Dylan Parra and Conor Bertha have been staples of the Flagler County music scene since their band Flo.wav first came around in 2017. In the years since, they’ve cornered the market on lo-fi, beachy hip-hop with each major release coming out better than the last one.
This month, Parra and Bertha released “N0 G00D”, their newest single featuring close friend and longtime collaborator Juan Mallorca, under his stage name Huan.
The song bursts into action with an aggressive rap verse from Bertha, before Parra’s smooth vocal hook arrives to balance it out. The song in some ways is a new direction for Flo.wav, exploring some themes from 90’s hip hop not previously utilized by the band. Its chorus uses a mechanically deepened vocal track underneath Parra’s unedited vocals, recalling such artists as Yello or even Prince, while the verses might conjure up memories of Sugar Ray.
Mallorca’s contribution to “N0 G00D” after the first chorus marks another entry into his stellar past 16 months, coming off the heels of an EP and two singles from Blum, the Palm Coast band for which he sings lead and plays guitar, and a successful debut solo single with “Patrick Swayze (On Lock)”.
The song’s release was accompanied by a music video, shot and edited by St. Augustine-based Jason Blankenship, and his production label Bad Cloud Media. The video employs a creative use of doodles blended into real life, giving Parra an imaginary guitar to strum and Bertha a squiggly baseball bat, which recalls the theme of their 2019 music video, “Shift”. The “N0 G00D” video features cameo appearances from other local acts such as L.O.V.E. Culture, Easy & Rob, and Che, along with dancer and choreographer Yvona Gonzalez.
Flo.wav release “N0 G00D” hot off the success of their 2019 EP “Textures” and look to continue riding their wave of success into 2020 with more releases soon.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.