory for us to order the exquisite chicken fingers and fries at the Orchard Beach Snack Bar that are washed down with nutcrackers made by a titi-owned and operated cooler on the boardwalk. We always conclude our trip with Hennessy Coladas at [Johnny’s Reef](https://johnnysreefrestaurant.com/) on City Island. 

**Performance of the year:** 
What really excited me this year was the halftime performance by [New York Liberty’s Timeless Torches](https://liberty.wnba.com/timeless-torches/)  (the Liberty’s age 40+ dance team) at the Liberty’s West Indian Night. The ensemble had me screaming my head off with their prideful, flag-waving tribute to JW & Blaze’s Palance. 

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**Podcast of the year:** 
In [*ODB: A Son Unique*](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/odb-a-son-unique/id1713198754), photographer Khalik Allah chronicles the life of the prolific artist and WuTang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Through interviews with close friends and family as well as archival audio, Allah traces ODB’s rise to stardom, his relationship to the Five-Percent nation, and his complex representation in mainstream media.

**Song of the year:** 
Andrew asks that all my picks be New York City-centric, so I am cheating with this one (forgive me, Andrew!)--but no song defined 2023 more for me than Talibans by Kittian dancehall artist Byron Messia. According to Apple music, I have unapologetically played this track 200 times since it came out, and heard it just as much from cars, train platforms and during my citi bike rides around Prospect Park. This song belongs to our City!

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Featured Post

Video w/ Commentary: "Fangs" by KING VISION ULTRA ft. Desde

Posts

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Best of 2023: Hattie Lindert's Fav NY Shows

Best of 2023: Lei Takanashi’s NYC Buyer’s Guide

Best of 2023: Finals, Kieran Press-Reynolds, Ali Rosa-Salas