Browsing Tag

New Wave Trap

Bigg357 held up a sign of our late-stage capitalist times in his infectiously relatable trap track, Money on My Mind

Posted on 17 September 2023

Money on My Mind is the latest catchier-than-Covid trap track from Bigg357, who has consistently ticked all the right new wave trap boxes with his discography and amassed a staunch following in the process.

Rich or poor, no one can claim that money doesn’t dominate their consciousness, making Money on My Mind one of the most universally relatable hits to drop in 2023.

By keeping the wavy instrumentals simple yet hooky, there’s no denying that Bigg357 unleashed the ultimate urban earworm with this curve-transcending hit that is infectious enough to compel you to sink into the rest of his dynamic discography which brings in the future of trap with the force of an asteroid from space.

Money on My Mind dropped on September 5th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Texas trap crooner, brody, is back in motion with his latest single, RIDE WITH ME

Posted on 6 September 2022

Trap trailblazer brody is back in motion with his latest 2022 single, RIDE WITH ME. The vibe-driven track proves that soulful crooning hooks more than have a place within the genre, especially when they grind along to dance-worthy colourful melodies that will get serotonin spilling to their flow.

The Independent Fort Worth, Texas hailing artist has been turning up the heat even more in the South since his debut single, Roses, dropped in 2020. In addition to cooking up his own energetic hooks, he is the founder and owner of Good Intentions Entertainment, which is set to change the shape of hip hop in the South for the better.

RIDE WITH ME is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

EM$o went from trap life to trap star in his debut LP featuring the standout single, The $urvivor

Posted on 16 August 2022

From trap life to trap star, the Biel/Bienne-born rapper, EM$o, escaped one of the most dangerous places in Central Europe to share his story and show the world what resilience sounds like.

After getting into music in 2016, he homed in on his talent until July 2022, when he released his debut album, Differences, featuring the standout indie emo trap single, The $urvivor, which gives a candid view into his world and how music transformed it.

He is the antithesis of every trap artist who appropriates the lifestyle for sonic street cred. You can hear the imprint of the streets reverberating through his evocative bars, which leave no stone unturned in the melodic indie hip hop track, which is as impactful as it is mellow.

The track in EM$o’s words:

“The $urvivor is based on my experiences on the streets in Biel/Bienne in Switzerland, which is known as one of the most dangerous places in Central Europe. The single describes my mentality while living in that place and what it took to survive. Not many in my circle made it out alive without ending up in jail or hospital.

My parents did what they could to get me out. They taught me how to make smart moves and outsmart the dark mentality of the streets, which left me with a lust for money and power as a teenager. When my usual vices ceased working, I turned to music. I used my trap money to buy equipment, and in 2016 I started writing and recording my songs.”

The $urvivor is now available to stream along with EM$o’s debut album, Differences, on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Glitchy art rock meets alt urban pop in Jacobi.e’s latest single, Rcv

Posted on 17 July 2022

Since his 2020 debut, experimentalism has been at the forefront of Jacobi.e’s alt bedroom pop sound. With his aptly dark, melodically off-kilter and tumultuously glitchy first single of 2022, Rcv, the Jamaican American artist and producer, currently residing in LA, fused his rock background with contemporary flavours of the originators, Dominic Fike, Kanye and Yeek.

While some artists manage to make exploring alternative sounds a contrived act of pretension, Jacobi.e instantly affirms that the alchemy came organically through his affinity for a plethora of genres. Pulling all of the contrasting textures together, his vocals are a sticky-sweet vocal point in the wavy track that stands as a testament to his flair as a producer that continues to amass gravitas.

RCV is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Crimson REd put us on ‘Red Alert’ in his harbingering hip hop debut 

Posted on 3 July 2022

If it has been a while since you got some truly experimental hip hop in your ears, meet the future of melodic trap in Crimson REd’s debut single Red Alert.

With chiptune synthetics blaring under solid, rhythmic hits of the 808s, you can get an idea of what it would sound like if J. Cole put their bars over DJ Scotch Egg’s scorching 8-bit beats. Reminiscences aside, the Reading PA-born and raised artist came into his own right from the outset.

Everyone has their idea of charisma, but Crimson REd will be in-line with the definition for most hip hop fans that vibe with his kaleidoscopically psychedelic sonic signature. We sincerely hope that there is already a sophomore single locked, loaded and ready to drop.

Red Alert is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DopeLame is matchless in his melodic trap track, No Competition

Posted on 18 June 2022

Making LA even hotter, one of the most luminary up-and-coming rappers on Cali turf, DopeLame, dropped his latest single, No Competition, on June 17th.

After starting his rap career in 2019, he’s been steadily gaining traction with his distinctive rap flow and his no holds barred lyricism that helps you feel the weight of the conviction in his contemporary melodic trap productions.

With his eyes on the prize of emboldening his listeners with his domineering dissections of ego, existence and social construction, there is always a reason to jump on his new material.

No Competition is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Swavo counts his ‘Blessings’ in his latest new wave trap track

Posted on 4 May 2022
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bvMLEI9jWcI

New wave indie trapper, Swavo has dropped his Young Thug-inspired rap track, Blessings, which operates on the celestial side of sweet and the evocative side of confessional. Around the signature timbre of the 808s are stunningly intimate indie guitars, and there is just enough bass to bring robustness to the melodies that you’ll want to lose yourself in time after time.

Vocally, Swavo proves that you don’t need to channel aggression to deliver conviction in your rap bars. You can always flow with the same fiery sense of impassioned wit that was present in Blessings. It is only a matter of time before Swavo gets the recognition he irrefutably deserves.

Blessings is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Young Monte delivers chill trap transcendence in his latest release, Sky

Posted on 20 April 2022
Young Monte

Chill trap originator, Young Monte, has added yet another downtempo vibe-out staple to his collection. The chill trap remix of his single Sky plays with ethereal layers of reverb, neo-classic piano keys, a meditative 808 rattle and Young Monte’s hypnotically stretched out low timbered vocals that bring a resounding depth to the otherwise transcendent release.

Based on the catharsis that can easily be abstracted from the artfully laidback soundscape, we can only hope he has a chill trap mixtape in the works. My soul feels infinitely lighter for immersing it in sky. He’s definitely one for the radar.

You can check out the chill trap remix of Sky for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

uhforrest became one of the most original names in indie trap with ‘highrise’

Posted on 14 April 2022

‘highrise’ is the latest candidly sweet indie trap drop from the up-and-coming San Francisco based artist, uhforrest, who is setting himself apart from the rest by establishing himself as the Elliott Smith of the new wave trap scene.

Lyrically, highrise packs a pretty bruising punch as uhforrest runs through the cleverly morose wit; instrumentally, the intimate guitars bring the catharsis as they shimmer over the glitchy trip-hop meets trap beats.

To bring yet another addictive element into the prodigal mix, uhforrest is by far one of the most vocally original trap artists to appear on our radar in recent years. When you pair that with the indie tape-saturated warmth of the genre-defying guitars, highrise is as unforgettable as it is original. We can’t wait to hear what follows.

You can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The UK’s most promising name in trap Ocean Stokes affirmed his viral potential in his bitter-sweet earworm, Reason

Posted on 2 April 2022

Here to put Southampton, UK on the trap map is the up-and-coming trailblazer Ocean Stokes on his collaborative track with LC, Reason.

The hooky effect of Reason, especially on the smoothly distorted trap and harmonised vocals, was no happy production accident. Stokes knew how to get the hooks razor-sharp in his charismatically confessional hit that proves that romance isn’t dead; it’s just taken a brand-new walls-up form in 2022.

At 19 years old, Ocean Stokes is already proving that he’s got viral potential with his guitar loops, intricate piano melodies, trappy 808s and vulnerably unfuckwithable high-vibe vocal style.

The official video for Reason premiered on February 25th; you can check it out by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast