Browsing Tag

trap

BLKY shared the secret to karmic vengeance with his latest trap track, Price

Here to prove that Trap hits just as hard on this side of the pond is the up-and-coming lyrical trailblazer, BLKY, with his latest single, Price.

The reprise of ‘I get revenge with success’ rips up the usual trap tropes to deliver a narrative that shows you how to bite back at everyone that has underestimated and undermined you without disturbing the karmic balance.

The rhythmic indie instrumentals, which carry hints of eastern flavour, are just as energised as BLKY’s bars, which he’s been perfecting since the age of 10. With every BLKY track, there’s the guarantee of visceral realism. Few artists pull together art and raw narratives with as much finesse as this artist, utterly unafraid to lay it all bare.

Check out Price for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Young Swavey lit a fire with his fervent rap track, BAPE

With his seminal single, BAPE, hip hop artist Young Swavey lit a fire with his fervent rap bars that blaze across the trappy, slightly psychedelic indie instrumentals.

The up-and-coming artist professes to make his own way in the music industry, and BAPE affirms it. Any and all reminiscences to hip hop icons and contemporaries are extremely fleeting in the short and immersively sweet track, which is fresh enough to take Young Swavey up from the underground. There is plenty of personality written between the convictive lines that almost flow with freestyle energy. Get in on the hype.

Check out the official music video for BAPE on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

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

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

22Canelo ticks all the boxes with his hip-hop-archetype-less charisma in Checkmark

22Canelo

Six years from his first lauded mixtape, the Bay Area-born artist 22Canelo let his charisma lead the way in his latest new wave hip hop single, Checkmark. In the same way that Lizzo allows her disposition to heighten every track she contributes to, 22Canelo is a master of the eccentric melodic hip hop earworm.

Too cool for nerdy hip hop, too sweetly eccentric for gangster hip hop, too twee for trap, 22Canelo made the sub-genres of hip hop look like painful stereotypes with his psyche, which will leave you just as psyched by the time the outro has rolled around. Forget the X-factor, he’s got the XXX-factor.

Checkmark will officially release on 08/07/2022. Check it out on his website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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

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

London-based artist Sham Parker knows exactly what is missing in his life on ‘Euphoria’

Hiding his insecurities under the blanket of past passion that is unquestionably missed with his ex-lover, Sham Parker wishes she would stop those late night calls as he wants more than that on ‘Euphoria‘.

Sham Parker is a mysteriously anonymous London, UK-based indie RnB/alt-Trap artist and music producer who makes that passionate blend of music that will grab your attention like a lightning storm.

With rasping vocals that will distract you for the better, Sham Parker reminisces about that once-strong romance that is effecting his mindset as he misses it so much, while knowing that it has surely ended permanently.

Euphoria‘ from the shadowy figure of London, UK-based indie RnB/alt-Trap musician and producer Sham Parker is a true story for all those who have felt their fragile heart smash into pieces. Displaying a true insight to a situation that spun out of control and can’t seem to be mended – no matter how much he wants it to – this is a core-shaking message. With truth everywhere, honest raps and a silky smooth beat to turn up loud, this is a song that many of us will certainly relate to.

Love can be so cruel sometimes.

Listen up to this new single on Spotify and see more on the IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Don Favelli rivals Al Pacino in his cinematic new wave rap track, Mobstas Interlude

Don Favelli

Taken from his dynamic hip hop album, COSMIC, which enmeshes old school with the new wave, Don Favelli’s standout hit, Mobstas Interlude, lets the vibe lead the track as much as the 808s that rattle in the minimalist production under Favelli’s dominant rap bars.

With cinematic melodies running against the bars that make it impossible to guess who inspired Favelli to step to the mic in the first place, getting immersed in the atmosphere of Mobstas Interlude is non-optional.

Since making his debut, the San Diego-hailing up-and-coming artist has allowed his lyrical storytelling and cutting introspective to define him. Sonically, he’s all over the urban spectrum. Paying little attention to squeezing his expression into pigeon holes, ultimately aiding an expansive feel to every track.

Check out Don Favelli on his website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DopeLame is matchless in his melodic trap track, No Competition

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

Slide into Izaiah Bangz’s latest new wave rap track, Messenger

Like a laureate of the modern age, the trap pop artist Izaiah Bangz is always true to his moniker and bang-on his cutting narratives of 2022 romance. While I never quite anticipated a love song that mentions Chik-Fill-A, Bangz runs the reference right through his vibey latest release, Messenger, that borders on ethereal with its dreamy RnB layers.

After making his debut in 2019, Izaiah Bangz hasn’t failed to amass a following around his soul-steeped hard hitters that make it infinitely easier for his fans to navigate the digitally dystopic age of romance. After the release of Messenger, he is well on his way to racking up over 15k streams just a few days after the release. After the drop of his forthcoming self-titled debut album, it is safe to say Izaiah Bangz is going to be an unstoppable force in the new wave of hip hop.

Messenger is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast