CL EXCLUSIVE: World Premiere of 'Rotated,' by Ali Steele, Black Linen & Cosa Nostra Que

by

5 comments
Happy 4/20, folks. And for your pleasure, enjoy this ode to the weed from Charlotte artists Ali Steele, Black Linen and Cosa Rostra Que — premiering today exclusively at Creative Loafing.



You'll find the following background on how this song came about in our 'Top 10 Marijuana Songs by Charlotte Artists' list in CL's annual 4/20 issue on newsstands today, as well as the other nine tracks:

True story: About a week ago I'm crowd-sourcing ideas for this list and ask a few local musicians and promoters I know for recommendations. One of the musicians is Solomon Tetteh, aka rapper Black Linen, who I wrote about in Creative Loafing back in February. He's one of those story subjects who's since become a friend. Don't judge me. It happens.

He makes a few recommendations. I ask him, "Don't you have one?" He says, "No." I say, "You've never written a weed song?" He says, "No." I say, "Well, write one and record it by next week and if it's good we'll use it."

Don't dare a rapper.

I'll let Black Linen tell what happened next: "So I'm on my way to Soule Jukebox to record a submission piece for the Sounds of the Queen City Charlotte anthem contest with Ali Steele. As we're riding I go, 'Aye man, I need a weed song for 4/20,' and his exact words are, 'Bruh, I've been playing this track for you every time we are riding around, and it's a weed song.' And I think to myself, 'I need to stop smokin.'

"Two days later we picked up his cousin Cosa Nostra Que to aid us in some vocals, and headed to Si-Fi Media Studios. We recorded the track in no time with the aid of Si-Fi's engineering skills. It was produced by Jet Fuel Beats of Umbrella Mindz and will debut on 4/20."

Right here at CL, of course. And then you can be the judge.