NUTS & KIDS The debut mixtape that took almost 2 years to create. While on house arrest, Nantes began writing the poems that would become the basis for most of the songs. With support from his grandmother, a Compac laptop, and a Turtle Beach headset, he crafted the mixtape with lyrics concerning gang violence, teenage pregnancy, and the nuts (pros) and kids (cons) of adolescent life. It is unique in its approach to musicality, emulating a child's mind with its erratic flow and incoherent production.
NUTS & KIDS II: STREETLIGHTS After the release of Nuts & Kids, Nantes became depressed at the reviews he received regarding it. He sought to differentiate the follow-up from the classic tropes of hip-hop and gangsta rap, inspired by his son. The tape is built around the pressure of fatherhood and escaping childhood thoughts as the world forces growth within young men of color in Amerikkka. Streetlights is a concept-tape that depicts Nantes' struggles in his late teens.
SLAUSON ROSES Shortly after the Nuts & Kids II: Streetlights, Nantes began writing for his next project using leftover concepts from Streetlights. The project originated from a poem Nantes on July 6th, 2016 and was originally conceptualized as a full-length album. Nantes chose to focus on his next project but also deliver a "masterful sonic experience", albeit, a short one inspired by various women in his lifetime and the violence of his native, South Central LA.
NUTS & KIDS III: GOOD NOON Good Noon serves as the final chapter in the Nuts & Kids series, bringing the journey of self loathing and soul searching to an end. It was conceived during the recording of Slauson Roses, as Nantes was writing for this project which resulted in Roses becoming an EP. It was not originally intended as the final chapter of Nuts & Kids until Nantes realized that it sonically served as an "evil twin" to Streetlights' 90s-esque sound. Combining the aggressive lyricism of Slauson Roses with the dynamic storytelling of Streetlights, the tape is somewhat experimental sonically and closes out the trilogy with gangsta rap revelations and neo-soul style grooves in dedication to Nantes' son and his mother.
DARKER THAN BLACK Darker Than Black is the debut studio album by the eclectic Californian musician painting a detailed portrait of his turbulent childhood in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles. Composed over a four year period beginning in 2016, the album underwent many changes, inspired by the work of Alan Silvestri as well as early '00s films such as The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing. Infusing the sensibilities of early '90s grunge with his hardcore hip-hop/neo-soul amalgamation "nappy soul" to explore the plight of a lost black child and the horrors of the black experience in a tale of grief, trauma, nostalgia, and rage. Inspired by his screenplay of the same name.
96 Degrees (TBA) The next project from Nantes. A concept album, it is coming soon and will be released on a larger platform than previous releases.