Browsing Tag

Alt Hip Hop

Flex3r created a meditative dreamscape with his pop-hip-hop crossover, Let It Go

Posted on 21 October 2023

Flex3r (AKA Cedric Kasongo) versed the bars that punctuate his honeyed harmonies straight from the soul in his latest cocktail of hip-hop, RnB, Afrobeat and pop, Let It Go. Since making his debut, he’s established himself as an authentically compelling creator who pushes the limits of hip-hop; with Let It Go, he allowed his sound to sit on a plateau of pure mindful compassion.

While no one ever needs permission to let negativity go, we all need affirmations weaved into cathartically euphonic soundscapes from time to time. Harbouring hate will only serve to hold you back in life; let it go, and unshackle yourself with this stunning dreamscape of a release that borders on psychedelic etherealism.

The Congolese-American recording artist is clearly one to watch; from the distinction in his signature style to the revelations in his lyrics, the melody-maker who was born in DR Congo, raised in Zambia, and lives in Baton Rouge, is unparalleled through his determination to stay in his own lane.

Let It Go breathed freedom onto the airwaves on October 13; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

looCcaM remixed reality in his 90s NY Hip-Hop meets Avant-Garde Sci-Fi sonics rap track, Trumpet of the Martians

Posted on 18 October 2023

If the spacey conviction in Legend Has It by Run the Jewels left you hooked, prepare to be ensnared all over again by the latest track, Trumpet of the Martians, from the cosmically urban innovator, looCcaM.

If someone asked Nas, Jay-Z or the Notorious B.I.G. to pour their 90s NY rap flavour into a Doctor Who soundtrack, the result would be as scintillatingly convictive as this Avant-Garde boom bap homage to futuristic poetics, which simultaneously unravels as a high-fire rebuke to neoliberal dogmatism.

Following the release of Trumpet of the Martians, the Buffalo, NY native will release his LP, Silence Exile Cunning, on October 19, which was innovatively crafted to synthesise beat culture with iconography which has previously had no place in the rap scene. Expect everything from electro-punk to hyper-pop to experimental poetry. In looCcaM, we believe.

Check out the radio edit of Trumpet of the Martians via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

NTHN versed vulnerability for Mental Health Day in his shoegaze-hip-hop mash-up, The Meaning

Posted on 16 October 2023

For Mental Health Day, the UK songwriter, cloud sampler, and producer NTHN debuted his most introspective shoegaze and hip-hop-influenced track to date, The Meaning, on October 10 and subsequently delivered the most compellingly dark single of the year.

It has been a while since a rap track hit so hard it made an impact on my tear ducts, but NTHN’s command over evocative ambient melodies and the intimate vulnerability within the lyrics and delivery proved that there’s power in dragging your demons out of the closet and vanquishing them for all to hear.

Rather than keeping his sound solely in the hip-hop arena, NTHN uses hip-hop composition, sampling, and percussion around his influence from emo, shoegaze and metal genres to keep his sonic signature scribing authentically absorbing and always emotion-driven atmospheric alchemy.

“I started writing it when I was at my lowest and I am now releasing it when I’m much more in control of how I feel, and I am in a much better place. It’s my journey to accepting my own mental health issues and learning to live with them, not just exist, by looking for the meaning in the everyday. I would like to raise awareness of the need to speak out and, by sharing my vulnerability, hopefully, connect with listeners who might be able to use the track as a way of relating to how I feel and not feeling so alone in dealing with things.”

The Meaning is now available to stream on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Remmorii is visionary in his fear and faith-mused alt-hip-hop release, Before I Drown

Posted on 12 October 2023

Toronto’s most captivatingly introspective artist, Remmorii, used faith and fear as a muse in his latest organically electrifying release, Before I Drown, which lets candour cascade around the multicultural synthesis of style.

The experimentalism which breathed visceral life into the single to juxtapose the ennui in the lyrical delivery ensured that no one has a stronger stake in the claim of being one of the most authentically dynamic artists on any scene.

Before I Drown is beyond genre boundaries; it transcends them through the depth of the exploration of personal struggles. To balance the dark with the light, Remmorii infused incandescent optimism around the soulful hip-hop and RnB layers by sonically paving a path towards providence and hope for better days when you’re not treading water for survival, you’re making major strides towards personal growth.

Before I Drown was officially released on September 29: stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jah-Sun Collier futuristically reconfigured old-school boom bap in his latest single, RICH THOUGHTZ!

Posted on 16 September 2023

A blast of retro boom bap hit the airwaves when the latest satirically sharp rap track, RICH THOUGHTZ!, dropped as a courtesy of the ultimate urban antagonist, Jah-Sun Collier, who is also well-known as a popular YouTuber, actor, and video editor.

By futuristically reconfiguring the retro tones and adding a further lyrical trajectory to the evolution of hip-hop, the US rapper and record producer did far more than revisit vintage sounds with his tongue-in-cheek track that points out how contrived society has become through its obsession with capitalist gains.

He set the resilience to mercenary vanity bar transcendently high with the introspection-rich hit that proves that being rich in any real sense has no correlation to numbers on a screen, the brand names on your clothes or the car you drive.

RICH THOUGHTZ was officially released on September 1st. Stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The debut single, Defective by Design, from r.a.g.s. is a wavey lo-fi outcry of poetic raw emotion.

Posted on 10 September 2023

With a sound that will draw in fans of Kae the Tempest and George the Poet like a moth to a flame, the visceral with uninhibited candour single, Defective by Design, from r.a.g.s. and tee fisher is a gravitational force in and of its hip-hop self.

Experimentalism was in no short order in the chilled wavey lo-fi outcry of poetic raw emotion. While the title gives a few clues as to what the lyrics allude to, there’s no preparing for the intellect in the wordplay, which finds profound new ways to illustrate the frustration of feeling as though you were always fated to live a life bookended with mental cognitions that will always lead you down the wrong path of perception and action.

r.a.g.s. started his musical journey by learning Indian classical keyboard at age five; he took his immersion in the music world a step further by enrolling at Leeds Conservatoire studying jazz and learning how to produce his own music. His debut single effortlessly distinguished him as an artist who will never leave authenticity by the wayside. Naturally, we can’t wait to what lingers in his obscure pipeline.

Defective by Design hit the airwaves on August 28; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

justMusic radiated originality in his stylised and cinematic hip-hop track, MORNING SUN

Posted on 2 September 2023

The Virginia & Florida-hailing hip-hop pioneer justMusic pays no loyalty to coastal sub-genres; he drifts between stylings and pulls in inspiration and creativity where he imaginatively sees fit. His latest cinematically soulful single, MORNING SUN, is the perfect introduction to his tendency to colour outside of the archetypal melodic lines to paint an urban picture of pure originality.

As the synthesised orchestral strings cut through the immersive atmosphere, justMusic pulls it back together with his harmonised vocal lines that soak the soundscape in soul between the dripping-with-conviction rap bars.

When the singer and rap artist isn’t cooking up hits to supplement his already eclectic discography, he’s using his passion for success in his highly accomplished skateboarding career but he’s stepped off the board for long enough to work on his latest project MuX. 

MORNING SUN hit the airwaves on August 25; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mother Pangea followed the muse into unchartered territory with ‘tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL’

Posted on 17 August 2023

Mother Pangea captured the mystery of his Middle Eastern roots in his latest melodically enticing single, tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL.

The neo-classic electronic hip-hop score may reach the pinnacle of experimentalism, but the artist’s inclination to follow his muse into unchartered new territory didn’t diminish the accessibility of the release; to date, tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL has clocked up almost 40k streams, and counting.

After being fascinated by the way instrumentation drives our emotions, especially by the hand of Yanni, Hans Zimmer, and Tyler Bates, Mother Pangea was keen to awaken evocative impulses with his own compositions; never one to discriminate on genre, he often turns his talents to emanating elements of pop, RnB, Indie, House, and EDM in his hybridic compositions which break every mould known to man, and a few more that are beyond our consciousness.

tHE mISERABLE fOSSIL was officially released on July 28th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lex the Visionary artfully revolutionised alt-hip-hop with ‘Stretch’

Posted on 15 August 2023

If you like your rap tracks dark, decadent and full of hooks, delve right into the debut EP, LOTUS, from the Atlanta-based originator Lex the Visionary. Between the four tracks, the evocative trailblazer invites the listener on a journey from heartbreak to the discovery of her authentic self; the cinematic proclivities of the release give you a panoramic view of the roadmap of actualisation and redemption.

The standout single, Stretch, pushes the hip-hop envelope into artfully authentic new territory underpinned by Lex the Visionary’s delectable way of constructing moody melodies. The juxtaposition between her vocals, which give a view into her history with church choirs, and the spacey, at some points transcendent sonic motifs, is nothing short of arrestive.

After the midway mark in Stretch, the soundscape takes an ambient turn; the lush reverb drifting from the synth lines reaches the pinnacle of ethereal catharsis while giving you space to reflect on the introspective gold relayed into this elevated with luxe ingenuity release.

Stream Lex the Visionary’s EP via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MANTRABLU tripped out trap in his latest juggernaut of a track, NIPTUCK

Posted on 30 July 2023

Brooklyn-based singer, rapper, and producer MANTRABLU has dropped his juggernaut of an experimental trap hit, NIPTUCK; with the razor-sharp wit and equally as cutting trip-hop atmosphere, few urban originators have as much edge as the artist who takes his influence from everything from math rock to neo-soul to jazz-funk.

After a wavy chiptune prelude, MANTRABLU’s rolling-with-the-punches rap bars adrenalize the texturally complex soundscape that stands as a testament to his trailblazing authenticity. Get behind him or get out of the way, because if any contemporary artist has what it takes to make a fresh mark on the Brooklyn hip-hop landscape it is him – especially now he’s breaking away from his production-focused discography and going back to his origins as a songwriter.

Stream NIPTUCK which hit the airwaves in May 2023 on Spotify and Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast