Qualls

Chattanooga songwriter and poet Jerison Qualls doesn’t offer easy answers. His music (recorded as Qualls) is filled with aching insights and subtle revelations; his songs are born from weary experience and memories he might like to forget. Emotions skip like stones across his vibrant beats and affecting arrangements, attacking our expectations and exploring a hip-hop complexity that’s all too often looked over for easy sentiment. Qualls isn’t interested in bland platitudes—he’s looking for honesty and communal associations. - Joshua Pickard

A new monthly newsletter will feature five locally produced songs for $5 per month.

Pitch Sifter debuted in January with a curated selection of songs from local artists Drakeford, Qualls, Mixed Signals, Dirty Blonde and Kindora.

Presented by SoundCorps, the newsletter will serve a couple of purposes: Subscribers will be introduced to high-quality local music and learn more about each artist, and local performers will be paid for submitted tracks and potentially reach new audiences through the platform. - Sean Phipps

All and all Qualls is bringing rap music something that is refreshing to see in his peer group. Just like the industry has made room for artists who glorify drugs and money, we need to equally respect an artist who glorifies becoming a better person and learning from his mistakes. Qualls and artists like him are the future of rap, and it's time we listened. - Ariana Daniels