Sly is a conscious hip-hop artist from Illinois. He started writing lyrics a few years ago but his real motivation to record came in January of 2020. Tragically, his mother was hospitalized and eventually passed away. He found himself consumed with thoughts of the finite nature of life.
Through that turmoil, he was inspired to stop wasting time and finally begin chasing his dream. He released a few singles in 2020, all the while cooking up an album.
Free, For Profit Part 1 dropped in early 2020 and features a few other independent artists like Youngboi EJC and KXNG KD.
The first track I heard was “whokilledkurt” and immediately it reminded me of an artist we met last year and have grown to love, Myles Bullen. Even though it is certainly conscious hip-hop, it’s also not taking itself too seriously.
Sly remembers to stop and have fun with this crazy, fleeting thing we call life and that shows in his music. Free, For Profit has it all; bars about trying to pay bills, bars about personal accountability, some R&B moments and everything in between.
After multiple listens, the tracks that really stuck with me are “RooT2” and “10COMMS”. Pay attention, because Sly has clearly only just begun.
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