Two Fresh & Their Chicago Friends

Photo by Mark P


Who: Sherwyn & Kendrick Nicholls • Hometown: Nashville, TN • Follow: Twitter // SoundCloud


We try to stick within the confines of Chicago when writing and discussing music for TheseDays. Producers, rappers, creatives, singers, you name it. That being said, I'm constantly finding ways to expand while still drawing connections back to our most windy of cities. 

Thankfully, there are a great deal of artists outside of Chicago that are paying attention to this city, that are working directly with the talent in this city that we try our best to properly cover. Plenty of these respected names show their faces and act as allies that help the Chicago scene spread, and, oftentimes, allowing these particular artists to spread as well. Remember when Cam'ron released "Adrenaline" with Twista and Psycho Drama? This is a prime example. 

I see this being a continual (see also: sporadic) column, where I highlight artists outside of Chicago that show love to Chicago. This is my first attempt, and today we speak on Two Fresh, twin brothers from Nashville, Tennessee who are currently based in LA. After popping around the EDM circuit for a short while, remixing tracks by Pretty Lights and temporarily being affiliated with Sound Tribe Sector Nine's 1320 label, they eventually made their way over to Los Angeles, where they inked a deal with Mad Decent and starting crafting hip-hop music. Really good, high energy, bass-heavy hip-hop music. Twin brothers Kendo and Shweez are responsible for making some of my favorite beats in the rap game. If it hasn't already been made clear, Two Fresh fuck with Chicago heavily. As you can see from the tracks scattered throughout, they know Chicago and Chicago knows them. 

Straying away from heavy electronica and tinkering with hip-hop more and more, the duo began to work with SaveMoney. All members involved struck gold. Like the song “Still Got It”, for example, with Joey Purp and Vic Mensa. Like “God in Me” and "Gettin' Throwed" with Towkio. Like "For the World" with Njomza. And plenty of others. On top of working with vocalists out of Chicago, they even have a song with bassist/producer (and TheseDays Home Team member) Carter Lang, a song called “Otsego” which can be found on their newest instrumental EP, Rejuvenation of Cool.

Two Fresh with Joey Purp & Towkio

While Two Fresh show plenty of love to Chicago and have collaborated with numerous talents, they don't limit themselves to any one particular city. They have songs with Atlanta's Curtis Williams (of Two9), L.A.'s Elijah Blake, Brooklyn's The Underachievers, and countless others. If you dig deep enough, you will find an extensive discography with very few weak pieces of the puzzle. 

As I attempt to make this article as much of a multimedia experience as possible, I feel it only necessary to highlight the music video for "Gettin' Throwed", my first proper introduction into the world of Two Fresh. The purple tinted video (courtesy of Chicagoan Jake Osmun) shows Towkio and Joey Purp going back and forth lyrically while various members of SaveMoney make notable appearances. It's such a simpe and effective video and a proper capture of the talent and potential that is possible once Chicago collaborates with artists outside of the neighborhood. Hopefully 2016 will see plenty of more collaborations between Two Fresh and Chicago artists, as all of the six collaborations that have happened at this point are worthy of their own EP.