Shamir heats up the U Street Music Hall Dec. 15, 2017 (Photo by David LaMason)

Over the past year, Shamir Bailey, who records and performs under his first name, produced two entire albums. The first was a self released 12-track album entitled Hope earlier in the year. It’s filled with raw pop, punk, and even country gems that, according to the Soundcloud description, was written and recorded in a weekend. The second, Revelations, released on Father/Daughter Records, was delivered a mere seven months later in November. Both records are a significant change from the slick production of Ratchet but are more potent both lyrically and sonically than that LP.