Toronto residents have long gotten used to the idea that the seasons don't work properly for us. Long winters veer from mild to hellish, while brief, wet summers can be chilly when the sun goes down. The transitional seasons barely exist at all. Kyle Wildfern, the rising Bramptonian rapper, expresses that weird limbo on his new EP It Was Never Summer, a short project whose long writing and recording process indeed bore witness to many changes in temperature and climate. That constant flux may have influenced the breadth of material here, however.Opener "Keep It Low" lives up to its title as baroque synth patterns dance over rattling trap and WIldfern's gruff, Kevin Gates-esque delivery. It's immediately followed by "Tell Me," a haunted song about the endless quest for achievement ("This city really got me," he mutters) that's gifted with an appropriately ghostly dancehall-inflected beat. Alternating jazzy and bright songs follow, providing a sketch of Wildfern as a versatile but focused artist who follows his whims wherever they may lead. Stream It Was Never Summer below and read on for our brief interview with Wildfern.
Kyle Wildfern: The first song we did off of this was late December and that was "Tell Me." In January I went crazy and recorded almost 25 songs and that's where the rest of the cuts came from.Why call your project It Was Never Summer?
I was originally going to gradually release this project in the middle of the summer as a playlist titled S17 but it felt like it was never summer. If you ask around the city, people will tell you that summer didn't feel like summer this year, maybe due to the inconsistent weather or maybe just the overall atmosphere. I felt it was finally time to stop holding onto this good music and just put it out with that title to illustrate such an elusive season.What song was the hardest to put together and why?
Every song on this EP came together fairly easy but "New Rum" had the longest process from the rest. I recorded a much more concise song in January titled just "Rum" but that producer used a prominent Justin Bieber sample and I'm just a young nigga out here trying not to get sued. My guy Chris Rose lobbed me the "New Rum" beat in April sampling "Money Montage" and we recorded the revamped banger the same week.What's the inspiration behind this project?
I really didn't have a project in mind when I was making this music in the winter. I was just really in overdrive trying to do a song a day and I'm happy my favourite songs from that time found a home.Phil is on Twitter.
Advertisement
Noisey: When did you begin work on this project?
Kyle Wildfern: The first song we did off of this was late December and that was "Tell Me." In January I went crazy and recorded almost 25 songs and that's where the rest of the cuts came from.Why call your project It Was Never Summer?
I was originally going to gradually release this project in the middle of the summer as a playlist titled S17 but it felt like it was never summer. If you ask around the city, people will tell you that summer didn't feel like summer this year, maybe due to the inconsistent weather or maybe just the overall atmosphere. I felt it was finally time to stop holding onto this good music and just put it out with that title to illustrate such an elusive season.What song was the hardest to put together and why?
Every song on this EP came together fairly easy but "New Rum" had the longest process from the rest. I recorded a much more concise song in January titled just "Rum" but that producer used a prominent Justin Bieber sample and I'm just a young nigga out here trying not to get sued. My guy Chris Rose lobbed me the "New Rum" beat in April sampling "Money Montage" and we recorded the revamped banger the same week.What's the inspiration behind this project?
I really didn't have a project in mind when I was making this music in the winter. I was just really in overdrive trying to do a song a day and I'm happy my favourite songs from that time found a home.Phil is on Twitter.