Wingman Releases New Single 'Crash Land'

Appropriately enough, perhaps, the rapper and electronic artist Wingman is known for his aviation-related music and videos. The visuals for Crash Land, one of his latest singles, were drawn directly from his own experiences. He and his cameraman Matt Trainor had to make an emergency landing while filming for another video from his helicopter. Ever the consummate visual artists, they recorded footage of the incident, in the California coastal mountains, and decided to use it in a future music video.

Well, why not use your own adventures to shape your output? The video for Crash Land has occasional descriptive subtitling but is mostly self explanatory, starting from the helicopter being in flight and ending with the 4.30am rescue and the broken chopper being carted away on the back of a low loader. The two men were around 20 miles from the nearest town and out of cell range when the crash occurred so they had to hike for several hours to find enough signal to call for rescue.

But also weaving in thanks to the rescue team for their rescue in the early hours and urging listeners not to give up as good things will happen.

Wingman's music is likely to be new to many people, but he's put out some total bangers lately. The explicit cut F Up My Life has a rock guitar solo at the end, for variation. Meanwhile the title track of his new album, Weird New Feelings, has an insistent beat and an interesting melody underpinning his words. His work has had over five million streams so far, perhaps not surprising given his experience in the genre. He says his influences include Kasbo and Flume and he's been laying down beats in a similar style since childhood. Now, he effortlessly spits rhymes over smooth electronic beats. He often raps about the instantly recognisable yellow helicopter which features in Crash Land and has also released Run Back, which opens with the standard recorded message advising aircraft passengers to fasten their seatbelts and ensure their seat backs and tray tables are in the upright position.

Wingman's style is very conversational; he tells a story with every song. For those new to the rap and hip-hop genres, his work is very approachable, easy listening and tuneful with fast but often clearly spoken rap. The electronic backing tracks lend melodies missing from more traditional drum'n'bass-based rap output and make his work accessible to a wider audience. For more on the man and his little yellow helicopter, follow Wingman on Instagram.

Link to the single: https://open.spotify.com/album/76LLiAFZznfEvYPMESdxsg

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