If you’re looking for a Milwaukee artist with big ideas and bigger ambitions, look no further than WebsterX. The last few years have seen the young rapper take the initial momentum of his terrific debut album Desperate Youth and build it into something resembling a full-fledged movement. Along with his peers and collaborators in the New Age Narcissism collective, WebsterX has become the biggest name in Milwaukee music, thrilling capacity crowds at street festivals and Summerfest blowouts alike.
Now, add to that list public television. In a recent episode of Wisconsin Public Television’s 30-Minute Music Hour, WebsterX tears through tracks both new and old, opening with “Marinate” and following it up with the new-ish “Lately.” It’s a lively and ultimately sweaty half-hour set (“They say TV adds 10 pounds, but they did not tell me TV adds 30 liters of sweat,”) that finds the restless MC backed by Q The Sun and Christopher Gilbert, and periodically joined by fellow NAN members Siren and Lex Allen (the latter for the excellent “Renaissance”).