CES Cru makes their ¡MAYDAY! full-length album debut with the song “One Wing” on Future Vintage. We talked to one half of the best crew to get his take on a song that’s sure to throw everybody for a curveball.

How did it come about that you guys would be on this record?

It was like, a joint effort? I want to say it was Bernz who reached out. Texted me or something. I don’t remember. I don’t know. It was either Wrek or Bernz. There’s so many people in ¡MAYDAY!, you know what I mean?

It’s just hard to keep track of what happens when with these guys?

It’s hard to keep track of all these guys in ¡MAYDAY!

I understand. What’s your relationship been like with ¡MAYDAY!? You guys both represent the new wave of Strange Music artists. You guys seemed like the first two acts that were a departure from the sound that people most often associated with the label. Do you feel like you guys have grown together on the label?

They’re the homies. We’ve done a lot of music together. We did a couple tours together. Yeah man. Those are the homies. It’s fun working with them. They were part of our last project. We’re on this project. I guess there’s not many people involved on their current project so that’s a pretty cool honor to be a part of it still. It’s a cool track. I guess Seven made the beat. They shot us the beat and we did it up.

What are you doing right now? Are you eating?

Never.

Don’t fucking tell me to “Do this interview right now” when you’re eating!

I’m not eating really.

…

I had a Wheat Thin! It’s a Wheat Thin. That’s not really eating.

What do you think of ¡MAYDAY! as artists?

They’re super dope. They make really good music. They’re have a really good stage show. They’re dope man. They put out good stuff and they’re fun to work with. ¡MAYDAY!’s the shit.

This is the first time you’ve been on a ¡MAYDAY! record. I imagine that’s a pretty cool feeling.

We were on one of their EPs.

You were. Scratch that then.

But this is a full-length though.

This is a full-length. How does that feel to be one of the select features on this? How do you take that?

I take it to the bank and I cash it. I put it in the bank and I leave it there.

What does that tell you about CES Cru? Are you guys the best crew?

We are the best crew. Yeah. I was reflecting and internalizing earlier and it was good.

“One Wing”, what is it about?

Well, birds of the same feather flock together, right? And some never get to sing. That’s probably why my whole team’s locked forever…you can’t fly on one wing.

Yeah, that’s the chorus.

Oh yeah, that is the chorus. It’s part of the chorus, yeah. You can’t fly on one wing.

What does that mean to you?

Well what it means to me is that the actual scientific act of flying is impossible with just one wing and that it requires two wings. This is science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y90vnB6gUME

What does that mean metaphorically?

Well, metaphorically, you’re going to need a wingman because they got the one wing over here and then you got to have the other guy on the other wing and then…you’re flying.

More airplane metaphors, I see. This is a motif that you guys have explored in the past with Codename: Ego Stripper and the song “Jimmy Stewart”. What is it about airplanes that you guys like so much?

I like the sleek design.

Do you have a favorite airline?

You know I’m starting to build a little bit of a relationship with Southwest. You know? We’ve been chatting online for six or seven months now, so you could say it’s getting pretty serious.

Have you been flying a lot lately?

I fly early and I fly often.

Do you have any travel tips for people out there?

Don’t smuggle narcotics on airplanes because you never know when there’s going to be a K9 dog.

Is that for real? I’ve never actually seen one.

Well, I’ve most recently seen a K9 in Orlando. They had us walk a little box formation in the line, through security. Inside of that box was the K9 dog and a lady that was walking back and forth pacing with the dog and the dog was smelling everyone.

Wow.

And he had like a doggy vest on. You know? They have the doggy vest.

I did not know that.

Okay, you’ve never seen the vest on the dog with the dog vest. Okay well sometimes they wear vests and this particular vest said “DO NOT PET THE DOG.”

What did you think of the production when you got the track?

I liked the production. It’s a really dope beat.

I was tricked. I didn’t realize that Seven made the beat. I thought it was a Gianni Ca$h production. I don’t know. I totally thought it was in-house ¡MAYDAY! production, but Seven made the beat. So that’s tricky and well-executed. They sent us their verses I believe.

What is it about Seven? Is he able to do anything he wants to do?

I believe that Seven can do anything that he wants to do. You ask me what it is about him?

What do you think about Seven as a producer and his ability to just pull off any style that he sees fit?

I think he’s very talented. He might be something greater than a producer. I don’t know what the word would be. A virtuoso? He’s a virtuoso. He’s more than a producer. He does stuff.

Do you have any personal highlights from your verse?

No, I don’t have self-favorites. I don’t show myself favoritism. And it was just a little guy. Just a little eight bar guy. I’m in there – I’m out of there. I’m in and out of there.

Have you found in this game of life that having a team is important?

Yes. Paramount.

What can you say about your team and what are qualities of individuals that you look for when you let in team members?

They’ve got to have a great attitude and they’ve got to not suck. They’ve got to want to work and become greater than themselves as well, as in a larger aspect with the team and rising in the group. Not sucking is super important. You can’t suck.

Do you come across a lot of people that have the eagerness and the want, but they just suck?

I dont’ want to say all that, but what I will say is that I don’t come across a ton of people that I think are trying to rock out with the team. It’s a very involved thing. It’s like if you play on a soccer team, on an international level, that’s what you do and that’s all you do, basically. That’s kind of how I want my team to be.

If you were in the jungle, and Godemis and Noms were both bitten by a deadly snake, and you only had enough antidote for one of them, who would you give it to?

I would tell them to suck the poison out of each other and I would keep the antidote in case we sustain another snakebite. Everyone lives.

Is there anything else you want to say about this song?

I like the song. It’s a good song. I’m interested to see how it fits the rest of the record. I haven’t heard the rest so I’m eagerly anticipating the rest of the record and finding out what it sounds like.

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