Kalae Nouveau – Word Theft (Video)

Ok. I’ve been saying for a couple of years now that Kalae (formerly All Day, now, Nouveau) is a star. Or at least one in the making. Now that she’s re-emerging a bit, I like that she is figuring things out. I like that she disappeared for a while, learning Portuguese while watching Sesame Street.. Wait. No. That was the Hulk in one of the Hulk movies.. Ok. Let me try again.

After dropping some material a while ago, Kalae All Day seems to have entered a cocoon of some sort, and now the butter fly (two words on purpose) singer/spittress has emerged, as a Nouveau, but not completely new, entity. Her talented mix of singing, rapping, writing and emoting is still there, and in the video for “Word Theft,” all are in full effect, all simultaneously demonstrating an air of advancement from the past, while not completely covering the need for a bit of fine tuning.

So, (very minor) flaws and all, I still clearly see what I once saw. And I want to see more.

For reference, past Kalae mentions on these e-pages go all the way back to her O.G.LYRIKALBOOKBAGGER, onward to her 20 Kit Kats for the Riff Raff and recently, her mixtape, Pass Times & Crass Lines. (Not to mention us once anointing her a reason why NY hip hop doesn’t suck.)

Kalae has always personified eclectic, but in “Word Theft,” it was refreshing to hear emotion trump eclectic. I still want that quirky, statuesque firespitter, but I am equally intrigued to hear more from whatever place this song is coming from.

You can see it as soon as you see her. A momentary shuffle of facial expressions that practically scream confidence, shyness, sexiness, fear and perseverance, all at once, all lasting for only about a second, setting up perfectly what will follow: an honest, raw, slightly unpolished but fully promising display of Kalae learning to spread those new wings.