Previous Industries share ‘Zayre’, the third single from their forthcoming debut album Service Merchandise due June 28 via Merge Records. The brainchild of long-time collaborators Open Mike Eagle, STILL RIFT and Video Dave, Previous Industries bounce off each other on this latest track, offering another dimension to the ambition of their debut project.
Produced by underground hip-hop titan Child Actor (Armand Hammer, billy woods, Serengeti), with ‘Zayre’, listeners will find a stark difference in the collective’s tone on ‘Zayre’ compared to their previous single ‘Pliers’ – all the while maintaining a seamless collective energy reminiscent of the golden age of rap groups.
The single, which the trio describes as “war drums in the break room,” opens with a run of compliments from an imagined fan, taken aback by the sheer creativity of their new project. When asked how they were able to come up with Service Merchandise’s “outer space concepts” the admirer is met with a resounding yet hilarious answer — “Whiskey!” Whether or not this is a result of liquid courage, the single is brimming with verve, signalling the invigorated pace, composition, and lyrical approach to their new project — a direct result of their creative harmony fostered by years of friendship and collaboration.
Speaking on the single the group shares, “’Zayre’ is the name of a defunct department store. Many of our songs are named after retail outlets that failed. When you have time, watch the commercials for Zayre and know that it was a real place where people bought action figures and pants.” They add, “The producer Child Actor is a genius. He showed us his formula once and we got really scared… There are secret lyrics to the hook that [Open Mike Eagle will] never tell you – Dave might tell you for the right price, but he never will.”
Open Mike Eagle needs no introduction. A legendary emcee, comedian, and podcaster, Open Mike Eagle coined the term “art rap” to describe his whip-smart, literate style of hip-hop, which draws inspiration from Freestyle Fellowship and De La Soul as well as They Might Be Giants and Pavement. While he has ten albums to his name, a few of the many critically acclaimed highlights are Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (2017), Anime, Trauma and Divorce (2020), and Component System with the Auto Reverse (2022). All the while, he has become a respected figure in the comedy world, co-hosting several podcasts as well as the Comedy Central series The New Negroes.
Video Dave first met Mike on the campus grounds of Southern Illinois University, where an innate creative bond was formed alongside other notable figures Hannibal Buress and Serengeti. For the uninitiated, Video Dave is a Chicago-bred rapper, TV producer, beatmaker, and writer who notably worked with Open Mike Eagle on The New Negroes where Dave was a musical guest with both Mike and Method Man as well as working on the production of the show. In 2023, he released ArticulatedTexTiles, which includes features from OME and STILL RIFT. That album earned a slew of critical praise including being named one of July’s best hip-hop albums by Bandcamp. A true multi-hyphenate artist, he has had a creative hand in seemingly disparate corners of modern-day culture—from sewing to reality TV shows, to Prince performing at the Super Bowl, somehow Dave has a connection.
Enter STILL RIFT, a high school friend of Mike’s whom he has lovingly described as “a mystery wrapped in an enigma.” While he has not released his own music, he has made numerous appearances turning out memorable features on others’ projects. He was most recently featured on OME’s 2023 album Another Triumph of Ghetto Engineering, as was Video Dave.
1. Showbiz
2. Pliers
3. Braids
4. Roebuck
5. Montgomery Ward
6. White Hen
7. Babbages
8. Fotomat
9. Dominick’s
10. Zayre
11. Kay Bee
Pre-order Service Merchandise: https://lnk.to/ServiceMerchandise
Photo credit – Robyn Von Swank