Browsing Tag

EDM Hip Hop

Neemkeez has dropped his debut big beat hip hop album, Sugar Brain.

Posted on 23 June 2021

San Francisco-hailing rapper, producer and multi-instrumentalist Neemzkeez is to hip hop what The Prodigy is to electronica. After releasing his ground-breaking debut album, Sugar Brain, it’s clear that his viscerally ensnaring music is anything but mainstream, but it carries all of the potential.

With his tendency to take inspiration from everything from the alt 90s, shoegaze and cloud rap, the album is a flawless feat of electronic innovation. The perfect introduction to Neemkeez sound is irrefutably ‘Overload’, which carries the progressive momentum of Infected Mushroom’s most euphoric mixes.

Hit play, and you won’t fail to be galvanised by the rapid-fire rap bars, melodic rap increments, caustic bass-riding beats, and Persian rhythms that represent Neemkeez’ cultural heritage.

Sugar Brain is an insanely promising debut. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

You can check out Neemkeez’ debut album that dropped on June 11th, 2021, via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Feenyx – Atlantan rap with a brand new ‘Horizon’

Posted on 17 May 2021

Raised by The Church and honed by the streets, Atlanta-based hip-hop artist and producer Feenyx is far from the typical rapper; on new single ‘Horizon’ we get a fresh combination of thunderous bass mixed with sampled brass and horns underlying Feenyx’s unique flow and grind. There’s elements of Snoop in here, little flourishes kind of reminiscent of Snow and that bombastic, edge-of-reggae delivery, it’s brash, loud, and in your face, with a catchy hook and that big, bold three-note ostinato phrase that lodges in your head for hours after listening. ‘Horizon’ is already getting national radio play, and – as Feenyx’s first single of 2021 – promises to be dropping hot in the clubs this summer.

You can check out the video for ‘Horizon’ on YouTube; find Feenyx here.

Review by Alex Holmes

 

Techno meets jazz in JoeJas’ latest experimental hip hop track, ‘VENTURE?’

Posted on 15 May 2021

Any fans of Beardyman, Qemists and Fatboy Slim won’t want to hang around on the latest single to be released by alt hip hop artist and producer JoeJas.

‘VENTURE?’ is a playful aural assault constructed with elements of techno, experimental house, boom bap hip hop and jazz that won’t fail to leave you adrenalized and endeared in equal measure.

JoeJas lost none of his credibility by utilising his quirky personality. Instead, his roguish attitude runs right through the grooving progressive mix, giving you a taste of his authenticity that will leave you insatiable for his soulful style that carries reminiscence to that of artists such as Andre 3000 and Childish Gambino. Along with his solo work, JoeJas also produces under the moniker HairyMuffinMan; which goes some way in explaining how the mix in VENTURE? pulled together so tightly in spite of the seemingly contrasting textures.

You can check out the official music video that premiered on May 8th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Flipp from the West put a subversive twist on old school hip hop with his single, ‘I’ll Make You Hurt’

Posted on 10 May 2021

Everything about Flipp from the west and his latest single, I’ll Make You Hurt, is subversive and enigmatic. His tendency to use ominous and sometimes macabre imagery with funk-riding reggae-infused beats unequivocally establishes him as a ground-breaking artist.

In I’ll Make You Hurt, you’ll find everything from West Coach sun-bleached vibes to nods to the gritty styles of old school gangster hip hop, but you’ve definitely never heard old school hip hop quite like this before.

After releasing eight EPs, Flipp from the west has left a wealth of ingenuity on the airwaves; his prolific rate of production proves he’s got the hunger, each track, individually, proves he’s got the talent.

I’ll Make You Hurt is now available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tom X Wolfe serves a smorgasbord of culture with ‘SUPADUPAFLY’.

Posted on 8 May 2021
Tom X Wolfe

Aural innovator and producer Tom X Wolfe’s 2021 album, ‘RISKY’, is an intoxicating mash of pulsing impassioned culture. It is also an exhibition of the artist’s multi-genre production and arrangement talent that has previously seen Wolfe working alongside Cash Sinatra, Maky Lavender and BGMFK. With over 3 million streams under his belt and plenty of international critical acclaim, Wolfe is set to take the industry by storm in 2021.

With African and Caribbean roots bedding down in the mix along with western notes of glitchy EDM hip hop, the lead track, ‘SUPADUPAFLY’, is the ultimate summer hip hop playlist staple. There is plenty of kick behind the 808s, but the snapping grooves feed into a sun-baked soundscape which throws plenty of jazz-laden haze your way.

Check out Tom X Wolfe on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Baby Tap evokes 90s nostalgia and advocates authenticity with his latest single, ‘Be Myself’.

Posted on 4 May 2021
Baby Tap

‘Be Myself’ is the latest short and sweet single to come from the unapologetically authentic Nottingham UK-based artist, rapper and producer Baby Tap – emphasis on the sweet.

The repetition of “I can be anything, but I just want to be myself’ hammers home the affirmation that you don’t have to share anyone’s vision of success; you can break the mould with your very own. With Baby Tap’s industrial hardcore and cyberpunk influences, he’s perceptibly leading by example.

Along with being a high fire feat of alt EDM hip hop that advocates individuality, Be Myself serves as a time capsule to the 90s with clever references to Pokemon and Power Rangers to evoke nostalgia and remind you of the times when finding Charizard cards felt like the pinnacle of success.

You can check out Baby Tap on SoundCloud, keep up to date with new releases via Facebook.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Constant Flow make the bass thump with ‘Pac Lyfe’

Posted on 26 April 2021

It’s been a bad few weeks for rap and hip hop, with the recent tragic deaths of both DMX and Double K, but it’s just possible there’s the slightest little glimmer of light in that darkness with ‘Pac Lyfe’, the new single from Floridian crew Constant Flow. Taken from new album ‘Unexpected – The Mixtape’, ‘Pac Lyfe’ grooves and grinds like proper old school dirty, gritty hip hop should, all deep bass, 808 beats, and smooth, lyrical flow.

It’s grimy, it’s sexy, and at times it’s downright despicable, all thump and punch, hard-hitting bass beats sitting behind that repetitive ‘…I can make the bass thump…’ vocal stamp; and yes. Yes, they absolutely can. You should check it out, right now, before the foundations crumble.

Hear ‘Pac Lyfe’, and the rest of ‘Unexpected – the Mixtape’, on Spotify; check out Constant Flow on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Nick Tello created the ultimate dance hit with his trap mix of Aristotle Jones’ Caligula.

Posted on 19 April 2021

For his latest release, Boston-based produced producer Nick Tello reworked the iconic track, Caligula, by Aristotle Jones by pumping it with more adrenaline and bringing it in line with the new wave of trap.

While the original offers grooving melodic NYC hip hop vibes, Nick Tello took Caligula to an anthemic new level making the track an infinitely better choice for dancefloor DJs to spin. The organic feeling that the original came with may have been replaced by brashier 808s and plenty more bass, but there’s no disputing that Nick Tello made it his own.

Check out Nick Tello’s remix via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rose Venom’s Roses Have Thorns

Posted on 9 April 2021

‘Roses Have Thorns’ is the lead track from Rose Venom’s new single ‘Love Shit’, a neat little slab of Hip Hop which opens with a soft, chilled little piano riff before Venom’s angry-yet-beautiful vocal. Telling the story of a ruined love, Venom’s tale of growth and finding oneself amidst the fallout and wreckage – ‘left me so broke inside…/I’m glad I survived you/ I grew some thorns to fight you, boy…’ – ‘Roses Have Thorns’ mixes Rose Venom’s soft-yet-strong voice with an equally soft-yet-strong message among the delicate instrumentation and multi-layered delivery.

A mother of two children originally from Moscow but now living in Philadelphia, this is no story of brotherly love but rather a lost-love letter to hurt, regret, and quiet, simmering rage. It’s potent, powerful, and poetic.

Check out ‘Roses Have Thorns’, and the rest of ‘Love Shit’, on Spotify.  Look up Rose Venom on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Melbourne hip hop artist Prymal tells us ‘When It’s Real’

Posted on 4 April 2021

Prymal is a Melbourne-based hip-hop artist with an eye on story-telling and lyrical flow, rather than aggression or high-impact. Opening up with some chiming tubular bells before deep throbbing bass, fast dotted-note rimshots, and hi-hats and flashes of strings fill in and populate the groove of ‘When It’s Real’, Prymal’s in-your-face attitude given extra weight by the laid-back, nonchalant delivery.

Working with more established rap artists such as Empathy, on whose album ‘Mirror Mirror’ Prymal guests, has clearly paid off, helping the twenty-year-old establish a mature rhyming pattern and delivery and a genuinely solid flow. ‘When It’s Real’ shows some epic promise, and bodes well for Prymal’s forthcoming album ‘Lions Den’, due later this year.

In the meantime, you can check out ‘When It’s Real’ on Spotify, and follow Prymal on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes