Returning from the release of 2019’s Black Moses EP as well as an official remix of Tyler, the Creator’s “EARFQUAKE,” fast-rising Compton-based innovator Channel Tres has returned with the first single on his new record label Art For Their Good, “Weedman.”

Like most records from Tres, his latest track is a unique marriage between bouncy Detroit house and West Coast rap sensibilities. Delivering woozy vocals over a blown-out G-funk backdrop, Tres offloads lyrics that tread a fine line between nightclub ballad and politics, singing about having to chase down his unreliable weed dealer. At a deeper glance, he examines what it’s like to be a black man in America, whereby the ongoing legalization of the substance marks a stark contrast from the people still suffering lengthy prison sentences due to the war on drugs.

Speaking to HYPEBEAST about the track’s meaning, Tres shares that it’s “about me detailing a time when I was 16 or 17, when there were no dispensaries in LA and you had to find a weedman.” He continues, “It was really stressful when you couldn’t find him or he was unavailable. It has that feeling of LA back in the day and it’s one of the first songs where I perform vocally. I combined sounds I’ve been wanting to make for a long time. It’s a sativa-dominant song.”

In terms of laying his ideas out creatively, he notes Compton legend DJ Quik as a major influence. “I was listening to DJ Quik a lot and I combined the message with the funk by just not being overly preachy. If you’re a fan of music, you’ll hear the influences,” he states. “Like when George Clinton said ‘free your mind and your *ss will follow.’ He did the same thing with his music. I made it groovy and fun but it still has a sociopolitical underlying meaning.”

As for the present, Channel Tres is prepping a new project: “I’m working on a project right now and I guess just trying to get through 2020. I’m writing new music and this is the intro to the new grooves and what I’m doing vocally.”

Stream “Weedman” below. Later this year Tres will mark his Coachella debut, with more material expected to come until then.

For more new music, don’t miss Little Dragon’s sun-drenched album, New Me, Same Us.