From A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan to Odd Future and Brockhampton, the most successful hip-hop collectives have always thrived off the sum of their members’ unique personalities and individual creative pursuits. When they’re not recording joint projects and touring together as a unit, each collaborator is a fierce promoter of one another’s solo ventures.
That ethos is a defining element for Dotwav, a Las Vegas rap quintet with Asian American and Pacific Islander roots who were all born and raised on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Formed in 2022 after members connected over their shared background and musical vision, the group proceeded to drop its first two albums in 2023 and a third in 2024 before reaching a milestone deal with the Create.Digital Music label, under Virgin Music Group, in May.
Consistent with the collective mentality, every Dotwav member contributes to the music as either an artist, producer or both—with some also taking on supplementary roles. Founding member Creed Chameleon serves as its recording engineer and de facto frontman, while videographer and media maestro Bxmbz and creative director KennFrancis separately co-own respective clothing lines. Paradigm prefers to focus on his bars, but DJ and producer Jojo Flow likes to let his beats do the talking.
“What’s cool about the crew is that all of us have our own individual, creative sides that we cater to,” says Creed. “I think it’s important that we continue to push that formula, because it shows the diversity that makes Dotwav great.”
The group recently published two singles under its new contract in “GMTN” and “Unidentified,” plus a corresponding video for each. The former pairs densely crafted lyrics with funky grooves, while the latter weaves sinister prose over an edgy, minimalist beat. In the coming months, each member plans to drop a new solo project as part of a coordinated build-up to the release of Dotwav’s fourth album sometime next year.
With a roster that spans the ages of 21 to 45, the Wav pools influence from an eclectic set of tastes that include generational wordsmiths like Run DMC, Nas, Eminem, MF Doom, Common, A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan. Bxmbz brings a dash of punk rock energy to the mix, while Creed Chameleon’s formative years were dominated by heavy metal.
As the youngest member of the group, Jojo Flow is also the only one who doesn’t currently live in Vegas. But his elder bandmates say the beats he’s made from his home on the windward side of Oahu are fundamental to their evolving identity.
“We cannot negate how great this kid is,” Creed says. “He’s an old soul who can make the modern sound but will also attach whatever’s classic to make it work. And that’s basically the Dotwav sound—classic, but modern, too.”
Its growing catalogue leans on a diverse cast of beats that range from melodic, nostalgia-laced lo-fi loops (see: “9th Island”) to bona fide trap thumpers (“MF Threats”). From there, members add their own layers of sharp lyricism and dexterous wordplay that frequently includes mentions of Las Vegas or their Pacific heritage (“Night Marchers”).
“The whole story of Dotwav is generational hip-hop lineages from Hawaii who then brought it to Vegas,” Creed says. “Hawaii is like a melting pot. And music-wise, all the cultures and ethnicities that influenced us there are a big reason why we work so cohesively and efficiently together.”
Bxmbz, a 15-year Valley resident known to occasionally spit lines in the Filipino language of Tagalog on tracks like “Oof,” teases Dotwav’s upcoming 2026 release as a natural blend of its two most recent albums—channeling the “mellower” aspects of 2023’s Meanwhile in LA with the keen “lyrical ability and aggression” seen in 2024’s This Just Ain’t Fun Anymore.
“We’ve tried to look at every project we dropped a bit differently, and we’re being very meticulous with this one,” he says.
DOTWAV dotwavofficial.com
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