High-quality collaborations take us somewhere we wouldn’t expect any of the involved parties to venture on their own, and in their new single “Lit Life,” Selfish Ways and Maahez definitely jettison into concepts that I was not expecting to encounter from either act. Selfish Ways just dropped Gotham City Vibes in 2022, and among the tracks that are sporting features, “Lit Life” probably has the most experimental feel to its bones. Maahez creates a surreal backdrop as a melodic foundation to the track’s striking balance of clandestine vocals and rousing psychedelic grooves, and personally, the finished cocktail is one too intoxicating to resist.
Even without the presence of a giant bassline, the beat in this track is huge, which says a lot about the cohesiveness of the mix. Every instrument in “Lit Life” sounds glued together; if the drums were to stop pulsating, the verse would cease to exist, the bass would fade from audibility and the guitar would no longer cut right down the center of the song. There is no filler here because it wouldn’t contribute to the spinning wheel that is this composition’s construction, which is more than I can say for a lot of indie tracks debuting this spring.
There’s a sweet bounce to this hook that I could listen to for hours on end, and it’s made even more profound because of how full it sounds. This has got to be one of the best-produced tracks of its kind to land on my desk in a while, and because Selfish Ways are using every bit of sonic space they’re afforded here, it sounds like we’re listening to something coming at us in a much more intimate setting than most studio recordings can emulate. It’s impressive for any act to offer, let alone a duo that is just starting to get international attention.
“Lit Life” is a great listen in what has otherwise been a pretty weak month for quality beats in hip-hop and pop, and though I don’t believe this is Selfish Ways going at full power, it does leave me pretty curious to find out how they’re going to develop what they’ve got even further. The studio is their best friend right now, and from the looks of what they’ve done here, the relationship is a strong one that can get even stronger provided they continue pushing the boundaries with their music as they have in this single.
Kim Muncie
