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Rap Music Promotion Blog

The Scottish communist wordsmith Jamão Dos Santos hit a home run with his genre-bending debut rap track, Tarzan

Posted on 28 November 2023

Jamão Dos Santos made a bold entrance into the music scene with his debut single Tarzan, an audacious piece that mirrors his self-proclaimed identity as a “Scottish communist wordsmith.” Right from the start, the single is a captivating blend of cultural sounds, with Dos Santos’ Scottish lyrical diction providing a gripping contrast to the rhythmic foundation of the track. It’s a fascinating juxtaposition that’s as striking as it is unexpected.

Musically, ‘Tarzan’ is a robust tapestry woven with exotic Eastern rhythms, giving it an almost mystical allure. Yet, it’s grounded by a decidedly garagey edge—a gritty, dub-heavy backbeat that anchors the song’s more ethereal elements. The single wouldn’t be out of place in a smoky underground club or a festival stage, appealing to a wide range of listeners with its genre-blending bravado.

There’s a clear stylistic flair shared with Lyran Dasz, hinting at a musical kinship that thrives on innovation and eclecticism. Dos Santos’ approach is fiery and distinctive, ensuring that Tarzan is not just a song but a statement. In an unexpected twist, ‘Tarzan’ also serves as an homage to the world of footballer worship. The lyrical narrative becomes a powerful metaphor for survival and triumph, resonating with the song’s primal energy and raw passion.

It’s an assertive first step for an artist unafraid to show his roots while simultaneously branching out into the rich soil of global musical influences. This track is not just heard; it’s felt as a resonating declaration of Dos Santos’ arrival on the music scene.

Stream Tarzan on Spotify and follow the artist on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Black Silver is dark and disarming in his latest cinematic juggernaut of a rap track, Silver Linings

Posted on 20 November 2023

Black Silver dropped one of the biggest hip-hop collabs of the year by unleashing the gritty old-school rap track, Silver Linings, featuring Rakaa Iriscience, Griffen, Mykill Myers, and DJ Skilz.

With plenty of record scratching and wavily saturated distortion around the solid and steady beats in the dark and chillingly cultivated production, Black Silver (AKA the Navigator) and his band of lyrical alchemists paid a fitting ode to the 90s hip hop while showing they’re more methodical than Method Man, wittier than Nas with wordplay and boast all the cinematic charisma of Conway the Machine.

When Black Silver isn’t dropping his seminal solo rap tracks, the Las Vegas-hailing trailblazer is at the helm of his independent record label, Sterling World Records and contributing to hip-hop groups, including Analog Brothers, Tha Likwit Crew, 2000 Crows, and Black Ice with Ice T.

Silver Linings hit the airwaves on October 20th; it is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

_sicko narrated ‘A MODERN HORROR STORY’ in his seminally twisted boom bap track

Posted on 16 November 2023

Hip-hop’s darkest hour struck when the UK alchemist of boom bap, _sicko delivered his PLAY ME EP on Halloween. After a chilling horror score of an intro track, which sets the tone for the rest of the EP, the standout single, A MODERN HORROR STORY, kicks right into macabre gear, following an anachronistic haunted music box prelude.

By painting himself as a twisted protagonist to portray the sickness that breeds online when the worst impulses of the human psyche are vindicated by nefarious echo chambers, _sicko (AKA Aaron Terror) provided a spine-chilling exposition on the proclivities of perversion that are worryingly prolific.

With a twisted lyrical style that isn’t out of the ordinary in death metal projected through a rap flow, which makes it all too easy to lock into the sickness within the horror imagery, A MODERN HORROR STORY is plagued with sickness that will make you stop, shiver, and think.

While some would undoubtedly rush to cancel _sicko, we can see the ingenuity within his creativity, which is on par with some of the greatest horror writers out there.

Stream the PLAY ME EP via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

It’s all bells and no whistles in Roman Gastelum’s ingenuitive hip-hop track, Pavlov’s Dogs

Posted on 14 November 2023

After a bell ring in the intro to pay a conceptual nod to the iconic conditioning experiment, Roman Gastelum moves straight in with an amalgam of funk grooves, jazzy timbres, and hip-hop beats in his standout single, Pavlov’s Dogs taken from his debut LP, EQlibrium.

With the single and LP title, we probably don’t need to tell you that the LA-based bassist, vocalist, lyricist, and composer is an intellectual cut above the rest. In fact, if there were any more genius touches to this release, Roman Gastelum’s door would be blown off its hinges after an army of sapiophiles came knocking. But it is far from just pretentious art over substance.

The sublime sonic atmosphere conjured around the bruisingly clever bars by the artist who received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from the Musicians Institute in LA ensured that even on the 100th listen, you’ll take something new from Pavlov’s Dogs. As the cherry on the urban alchemist cake, the spacey sci-fi surrealism towards the outro is a lesson in experimental scintillation.

Pavlov’s Dogs is now available to stream on Spotify with the rest of the EQlibrium LP which dropped on September 29.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Massive Cranes grooved with the bumps in the night with their macabre release, Monsters

Posted on 11 November 2023

Massive Cranes went beyond proving all monsters wear human skin with their latest chillingly raw single, which pulled the masks from the most nefarious entities in the UK and revealed them as Tories. Jacob Rees Mogg won’t approve of this message, but everyone left disenfranchised by their reign of late-stage capitalism will revel in the vindication so piquantly delivered.

If Massive Cranes don’t reach the same heights as John Cooper Clarke with their gritty expositions of reality in the UK, it will add to the long list of injustices covered in this sonically macabre, lyrically mesmerising release which doesn’t shy away from the darkest facets of our contemporary reality. It meets them face-on with a sardonic grin.

The sinisterly deep synth lines against the unearthly backbeat in Monsters create the perfect atmosphere for spoken word laments to sink into as they speak on battles with malady, futility, and ennui. We couldn’t be more obsessed with this track if we tried.

Monsters was officially released on November 10; stream it on SoundCloud.  

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Skee x Bogart. waxed lyrical with maximum conviction in ‘Go Off’

Posted on 10 November 2023

Trip hop meets old-school East Coast flavour in the latest lyrically sharp single, Go Off, from the Switzerland-based producer duo Bogart and the rapper Skee, who more than understood the assignment before he waxed lyrical with maximum conviction over the trippy mix which blends the ethereal with the gritty and visceral.

Layers of reverb ascend from the mix that steadies itself with a rocksteady backbeat and record-scratching to create an immersive atmosphere for Skee to dominate with his bars, which leave you under no illusion that this track was versed from anywhere but straight from the soul. It’s a cutting exposition of how using the spark from your passion can take you to the greatest heights but you’ll only reach the top unscathed with swathes of resilience.

Go Off was officially released on November 10th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Othenic borrowed from the Beastie Boys while tracking the warp speed of the human experience with ‘Last’

Posted on 7 November 2023

If you chiselled an indie pop edge into the legacy of a discography belonging to the Beastie Boys, you’d be left with a sonic sculpture bearing a striking reminiscence to Othenic’s latest single, Last.

With a touch of Crazy Town’s Butterfly written into the alternative mix of indie, pop, and hip-hop, the alt-90s nostalgia within Last is arrestingly potent. While the angular staccato guitars lend themselves to melodic mesmerism, Othenic reflects on how the human experience moves at a warp speed and leaves us questioning how the innocence of youth slips us by and catapults us into the monotony of corporate reality.

“Life’s too short, you might as well make it last” may seem like a simple lyric, but lean into it deeper within the context of the track and you’ll see a testament to the Kentucky-Cincinnati-based artist’s proficiency with wordplay.

Last was officially released on October 19; stream the single on Spotify and follow Othenic on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

K.I.R.B. took the crown off Nas with the rap flair in his latest installation of infectiously impish alt-hip-hop, ‘No Time’

Posted on 6 November 2023

With a slamming beat bolstering the experimental saturated in delay instrumentals, intricately unorthodox rhyme patterns in the rap bars and enough impishly clever charisma to win you over from the first verse, after the release of his single, No Time, the Cali rap prodigy, K.I.R.B., will never be kicked to the curb by the music industry.

The up-and-coming artist has enough ingenuity in his bars to rival Nas, Rakim and Method Man, as for the sonic aesthetic, that’s beyond compare through K.I.R.B.’s authenticity and determination to keep his sound pumping with a diverse array of influence.

Since making his debut, K.I.R.B. has worked with everyone from NICK BLANCO to Nick Mira, but clearly, he’s not riding on anyone’s coattails. He’s got exactly what it takes to win over an army of alt-rap fans.

Check out No Time on all major streaming platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The temperature dropped as the UK-hip-hop visionary GADZ reflected on our ‘Cold World’ in his sophomore release

Posted on 6 November 2023

GADZ let the UK hip-hop scene know the score with his sophomore release, Cold World, by laying it all down on the melodic lines in the choruses and holding no prisoners when it came to creating a vignette of our increasingly inhospitable world, which necessitates a backbone of steel the amount of resilience exemplified within the dynamic track.

Going by the bars, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the Luton-hailing artist had lived a thousand lives. The depth of his introspective musing is an instant affirmation that he’s worth his weight in lyrical gold. Sonically, expect to be put through the evocative paces as you follow the eclectically sublime urban track through its seamless transitions from fiery bars and beats to soulful harmonies.

The track’s catchy, melodiously progressive refrain is a testament to his superlative talent. But much like his debut single, Fadeaway, which dropped on Valentine’s Day, and was subsequently backed by BBC Introducing’s Theo Johnson, it’s the magnetism in the resonance that will keep drawing you back to the track.

From a young age, GADZ developed a passion for music, a flame that was kindled by his father, a music educator and enthusiast who encouraged his musical exploration across various instruments. GADZ’s musical expedition truly began in his teens, fuelled by nights immersed in drill beats and crafting freestyles, which he would present to classmates. His relentless pursuit of mastering his craft led him to record his first track in a studio two years ago.

His talent has since been showcased at the O2 Academy Islington, earned him a nomination for Best Performance by RBE, and opened the door to BL@CKBOCK’s U18s Cypher 2022, leading to numerous appearances across Bedfordshire and an international fanbase who revere his artistic autonomy and willingness to put his heart on his bars. With a rapidly growing following, GADZ stands out as one of the UK’s most promising talents, poised for continued success as his artistic journey unfolds.

Stream Cold World on SoundCloud or immerse yourself deeper with the official music video, which premiered as a courtesy of GRM Daily on November 3rd via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Money and Image blazed across the Texas hip-hop scene with their infectious track, No Smoke

Posted on 5 November 2023

Escape into the urban aesthetic of the latest single and music video, No Smoke, by the two Texan rap legends in their own right, Money and Image, and lose yourself within the infectiously feel-good lyricality of the track that definitively proves conviction doesn’t always need to be a by-product of the aggression.

While the instrumentals find the sonic middle ground between jazzy old-school hip-hop grooves and wavy RnB pop trap, the vocals constantly shift in tone and pace to create a fully rounded hit that is all too easy to melodically roll with as you drink in the charismatically prophetic message which advocates pacifism.

The official music video for No Smoke premiered on October 21; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast