I’ve been waiting for an excuse to write something about Eighty4 Fly–not

I’ve been waiting for an excuse to write something about Eighty4 Fly–not that there hasn’t been good reason until this point. The clandestine local rapper–clandestine because a sparsely-appointed Facebook page is just about the only source of information on the dude–has a couple of Jon Augustavo-directed music videos under his belt (“Like Planes” shot in Seattle, and “So Cool” shot in Los Angeles and Los Vegas”) and a few other more-than-respectable tracks floating around the interwebs.Dropped today, “Free Fall” is a resonant, soulfully jazzy single that manages to be just as cool-not-cold as his past cuts but equally as heartfelt. The cloudily-sung chorus sets a serious tone: “I start up in the sky then I free fall / And pray that I can make it ‘fore I touch the ground / This game starts to feel like a see saw / That’s why I gotta keep a couple drinks around / Oh my oh my oh my, my sunny days are gone / That’s why I go so hard, ’cause I just can’t go home.”All three verses are lyrically sharp and aggressively honest, and while this is definitely Eighty4 Fly’s song it’s by no means unfamiliar territory for either Grynch or J. Pinder. These are three of my favorite Seattle emcees on one track, and it’s a gem–maybe one of the best hip-hop tracks I’ve heard so far this year.