Browsing Tag

Alt Hip Hop

Dioneesus delivers a heavy dose of dystopic realism in his latest Avant Garde hip hop single, COVID-23

Posted on 16 March 2022

Dioneesus (Dennis McGrath) is an Avant-Garde hip hop pioneer that sonically pushes the envelope into obscurity with each new release while dissecting what it means to be human in his fiery old school hip hop rap bars. His latest single, COVID-23, plays on the fear that we’ll never see the back of the virus that has cost some of us our sanity and cost others infinitely more.

I couldn’t help but draw parallels between COVID-23 and Insane Clown Posse’s ‘The Great Milenko’; it carries the same eerie atmosphere atop of the bare-bones 808s and around Dioneesus’ bars that lull you into introspective subjugation.

The Long Island-born artist spent a decade in Nashville before he made his way to Pittsburgh in 2021. If your Ancient Greek history is rusty, his apt moniker plays on the Greek God, Dionysus, the god of ritual and ecstasy. He’s got a lot to live up to, but he’s well on his way with his subversively stylish flair.

COVID-23 is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ron A.P. gets paranormal with the past with his candidly edgy hip hop track, The Ex-Files

Posted on 15 March 2022

After a stint away from the recording studio, the South Jersey-raised, Philadelphia-based hip hop artist Ron A.P. is back on edgy and imaginative form in his latest single, The Ex-Files.

The clever ingenuity of the track title sets the bar high, but the lyrics and spacey atmosphere in The Ex-Files leaves nothing to be desired. Of all the hip hop tracks on the airwaves mused by ex-girlfriends, The Ex-Files is easily one of the most evocatively charged and complex for the way it navigates a myriad of contrasting frustrations while leaving no intimate emotion off the table.

Ron A.P. almost exudes Jekyll and Hyde vibes for the number of transitions in evocative nature. That’s just one of the facets that take this dynamic earworm to the next level. He may have taken influence from Nas, Jay-Z and Kanye, but Ron A.P. is well and truly standing in a league of his own.

The Ex-Files is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

We already have a contender for trap earworm of the year with Moth Trap’s latest alt-hip hop stormer, whenweparty

Posted on 6 March 2022

If your trap playlists need mixing up with some pounding bass, pioneering flair and almost obscene genre-bending, consider Moth Trap’s stormer of a track, whenweparty, which was produced by Erlax. It almost puts Andrew WK’s Party Hard to shame in its viscerally futuristic urban fashion.

Moth Trap proves just how far we have come from the days when Eiffel 65 was the epitome of rock-steady electronica. The glitchy electro beats mashed with the blazing hot guitar lines and the distortedly hook-filled vocals all prove that the Downpatrick, Ireland-hailing artist is more than worthy of the viral status he gained with his single, To the Moon and Back. Very few artist’s allow their talent to resonate as obsession-worthy. With Moth Trap, it comes naturally.

You can check out whenweparty for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: all is fleeting but the hype around Current’s sophomore alt-hip hop album, It’s Just Temporary

Posted on 4 March 2022
https://soundcloud.com/currentmusicofficial/sets/its-just-temporary/s-FsgdWvHAbYl?si=4f8a937f72344af8969aafaaf7d9dca1&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Here to remind us that all is fleeting is Kansas City’s hottest hip hop act, Current, with his 2022 sophomore album, It’s Just Temporary. If there was ever a point in our history that we needed that affirmation, it is now.

With the candid and epiphanous spoken-word pieces in between the mindfully lyrical lo-fi trap tracks, Current makes it all too easy to get on a level with him and his polished craft that always cuts close to the bone with the lyrics and hooks.

Even though it is an unskippable vibe of a release, the standout tracks include the stormer of a trap track, Like Me, the trippy, glitchy and angsty hit, Glow Up, and the ethereal dream-like closing single, Dreams / Demons. The concluding single is slick with delirium in the first half before Current breaks into urgent howls, depicting how we all feel from time to time while struggling for an outlet. In the second half, Current’s dynamic and primal expression makes the resonance hit infinitely harder for anyone that can sympathise with insidious racing thoughts that trigger when your head hits the pillow.

In his own words, here is what It’s Just Temporary encompasses:

“It’s Just Temporary is a project that tells a story, my story. Over the past six years, I have experienced positives and negatives; there are some days I can’t believe I am where I am. What I learned from all these experiences is that everything is temporary. I learned how to take lessons from the bad times and cherish the good. This is what I convey through my album. That there is no time not to do what you love, no time to give energy to what does not give back to you because everything is temporary.

The first half of the album shows themes of anger and resentment. There are songs filled with ego and frustration. It takes a turn through the last half, where I am focused on the depression and anxiety that I have experienced. The interludes include my thought process towards these emotions. As an artist, I always want to be vulnerable and show who I am in my art.”

It’s Just Temporary will officially release on March 4th. Check out the independently produced LP for yourselves via SoundCloud or Spotify. Connect with Current via Instagram and TikTok.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Prepare your funk-rock playlists for Alexander Godman’s zen hip hop track, Reconciliation Day

Posted on 27 February 2022

Funk rock fuses with zen hip hop in Alexander Godman’s standout release, Reconciliation Day. The London, UK-based alternative artist’s spoken-word style is instantly ensnaring for the way it flows against the minimalist funk-riding rock instrumentals.

The woody and organic bass lines bring the warmth and structure to Reconciliation Day while the bluesy and sunny guitars evolve through the raw chords and intricate finger-picked notes. It isn’t every day that we discover an up-and-coming artist with the confidence to follow their flow and style so confidently, and it shows on the Waitsy and folky B-side single, Out There Glow.

Alexander Godman’s debut is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with Alexander Godman via Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nlsderrixk*! has released his vindicatingly infectious hip hop track, Aint My Fault

Posted on 24 February 2022

The luminary hip hop artist, Nlsderrixk*!, has exonerated himself in his latest single, Aint My Fault, which fuses the new wave with the old school, creating universal appeal to hip hop fans in the process. With justxrolo at the mixing desk, Aint My Fault is as gritty as it is lush with luxe style.

The jazzy noir effects atop the bassy boom-bap beats create a solid platform for Nlsderrixk*!’s playfully dominant rap bars that carry all of the personality of Jay Z and all of the edge of Ghostface Killah.

It isn’t every day that you come across an up and coming hip hop artist that pours this much energy into their tracks; if you are serious about keeping posted on the hottest talent, save a spot on your radar.

Aint My Fault is now available to stream on Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Slow down to L!FE’s meditatively high vibe hip hop single, Take Your Time

Posted on 24 February 2022

On February 18th, the Philippines-hailing alt-hip hop artist L!FE released his most introspectively sweet single to date. Take Your Time instantly affirms that the up and coming artist’s sphere of influence stretches far past hip hop with the prominence of the piano melodies in the lo-fi mix and his hooky vocals which canter through the invaluable wisdom bombs. It takes an insane amount of humility to admit, “I’ve been doing it wrong in all of my songs”; from that point onwards, you greet his vulnerability with your own as you drink in the sound of birds chirping around the lush sun-bleached reverb.

With the chorus “take your time, you don’t want this to go away”, the damage that hustler hip hop has done on the psyche is instantly reversed. In essence, the track delivers a reminder that your worth can’t be reflected by your bank account and there is infinitely more to life than chasing status. It is all too easy to get onto the same zen prophetic page as L!FE, who started producing beats in 2017 before releasing his debut single in 2020. Fast forward to 2022, L!FE has seven stellar singles under his belt; it is only a matter of time before the rest of the world is as infatuated as we are.

Here is what L!FE had to say on Take Your Time

“Take Your Time is for everyone in the same situation as me, who feels driven towards their success and leaves themselves at risk of burnout. In this day and age, “motivational speakers” drive us towards it and away from our passion.

The track counteracts their holier than thou tropes while reminding the listener that we’re not one-dimensional beings, we deal with a great number of things in our lives, and sometimes, for things to work in our favour, we need time.”

Take Your Time is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Hip Hop icon in the making, Na8 has delivered his cinematically colossal debut LP, Past Present Future

Posted on 22 February 2022

The Nigeria-born, Nashville-based hip hop icon in the making, Na8, is fresh from the release of his debut album, Past Present Future, which recounts experience and introspection from the past, meditates on the present and rewrites the rules for the future.

The LP starts with the colossal hip hop anthem, Pisces, which drip feeds all of the glamour of Jay Z and all of the dark and chaotic flare of Saul Williams before Na8 moves with an old school style of noir soul in the following track, All In, which features some of the best earworm hooks on the LP. Track 3, Exotic Love, feeds the Lauryn Hill vibes, but Na8 made the soundscape his own with his massive production style that is quickly becoming his signature.

Track 5, Cash, stands as a testament to Na8’s experimental instrumental style; from harsh-rock guitar licks to orchestral strings to hard-hitting electronica, you will find all that and more in the hard-hitting hustler hip hop track. In track 11, Bond City, Na8 proves how well his panoramically cinematic production style melds with the definitively-luxe Bond film OSTs. It’s not every day we hear radio-ready hip hop. The fact that Na8 delivered it in his debut LP speaks volumes of his talent. Get him on your radar.

Here’s what Na8 had to say about his debut LP:

“My debut looks back on my life in Africa and Europe before I arrived in the USA. I wanted to express my past, present, and what my future could be in music.

The main message is that your past or present doesn’t define you. If you know what you want in life, you can focus and achieve those goals. Stay true to yourself.”

Past Present Future is now available to stream on Spotify.

Connect with Na8 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Zoplo has made his hooky alt-hip hop debut with Gimme Ur Love

Posted on 8 February 2022

For his hooky alt-hip hop debut, Gimmie Ur Love, the instantly trailblazing Toronto-hailing artist, Zoplo, teamed up with P.A.X.O. and Ryder Ross. The bitey yet sardonically sweet track doesn’t hang around before it starts to work its charm with the choppy piano keys and enigmatic rap bars that break into harmonic pop vocals in the chorus. Gimmie Ur Love finds the perfect balance of relatable content and playful expression, making sure the track hits hard without sending you completely under.

Gimmie Ur Love unfolds as the best possible introduction to the 25-year-old blind and queer hip hop artist and activist that seeks to diversify the current discourse with his narrative of navigating disability, intergenerational trauma and institutionalization. So far, his career highlights include opening for Tech N9ne, Yung Lean and Riff Raff. Based on the infectious gravity in Gimme Ur Love, it’s only a matter of time before he’s headlining the major stages. Watch this space.

Gimme Ur Love is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The future of hip hop arrived in Gud Cyrus’ spacey electro debut album, Until Next Time.

Posted on 5 February 2022

Mississauga, ON-hailing artist and songwriter Gud Cyrus is fresh from the release of his dynamic hotly-anticipated debut album, Until Next Time. For new fans, the standout single, Anomaly, is the best introduction to Cyrus’ evocatively spacey signature style that hasn’t failed to attract international attention.

After an ethereal prelude that feels like it has just crawled out of a David Lynch film (in the best possible way), Anomaly starts to unravel as an intriguingly experimental feat of urban ingenuity. Anomaly takes the evolution of hip hop one step further into the future with the glitchy and scattered effects that would be jarring if the grooves in the track didn’t cut so deep.

Gud Cyrus’ album is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast