Peter Wesley

Emcee Peter Wesley shares an unflinching zeal for his niche interests — previously, it was his affinity for professional wrestling, and now, with 1st Edition Charizard, it’s his love of Pokemon. With opener “Peter Used Firespin and It Was Effective,” he turns the premise of the titular character into a metaphor for his prowess on the mic, one that he backs with precision delivery and thoughtful production. Wesley leans into braggadocio, but flips it around with the line, “I know I seem to brag long / But I do it for every time that I had wrong.” Wesley re-contextualizes his entire image here, not as a self-confident force with the answers, but as a reclamation of the self. - Leo Weekly

At age 18, hip-hop artist Peter Wesley was shot during a robbery. His youthful ego also had taken a hit: How can you be seen as tough in the face of defeat? Wesley was embarrassed, and he felt like bringing it up would somehow deflect his success. On his latest album, Give Me The Ball & I’ll Do The Rest, which will be released this weekend at Mag Bar, Wesley faces down his pain, viewing it now as the crucible that made him who he is today.

“Everything in the last couple generations of rap, they didn’t open up about that too much. Anything about rap, people try really hard to seem really cool,” Wesley said. “Opening up about dark times and depression, it doesn’t happen that much.”

The spiritual follow-up to last year’s Rematch, Wesley works once again with beat maker DJ Shaheed on Give Me The Ball & I’ll Do The Rest. Although this time, Wesley shifted metaphors, moving away from the theme of professional wrestling, instead using basketball as a concept. But, the album is much deeper and honest beneath the surface.

“There is a song called ‘Pep Talk,’” Wesley said. “It’s just me going on about a lot of downs. Since it’s about sports, I talked about how when I was in middle school, I went out for basketball, and I didn’t get it. Like when I was 18, I thought I was going to get this record deal, and, instead, I got this crappy job. When you grow up, you see these folks that have these dreams, and there facing this and that.”

The release show for Give Me The Ball & I’ll Do The Rest is at Mag Bar on Saturday, June 23. - Leo Weekly

Basketball metaphors have seemingly always been woven into the fabric of hip hop, for better or worse. Given the competitive nature of the genre, it’s easy to make this connection, maybe too easy as it’s become almost commonplace with modern emcees. Over the years, rappers have repeatedly gone to the well, but not all have had the ability to make their roundball references coincide with deep, interpersonal trauma. We’ve all heard coaches regurgitate the “you’ve got to win the game of life”speech, and we’ve heard that pitch from plenty of rappers, too. But I’m not sure we’ve heard a musical connection to the game quite like this.

On his latest EP, Peter Wesley vehemently pulls the curtain back to open up about several personal issues including being excluded, depression, and most traumatically, being embarrassed over getting shot and robbed a few years ago. That’s some heavy shit, man. Yeah, he lightens things up with all sorts of basketball references, but the mood never really sways from the seriousness of the subject matter he’s referring to.

Produced by DJ Shaheed, this deeply introspective release features atmospheric beats with a simplistic approach, allowing each ethereal swelling of synthesizer to hit the mark. I’m not sure the personal lyrical content would hit the same way if these beats weren’t just as they are. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a beat from Shaheed that didn’t resonate with me personally, and his output here is no different.

One song that I especially like is “Pep Talk” which I feel surmises the purpose of this effort with deeply personal lyrics served over a solemn, airy rhythm section. Another standout is the closing track “Streamers” where the EP switches gears a bit with a banger that serves as Wesley’s own personal victory lap. This might be my favorite track on the record — I’ve added it to several Spotify playlists in case you were wondering.

As he works some personal shit out on the mic, Peter Wesley simultaneously declares that he’s tired of waiting for his turn to shine as an artist — his time is now — and I gotta say, with his latest batch of rhymes, he’s pretty damned convincing. - Never Nervous

“Framehouse Vs. Peter Wesley” by the artist's of the same name is a collaborative project. An EP with five songs that all consist of clever and witty wordplay. I prejudged the EP at first by the artwork (artist please put your best foot forward here). A clever homage to classic WWF that could have used a little better execution. Going solely off the artwork I would have missed out on a quality release. I'm glad to say artwork aside and was highly impressed with the entire EP. There are three people on the artwork, two white guys under where it says “Peter Wesley” and a black guy under where it says “Framehouse.” “Peter Wesley” is typically a solo artist and "Framehouse" is a group. They all chant their names throughout the some of the songs as their worlds collide.

“Wesley” uses a lot of metaphors and analogies in his lyrics, which I enjoy. The party starts with a bang. “Secret Ingredient”, which is the first song on the EP references food, recipes and ingredients to style, flow, and rhyme scheme as if they have the secret ingredient that nobody else has. The second song “Not Today” makes you want to chant along with them and gives off more of a hyper, club vibe. “Don’t fuck with no pig, no cop, no politician, not today, I got my partner with me, we both tripping”, makes you want to stand up, shout and pump your fist. I can visualize a whole crowd of people doing so while this song is playing.

My favorite song “Yung Stone Cold” has a down South vibe to it and would be the perfect song to ride to on a pretty, sunny day. I love the beat and how it reminds me of UGK/Eightball and MJG styled song. They even refer to themselves as pimps and say they have “pimping” in their DNA and bones. The lyrical content flows well with the beat and chorus.

Overall “Framehouse Vs. Peter Wesley” is a solid EP and I liked all of the songs. The only complaint I have is how short the song are considering there’s only five of them. I would've loved to hear more just to see if the consistency remains the same. They mentioned listening to Three Six Mafia on “Yung Stone Cold” and Framehouse especially seemed to be heavily influenced by Three Six here. Peter's descriptive wordplay and delivery also makes me think of Eminem. As someone who grew up listening to both these are two good influences to have. Both Framehouse and Peter Wesley successfully meld these styles together. - butisitdopetho