“The experimentalist's R&B-heavy third album is a celebration of Black queer nightlife spanning from Baltimore to Los Angeles, and reveling in adoration, flirtation and sublime, formative love.”
“Back in the depths of the pandemic, Fred again.. fashioned one of his breakout tracks from a sample of friend and fellow producer and DJ the Blessed Madonna that lamented the loss of club culture. "Maera (We Lost Dancing)" doesn't really elaborate on its premise, but GRIP, the latest project from Josiah Wise, a.k.a. serpentwithfeet, could be viewed as a multi-media extrapolation of that sentiment”
“The Los Angeles-based singer and producer trades the gospel of his previous work for sensual R&B, using the club as his canvas for tender odes to queer desire.”
“glossy, lustful tribute to queer black clubland”
“Serpentwithfeet ruminates across GRIP's dancefloor”
“Josiah Wise, aka Serpentwithfeet, is no stranger to making a statement. A torchbearer for showcasing and celebrating gay Black love, here he builds on the tender, loving representation of 2021’s Deacon adding in moments to inject a physicality alongside the romantic vulnerability. You feel it on ‘Damn Gloves’, the album’s tenacious, pheromone-filled opening track (“I just wanna keep grind, grindi”
