Sometimes it isn’t about breaking new ground, sometimes it is satisfying enough to go over familiar territory but just focus, intensify, distill, in short make it better. And that is what Miklow and Xolow do with their latest single For What. Yes, we find ourselves pretty much in a comfort zone here, the sort of vibe and sound that forms the central core of the modern rap experience, but rarely have those words and beats been delivered with such ferocity, such vitriol and such world weary passion.
They manage to balance the questioning and underdog view of life with an optimism, a reminder that things can always improve and then they bolt that onto the most infectious chorus you have heard in a long time. There is a move in urban music these days to head into more progressive territory, to subvert the form and try to create something boundary pushing and new. What Miklow and Xolow realise is that those boundaries can only expand for so long before the whole thing bursts and collapses in on itself. When that happens they will be standing proud having captured the centre ground for themselves.
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