If you’re looking for the perfect soundtrack to accompany the realization that you’ve been accidentally launching yourself into low-earth orbit every night for the past two weeks, look no further than ‘Strictly Biggness‘ from the band YaYa Biggs. I recently discovered an empty package of weed gummies under my couch and, after a brief investigative post-mortem with my wife, things started to click. I’d been casually popping two or three of these “10 mg” treats before bed to unwind from work, telling her how totally relaxed I felt, despite it taking me three to four hours to physically leave the bed the next morning. It wasn’t until she pointed out that the second zero had been partially rubbed off the packaging, which revealed that they were actually 100 mg gummies. Then and only then did it make sense why she said I was completely quiet watching Planet Earth and didn’t even know if I blinked once during each episode. This album is exactly what that experience sounds like: a soulful, high-gravity blend of jazz and funk with the right mix of psych-rock that holds you down while simultaneously lifting you to the sky.
The band operates out of both Chicago and Milwaukee, bringing a dual-city energy to a record that feels as expansive as my accidental dosage. The music is raw, experimental, intelligent, and at times complete chaos. Three tracks in particular stand out for me as absolute essentials: “Strictly Business,” which sets a professional tone for my decidedly unprofessional gummy mishap; “Grime,” which captures the grit of getting home late from work; and “Can’t Seem To Get Away,” a title that perfectly summarizes my relationship with my bed the morning after a 300 mg night. It is a masterclass in chemistry, delivering a sound that is as tight as my wife’s logic and as vibrant as a midnight epiphany. Whether you’re navigating the I-94 corridor or just trying to navigate your way to the kitchen, YaYa Biggs provides a brilliant, rhythmic complexity that makes you want to dance, even if your legs are currently vibrating at a frequency previously unknown to science. The music is raw, experimental, and intelligent.
Links of interest:
https://www.instagram.com/yaya_biggs_/
https://yayabiggs.bandcamp.com/album/strictly-biggness