For years, Santa Barbara has been relatively quiet on the hip-hop front, but one group is working to change that — and succeeding. Meet OWL Entertainment, the growing label founded by rapper Adam “Savv” Melvin that has quickly become one of the 805's most exciting sets of musical artists. An acronym for Obviously We're Lyrical, OWL has a style that’s powerful and inspirational, a force of good nature representing S.B.'s until-now underground hip-hop scene.
Few area artists of any genre have sparked the same kind of buzz as OWL has in the last few years. Savv's video for “Trippin' (Remix),” featuring OWL co-owner Nessie G and fellow OWL entertainer TZ (aka Sean Toedter), garnered more than 20,000 views on YouTube in less than a week of its 2017 release. “We used what Santa Barbara had to offer and made something crazy. I’m proud of it,” said TZ.
The trio's flow pulls you in, with Savv's welcoming and easy intensity, Nessie's smooth confidence, and TZ's laid-back jollity. “We're trying to bring back that old West Coast sound,” Savv said, pointing to artists such as Eazy-E as sonic inspiration. Featuring beats by Skinny (otherwise known as Mario Rivera) and production from Hidden City Studios' Elliott Lanam, their sound is as homegrown as one can get. In coming months, TZ will drop his Mixtape Militia, chock-full of 805 collaborators, while Nessie G will release her album 5150, with plenty more visuals in the pipeline.