Browsing Tag

Alt Hip Hop

RNA KayGii is a conduit of cosmic charisma in his debut hip-hop hit, Boost Mine

Posted on 17 December 2024

RNA KayGii’s debut single ‘Boost Mine’ arrives with a vibe-driven aesthetic that feels more like a surreal sonic habitat than a standard hip-hop cut. Picture André 3000’s charisma colliding with the experimental impulses of J Dilla and RZA, and you’re halfway there. Metric precision in the beats holds it all together, while the lush, wavy textures seem to hover in a trippy, almost cosmic dimension.

The metaphysical imagery threading through the psychedelic motifs creates an unusual sense of intimacy as the track redefines the contours of the contemporary urban love song. The artist wastes no time pulling you deeper into the soundscape, with words that seem to drift through your psyche, stripping away defences to lay bare the emotional core. It’s less about grandeur and more about the raw nerve endings of feeling, all underscored by soulful grooves that swing between grit and silk.

‘Boost Mine’ doesn’t pander to the predictable. In under a few minutes, RNA KayGii proves that even a debut can possess a distinct edge, one that can expand horizons without ever feeling contrived. It’s a track that sets an unmistakable tone, letting you know this artist has something different to say—and the skill to say it.

Boost Mine hit the airwaves on November 28; stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

TEX entranced the airwaves with the lush lo-fi ambience in ‘Wolves on Pike Street’

Posted on 16 December 2024
TEX by TEX

Wolves on Pike Street by TEX allows lush lo-fi trip-hop ambience to place you in a sonic clearing where birds call amid syncopated beats, their gentle presence woven through ripples of reverb. There’s a natural stillness at the core, yet the pulsing rhythms lure you into a trance-like focus, making you feel every subtle shift in tone.

Just before the track settles into calm, sermon-like indietronica vocals rise. These hushed tones arrive before fresh scintillation refracts through the melody, dousing the arrangement in subtle luminescence. Vibes, soul, and euphony form the triadic pillars, supporting what almost feels like an extension of the universe itself.

Hailing from Cape Town, Johnny Tex—born in 1985—the family man who cherishes his own solitude, experiments with colour and sound alike, crafting music purely out of love, hoping to inspire at least one other soul to reach for creative release. Safe to say he succeeded in his mission with Wolves on Pike Street which constructs a sonic sanctuary for the rhythmic pulses.

Stream and purchase Wolves on Pike Street via Bandcamp now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

LR – Red Dress: Hip-Hop From the Streets Into the Soul

Posted on 14 December 2024

The single ‘Red Dress’ from LR’s EP, It’s Late, locks you into a smooth, seductive groove with its Latin-tinged guitars after a wavy, trappy R&B intro which gives way to LR’s arresting cadence that hypnotises you into his marked with metric precision verses.

As the complete epitome of vocal charisma, the up-and-coming rapper ticks all the right boxes in this multi-dimensional, progressively exhilarating hit that radiates with so much more than lust; it’s a celebration of beauty that will make you question the perception filter you view the world through.

LR veers away from any sense of pretence and taps straight into the soul with his expertly stitched bars that give you a sense of the Bronx grit that has shaped the artist’s conviction. Rather than merely imitating the revered rappers he grew up listening to—those whose names still echo through New York streets—he channels their raw honesty into his own reflections. Influences from the likes of Aaliyah and Missy Elliot shape his fluid approach to melody and harmony, resulting in a style that refuses to settle into any one corner of hip-hop.

Red Dress is now available via Apple Music and Spotify with the rest of LR’s It’s Late EP, which dropped on December 2nd.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Naakz broke beats and through the monotony of sonic hegemony in ‘Turn Around’

Posted on 11 December 2024

With Turn Around, the concluding single from his sophomore LP, Reparations, the icon of the underground Naakz detonated the obsession with convention in contemporary hip-hop.

The Māori artist, steeped in the philosophy of his iwi heritage, cast the first stone in the resistance against the sonic hegemony with his break-beat-driven production which sinks listeners into an introspective headspace where wavy lines of funk ripple into the chaotic shimmer of avant-garde psychedelia. The glossy luxe aesthetic is bent almost beyond recognition, leaving a warped yet magnetic invitation to question the systems we’re complicit in.

Rooted in experimental abstraction, Naakz’s work resonates with the influence of legends like D’Angelo and MF DOOM while channelling the beat-smith genius of Madlib and J Dilla and leaving room for his own sonic blueprint, which is amplified by the raw pulse of his SP404MK2, or as he calls it, his “Decolonisation Device.” If you want to break away from the mediocraty of the modern music industry, hit play.

Stream the Reparations LP in full on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

SEER SEEKER worked alchemic urban magic into his juggernaut of an alt-hip-hop LP, SPELLS AND SECRETS

Posted on 11 November 2024

With his standout track FRACTALS, the independent rap luminary SEER SEEKER found fresh urban intersections to trailblaze across. A hypnotic pulse weaves through the dark, moody, bass-heavy anthem, delivering an unapologetic sonic experience that hip-hop fans won’t want to shake off.

The track fuses the ornate melancholy of neo-classic piano keys with boom-bap nuances, the kinetic momentum of EDM and dark trap’s weighted edges, amplifying the artist’s ability to channel fearlessness into every beat.

FRACTALS isn’t just another offering from SEER SEEKER’s sophomore LP, SPELLS AND SECRETS; it’s a testament to his refusal to be confined by genre norms. Channelling visceral energy with ferocious resilience, the track infectiously demands to slam through your speakers time after time as the young prodigy proves that being a rockstar is more of an attitude than a genre.

It’s the kind of single that hits with unapologetic power, refusing to merely float in the background. Instead, it digs deep, etching its sonic signature through layers of electrifying sound and raw intent.

Though only a fraction of the ingenuity threaded through SPELLS AND SECRETS, FRACTALS serves as a potent introduction to SEER SEEKER’s intense, unflinching style.

SPELLS AND SECRETS dropped on Halloween, stream it in full on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sapuis wore his heart on his bars in ‘RIP SAM’

Posted on 8 November 2024

In one of his most visceral tracks to date, ’RIP SAM’, the up-and-coming independent hip-hop artist Sapuis wore his heart on his bars and let the dark trap instrumentals set an ensnaring tone.

The atmospherically cinematic track uses a big beat production with wavy aesthetics to amplify the sense of disquietude that Sapuis storms through with his lyrics that prove that few rappers on the scene know how to flex fortitude as intensely as the icon in the making who, with every track, is making his way up from the underground and into the mainstream.

The launch of his 2024 LP, Before I Die, marked a pivotal chapter in Sapuis’ career; with enough perseverance, there’s no reason why he couldn’t become the hottest lyrical waxer of his generation. The way his articulation flexes to the beat is cooking up serious heat.

Stream RIP SAM with the rest of Sapuis’ discography via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

FLIPPIN’ GOTHIC FABP – BATHROOM BALLING FREESTYLE; An Unsettling Soundtrack of Defiance

Posted on 23 October 2024

FLIPPIN’ GOTHIC FABP’s latest freestyle session, BATHROOM BALLING FREESTYLE, doesn’t just take the listener into dark places; it builds an entire atmosphere there. With horror-esque high frequencies juxtaposing the scratchy boom-bap beats that grind low, the track feels like a clash of two opposing energies, constantly battling for dominance. It’s unsettling, raw, and filled with the kind of resilience that only comes from an emcee who’s always kept his lane, untouched by the haters.

Born and bred in Jamaica Queens, New York, the artist, formerly Fabpz the Freelancer, has spent his career mastering his sound with over 2,000 songs to his name. Known for bringing back that “Raw Undiluted” taste of rap, his freestyle bars have always exuded an authenticity that fans can’t get enough of. BATHROOM BALLING FREESTYLE is no exception, showcasing his signature unapologetic flow with a haunting backdrop that leaves you feeling like you’re trapped in a sonic maze – but he’s the only one with the map.

The official music video for BATHROOM BALLING FREESTYLE dropped on October 12; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Loose Change 10k became an unreckonable force in the Floridian hip-hop scene with their trippy hit, Haters

Posted on 19 October 2024

The Floridian hip-hop duo Loose Change 10k has once again proven its unreckonable mettle with the latest single and music video, Haters. The wavy and melodically trippy track instantly sets a mind-bending tone; once you’ve sunk into the saturated reflections of old-school hip-hop roots, the bars kick in and push adrenalized momentum into the hit with every syllable flexed.

The juxtaposition between the energy injected by the two MCs, O-Head and Danny Duke, and the catharsis of the experimentally catchy melodies leaves you cascading through a vortex of Loose Change 10k’s ingenuity.

With a sound that’s as fresh as it is fierce, they’ve reserved a space in the hip-hop pantheon with Haters, which vindicates anyone who has collected their fair share of haters simply by succeeding. If any track is going to convince you to take it all in your stride and leave them to stagnate, it’s Haters.

Stream the self-shot and produced video for Haters, which premiered on October 8th, via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Resonant Quietus: BLVCK GARDEN expresses the inexpressible in his emo rap hit, ‘MY SILENCE’

Posted on 18 October 2024

BLVCK GARDEN’s single ‘MY SILENCE’ is an intricate exploration of how silence is the loudest scream. BLVCK GARDEN is just one of the guises of Carlos Fabre, an artist with roots deeply entrenched in electronic music and hip-hop. As BLVCK GARDEN, Fabre channels his versatility into an emo rap project that resonates with an irrefutable intensity.

The track initiates with a robust thrum of harsh, reverberant bass—a foreboding echo that sets the stage before the beat escalates beneath sharp-with-candour bars delivering the pinnacle of vulnerability.

Fabre constructed a soundscape where spatial effects and the dynamics of the instrumentation speak volumes. Each verse is delivered with a raw, freestyle energy yet carries the weight of a seasoned poet’s ink, unveiling a spectrum of emotions that connect through stark honesty.

Emerging from his diverse musical background—having honed his skills in production and instrumentation remotely via RRFC—Fabre’s latest endeavour in emo rap hints at a promising new direction. With aspirations to sign with a label and further his reach, ‘MY SILENCE’ is a sign of massive things to come from the emo rap luminary.

MY SILENCE hit the airwaves on October 6th; stream the track on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Caleb X ticked all the right dream trap boxes in ‘Ricky Hoodie’

Posted on 6 October 2024

Caleb X’s standout single, Ricky Hoodie, drawn from his third LP, Dreams of Rodeo, introduces listeners to a dreamscape where the trap genre isn’t just revisited; it’s reinvented. The track embodies a dreamy trap aesthetic that could lift the heaviest souls to ethereal heights with its light, transcendent tonality. The instrumental work is nothing short of entrancing, setting a cloud-like stage for Caleb X’s vocals.

His verses meld the sticky sweetness of pop harmonies with the sharp cadence of hip-hop, demonstrating his unique flair for bridging genres. It’s a polyphonic exploration that promises to peel back layers of the mundane and add a fresh sound to any vibe-out playlist. Ricky Hoodie ticks every proverbial box for what dream trap can aspire to be—polyphonic, innovative, and utterly mesmerising without resorting to cliché.

Caleb X, hailing from Atlanta, continually defies the ordinary, shaping sounds that refuse to be shackled by the conventional boundaries of trap music. With each new release, he distinguishes himself from his contemporaries by bending sonic boundaries towards his creative will.

Stream and purchase the 3rd LP from Caleb X on Apple Music and Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast