Browsing Tag

Lyrical Hip Hop

Rap revolutionary Muncy versed for the voicelessly oppressed in Not Being Heard

Posted on 9 July 2022

Taken from his 2022 album, Rhythm & Raw Rhymes, Muncy’s visceral rap track, Not Being Heard, is an anti-capitalist masterpiece which disembowels the seedy underbelly of institutional oppression and the silencing of those with every right to protest against it.

With every new bar energetically delivered, the emotion pick ups momentum around the cinematically jazzy and neo-classic-influenced hip hop instrumentals. There isn’t much room to wonder why so many hip-hop fans looking for a vindicating voice have jumped on the fearless vulnerability of the Michigan-hailing artist.

From calling out the government for their fake generosity to creating clever metaphors about inflation in his verses; evidently, Muncy has exactly what it takes to embolden his listeners with intellect and cause a revolutionary ripple through the music industry. His LP may have been the punkest thing to happen in 2022.

Stream the Rhythm & Raw Rhymes album on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: THISMINORITY welcomes us to the spiritual new age of hip hop with ‘MEDI’.

Posted on 5 July 2022

For his debut single, THISMINORITY brought hip hop into the realm of spiritual new age mindfulness to smash through the stereotypes and establish himself as a unique voice with an equally as distinctively cutting production style.

Self-awareness is a journey, but on the basis of MEDI, the New Orleans-born, Brooklyn-based rapper and lyricist is already leagues ahead of most with his recognition of the importance of the narratives we spin to ourselves.

His melodic stormer allows you to think just as fiercely as it compels you to feel as the atmospherically old school track runs through its cinematic progressions. While the 808s steadily rattle, the monochromatic vignette that THISMINORITY etched to portray the darkness he pulled himself from keeps you hooked into the classy yet juxtaposing gritty synthetics.

Here is what THISMINORITY had to say about his debut:

“Medi is a reflection on my newfound passion for mass connection and how entertainment, fame, etc come with it. Exploring the concept triggered the epiphany that the things that we need to feel good can destroy us in excess.

Satisfaction, confidence, and love can ultimately lead to greed, ego, and lust. How do I balance? I meditate…”

MEDI is now available to stream on Spotify & SoundCloud.

Follow THISMINORITY via Facebook & Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jeremiah Kingston has launched his infectiously dynamic hip hop debut EP, You’re Not Gonna Like This

Posted on 29 June 2022

Hip hop debuts keep charging onto the airwaves in 2022. Few appeared with as much style, energy, and sub-genre-melding distinction as Jeremiah Kingston’s debut EP, You’re Not Gonna Like This. From party rock hip hop to jazzy tracks, smoky enough to set off your smoke alarms through the sheer sepia-tinged luxe air; it is almost progressively dizzying.

Using reverse psychology in a debut EP title was a bold move, yet it sets a tone for the daring expression contained within. The Charlotte, NC hip hop newcomer created the EP after taking a look around at his life, hating the view and making a move to change it. No stone was left unturned.

Track 3, YNGLT, starts with the cutting lyric, “If my people found out what was going on in my head, they’d leave me in straits”, before launching into a frenetic admission of inner turmoil; that we can all probably relate to these days.

Jeremiah Kingston reminded me exactly why I fell in love with hip hop in the 90s. The larger-than-life personality, the wild energy, the eccentric instrumentals… Anything goes in Jeremiah Kingston’s debut and everything goes together seamlessly, making it one of the most promising we’ve heard this year. We hope there is plenty more in the pipeline.

You’re Not Gonna Like This is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link. Follow Jeremiah Kingston on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UK Rapper, Nosa outlined the line of good and evil in us all with ‘bad moods’

Posted on 15 June 2022
Nosa

With an intro of jazzy hip hop nostalgia fed through warm saturated tape delay, slipping into Nosa’s latest single, bad moods, is easier than breathing. While the melodicism of the instrumentals lulls you into catharsis, the Dartford-based rapper’s tranquilising vocal timbre pulls you deeper into the dreamy production which wraps itself around admissions of vulnerability.

Nosa used bad moods to remind his listeners that we’re all fallible, but that should never be a source of shame; it should be the cause of our own accountability. After the globe glued itself to the Johnny Depp trial in complete denial that the line of good and evil exists in all of us, bad moods couldn’t be more of a timely drop. Any fans of George the Poet and Kae the Tempest will undoubtedly want to make a playlist staple out of bad moods.

Bad moods will officially release on June 15th on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Prepare your summer hip hop playlists for the larger than life flow in WavyK’s single, HEAT SEEKER feat. Case

Posted on 11 June 2022

After spending four years smoothing his wavey rap flow and amplifying the energy in his subtle but galvanising beats, the independent Jacksonville, Florida-based hip hop artist, WavyK, was ready to drop his era-defining album, MENTALITY, featuring the standout single, HEAT SEEKER, feat. Case.

Toeing the delicate line between nerdy and deadpan, HEAT SEEKER is a summer hip hop drop like no other. If you’re looking for some urban escapism, few tracks serve it with quite as much flavour as this playfully upvibe earworm.

WavyK’s album, MENTALITY, will officially release on June 11th. You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lyrical hip hop gained a new laureate with the drop of Dayo’s single, Eat You Alive

Posted on 6 June 2022

Taken from his latest EP, Sui 3: Man in the Mirror, Dayo’s seminal stormer of a single, Eat You Alive, delivers devilishly sharp wit, luxe West Coast hip hop textures, and vocals that will force you to feel every ounce of vehemence thrown into this upraising single.

Ultimately, Eat You Alive proves that pain is your enemy; you should no sooner get into bed with your archnemesis than swallow the self-defeating lies fed to you by your suffering. Do yourselves a favour and make Eat You Alive a playlist staple, it is the perfect reminder that only you can remove the teeth of torment. He’s gone beyond one to watch. He’s one to get fanatic about.

Check out Eat You Alive now on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rheez. resiliently bares all in his compassionately cinematic rap track, True Wounds

Posted on 27 May 2022

After so many people connected with his sophomore single PTSD, the Maltese rapper with UK roots, Rheez., extended much of the same compassion that allowed him to amass 10,000 Spotify streams in just 10 days with his third single, True Wounds. It unveils exactly what it says on the tin.

He set the expressive bar with True Wounds with his determination to step in the ring with his demons to make it a fairer fight for his listeners, making him the ultimate new wave heavyweight in our minds, ears and eyes.

True Wounds spins a personal tale while delivering vindication hand over fist to anyone that has felt similarly starved of solidarity due to a lifeline that puts a mind on trial. In a subversive way, Rheez delivers the bruisingly efficacious reminders that giving in is always an option, no matter how down and out you feel. To contrast his visceral words, production-wise, he ensured that the melodies ran artfully smooth.

In his own words, here is what Rheez. had to say about his third single:

“This song is a biography of all the trials and tribulations I faced throughout my life. As painful as it was to go in-depth talking on these subjects, I felt like if I am not 100% honest during my journey as an artist, I am depriving my fans of more insight to hopefully be moved by. It’s a story of adversity, the ending, a message of never giving up.”

True Wounds is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Decoy Duns sharpened his razor-sharp flow in his latest rap track, WINDCHIMES

Posted on 26 May 2022

Decoy Duns first hit the Houston hip hop scene in 1998; after a series of successful releases between 2001 and 2010, he took a 10-year hiatus before making a triumphant return in 2020. His latest single, WINDCHIMES, stands as a testament to just how refined his choppy fast bars have become and how much he has sharpened his lyrical wit to complement the flair in his canter.

Yet, it’s the honesty within WINDCHIMES that sets Decoy Duns apart from the rest. It’s rare to get a sense that every bar came straight from the soul, but evidently, he made no bones about exposing impassioned emotion through WINDCHIMES. Production-wise, WINDCHIMES throws ambient elements into the vivacity of the alt-hip-hop instrumentals that are sure to get the dopamine flowing.

Hear the Radio Edit of WINDCHIMES on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

BHM NONO severed tribal ties in his latest hit, DESTINED 2 WIN

Posted on 3 May 2022

Hostility and hip hop have gone hand in hand since the Bronx inception, but here to prove that nothing is in trend forever is the trailblazing conscious rap artist, BHM NONO, with his latest single, DESTINED 2 WIN.

After an extended spoken-word prelude that puts you in the perfect place to feel the weight of the following bars, the instrumentals bring plenty of dramatic minor-key atmosphere into the mix. And that is all before BHM NONO’s fiery convicted bars prove that motivation doesn’t have to be synonymous with others’ destruction.

BHM NONO has exactly what it takes to become one of the most essential artists of his generation. We can’t wait to watch him get there.

The official music video premiered on April 22nd; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Anthony Levone speaks for the pacifists in his latest lyrically driven hip hop track, Peacekeepers

Posted on 3 May 2022

Anthony Levone’s latest single, Peacekeepers, featuring Fooly23, is for everyone that has been cognitively wrapped up in the senseless brutality of our contemporary existence a little too much lately. And when I say everyone, that is especially in reference to genre preference. The articulate nature of Levone’s lyricism means that the smooth sonic old school and sun-bleached hip hop instrumentals fall by the wayside as his bars pull parables from religious icons to prove that we’ve scarcely moved on in terms of civility.

The West Palm Beach-hailing artist has been releasing music since 2019, in that time, he’s developed a staunch fan base with his J.Cole, Nas & Common reminiscences. He’s also been in heavy rotation on international radio stations and landed a plethora of coveted playlist placements. Yet, judging by the socially-minded tenacity in Peacekeepers, it is safe to say that none of his philosophical work will ever be over-amplified.

The lyric video for Peacekeepers premiered on April 22nd; it is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast