Help pick Flare Tha Rebel’s next single

Flare Tha Rebel. // photo by Selina Rios

Released back in May, Flare Tha Rebel’s Dear City is a love letter to Kansas City as a whole, but especially its musical community.

Across the album’s dozen tracks, Flare (aka Jeff Shafer) looks at KC and celebrates every aspect. Be it the vibrant cultural mix, its beloved sports teams, or the way the music scene can come together to make everything stronger, Dear City is a record which will make you love Kansas City even more than you thought you did.

After a successful release party at RecordBar, the next Flare Tha Rebel live event will be an album listening party called “Pick My Next Single” at Vine Street Brewing on Thursday, July 23. In addition to the listening portion, Flare Tha Rebel will perform Dear City’s initial single, “Mixology,” as well as take part in a live interview and Q&A hosted by Kimology and Lee from the BDYLTA (But Did You Listen to the Album) podcast.

Ahead of all of that, we hooked up with Flare Tha Rebel to discuss Dear City and what brought it to life.

The Pitch: The first track sets the tone for the album. What made you want to devote an entire LP to Kansas City?

Flare Tha Rebel: I have a lot of love for Kansas City and my hometown music scene and I’ve also been reflecting on how love for a city comes with the will to be honest and critical at times. From Brooklyn, where I was born, to KC, where I was raised, to Chicago, where I lived for 10 years, and even now in Belfast, Ireland, where I’ve been able to perform recently, I have seen pride and critique go hand-in-hand. I wanted to create an album that represented that, and although Kansas City is the focal point, I’m motivated by the similar experiences many of us share when it comes to our nuanced relationship with the cities we call home.

“Mixology” might be both a meditation on your own mindset and Kansas City as a whole. Is that how you see it?

Definitely a song about my mindset when I’m able to get rid of toxic thoughts. Almost like a reminder to myself to be confident. That and an excuse to showcase my love of cocktails and mixology, which I feel KC has a lot of great spots for, like Fern Bar, where we shot the music video reel for this song.

What led you to put “Bob Ross Flow” on this album, even though it’s like, five years old at this point?

“Happy Clouds (Bob Ross Flow)” just felt deserving of an album! I also like that I have a line referencing my transition from Chicago back to Kansas City, which matched the Dear City theme. Also, Oboi being on the track. I was excited to have many features from KC’s local music scene as part of the album.

I’m really curious about the initial inspiration for this project. There’s been a lot of music about Kansas City, but devoting an entire album to it and in so many different ways is novel and clever. Like, there’s material where you reflect on your own personal connection, but also then there’s “Play This Song at Your Tailgate,” which is a universal sports jam. Was that one where you were like, “I can’t talk about KC without addressing the tailgate?”

I guess tailgating is definitely a part of KC culture! This is one of those songs where I am just leaning into some fun aspects of my hometown that a lot of us take pride in. Our sports teams, from the Chiefs to the Royals to KC Current, are definitely aspects that Kansas Citians ride for, and I know other sports towns can relate.

What was the initial inspiration for this project?

After doing two EPs that got some good local buzz, I actually had plans to continue in that direction and just make another series of EPs with matching themes, like this EP is for party people and this EP is for political people but that stopped feeling like an honest representation of me as an artist and frankly wasn’t challenging enough. I think I just got to a point where all I wanted to do was a full album, something that could show a fuller version of myself.

That final track … daaaamn. How did you A) come to that lineup and B) make it happen?

Yo, that was a lot to pull off! Probably had about six different studios involved as we weren’t able to record all at once and it came down to the last hour as I got the final verse just a couple days before I had to submit the album for streaming. I’m all about bringing people together though, so it was worth it. The posse cut is a part of hip hop that we just don’t see often enough and I knew that kind of track would be a must for my next record.

Also, what better way to represent Kansas City than to release a track with some of the most elite MC’s all dropping bars? The title, “KC Assemble”, is a nod to the Avengers, and I added the “P.S.” to it as a “postscript” note following the letter-writing theme of the album since it’s the final track, which comes after “Sincerely, Me”. It’s also a sequel to the “KC Shuffle” song I did in my Anti-Crew days that also featured 8 of some of the dopest MCs at the time. Some other posse tracks that motivated me to create some of my own would definitely be “Scenario” by A Tribe Called Quest, “Simon Says – Remix” by Pharoahe Monch, “4, 3, 2, 1” by LL Cool J, and “The Anthem” by Sway & King Tech.

Flare Tha Rebel live. // image courtesy the artist

How did taking this from a pair of EPs to an album to a live performance make you see the project?

I’d say it felt like a slow ascent up a roller coaster followed by an incredibly speedy drop, but not a drop in the sense of going to a low or undesirable place, but rather a very intentional direction that was bound to be thrilling. The week of and then the album release concert felt like the thrill, the exciting speed drop after a very long and intentional ascent.

Especially with the album release concert following my letter-writing campaign – some friends and fans got actual letters in the mail inviting them to the show – as well as my music video reels that were dropping once a week leading up to the show and giving folks a taste of the new music to come. The whole process was very intentional, and I was incredibly grateful to have a packed house at recordBar for the release. Much love to Eddie Moore and Black Light Animals who also shared the bill with me.

Where do you hope to go from here?

Next, I’m working on an event called “Pick My Next Single”, which will be a listening party for the record where I’ll be interviewed live about Dear City, then attendees will have time to listen to the album on headphones while they take in some art. My hope is to do it at an art gallery. Then everyone will get to vote on what my next single will be and I’ll follow suit! Eventually, I will release the album on vinyl, too.

Flare tha Rebel’s “Pick My Next Single” event and Dear City listening party is at Vine Street Brewing on Thursday, July 23. The event is free and open to the public, but you’ll need to RSVP here.