Browsing Tag

US Hip Hop

Its all in the vibe in 2Dope.Ty’s latest infectiously dynamic feat of hip hop, Picture Perfect

Posted on 4 May 2022

Perfection doesn’t exist, but 2Dope.Ty, came pretty close in his latest bass-dripping darkly timbered rap track, Picture Perfect. It is a scathingly revealing snapshot of everything we want to project into the world. The razor-sharpness of the lyrics that bring you into the ludicrousness of our current status-obsessed reality is a testament to the North Carolina-based artist’s vernacular and wit that was formed through dabbling with poetry.

Stylistically, 2Dope.Ty staked his dynamic claim that allows his music to appeal to everyone, from Kendrick Lamar to Juice Wrld, without leaning on assimilation. There is something all too immersive about his laidback delivery of aggressive bars. While Picture Perfect is running through, it becomes a new gritty source of gravity. And we’re pretty sure that there isn’t a vibe check in the world that 2Dope.Ty couldn’t pass. He’s firmly affixed to our radar from here on out.

Picture Perfect is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Break the habit with G.Pari$’s melodic hip hop track, Patterns

Posted on 21 April 2022

With chill melodic beats, mic-drop lyrical lines that make the metaphors feel endless, and a sense of expressive compassion, the G.Pari$ sonic experience leaves little to be desired.

His latest single, Patterns finds an immersive way to prove that we are all just creatures of frantic habit, and we will all end up in neurotic ruins if we don’t take a step back to intersect our emotions and actions with mindfulness.

That mediative sense of self-awareness effortlessly reads through the ambient old-school-meets-new-wave grooves that effortlessly synergise with G.Pari$’s matter of fact but evocatively charged bars.

G.Pari$ is exactly the kind of artist you need on your radar if you’re always looking for artists to spill as much wisdom as they do catharsis.

Patterns is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Imperial M.B. Ran with Luxe Old School Style in His Latest Alt-Hip Hop Track, Ignorant

Posted on 21 April 2022
The Imperial M.B

The Imperial M.B. brought back the luxe style of Tupac and Biggie in his latest single, Ignorant, which serves the straight out of Compton grit along with nuanced alt-rock elements in the instrumentals through the buzz saw guitars and searing oscillating effects.

It is probably safe to say that not many up and coming hip hop artists in 2022 succeed when it comes to arresting production, vocal conviction and emotionally charged lyrics, but notably, The Imperial M.B. is a triple threat. At the very least, he is one to watch.

Ignorant will be available to stream on May 6th; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ace Da King featuring Xavier Thomas – Bentley Truck; prepare your summer trap playlists.

Posted on 1 April 2022

For his latest fiery yet smooth single and music video, Bentley Truck, the hip hop trailblazer, Ace Da King collaborated with the featuring artist Xavier Thomas. If you like hip hop that speaks as much to the soul and your rhythmic pulses as it speaks about late-stage capitalist gains, the vibey and downtempo new wave trap track has all the makings of a playlist staple.

Ace Da King defiantly stamped down his mellow sonic signature in the track that allows you to lose yourself in the shimmering reverb and the light and bright texture of the keys that amplify the high vibes under Ace Da King’s envelope-pushing lyrical wit.

Since the official music video premiered on March 24th, it has already racked up in excess of 24k streams. You can check it out for yourselves via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Henry Franck defines the laws of attraction in his exotically mellow hip hop track, Insane

Posted on 17 March 2022
Henry Franck

The Florida-residing Haitian American music producer Henry Franck’s latest single, Insane, transcends the contemporary hip hop curve with its indie-meets-country vibes and vocal lines that are nothing short of melt-worthy.

Insane is for anyone that likes their hedonism with a side serve of chill and mindful positivity. As the hooky yet mellow choruses make an earworm out of the track that features Mickey Factz, the lyrics define the laws of attraction in the context of intimate affection.

The artist and US army vet’s sound is the kind that is powerful enough in its sweet catchy sentimentality that it could even appease no great aficionados of the genre. In other words, Henry Franck more than has what it takes to make it in the mainstream.

Henry Franck’s single, Insane, will officially release on April 8th, 2022. It will be available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Isaiah Sweh stays ambiently humble in his 2022 EP, Far from Perfect

Posted on 16 March 2022

Isaiah Sweh brought a brand-new depth to the hip hop genre with his resilience encompassing EP, Far from Perfect, which explores motivational themes, gets up close to the grit of modernity and covers the very real reality of never being able to keep our demons subjugated forever.

The 4-track downtempo release experiments with trip-hop, RnB, pop and trap textures, but the definitively hip hop release never veers all too far from the roots of the genre. The smooth and ambient vibes in the EP, especially with track 2, TAT (Time After Time), is what vibe out playlists are made for. As a whole, the EP is a much-needed trip away from the frantic pace of our external lives. It’s a chance to pause, reflect, and drink in Isaiah Sweh’s smoothly outlaid introspection.

Far From Perfect is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dioneesus delivers a heavy dose of dystopic realism in his latest Avant Garde hip hop single, COVID-23

Posted on 16 March 2022

Dioneesus (Dennis McGrath) is an Avant-Garde hip hop pioneer that sonically pushes the envelope into obscurity with each new release while dissecting what it means to be human in his fiery old school hip hop rap bars. His latest single, COVID-23, plays on the fear that we’ll never see the back of the virus that has cost some of us our sanity and cost others infinitely more.

I couldn’t help but draw parallels between COVID-23 and Insane Clown Posse’s ‘The Great Milenko’; it carries the same eerie atmosphere atop of the bare-bones 808s and around Dioneesus’ bars that lull you into introspective subjugation.

The Long Island-born artist spent a decade in Nashville before he made his way to Pittsburgh in 2021. If your Ancient Greek history is rusty, his apt moniker plays on the Greek God, Dionysus, the god of ritual and ecstasy. He’s got a lot to live up to, but he’s well on his way with his subversively stylish flair.

COVID-23 is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ron A.P. gets paranormal with the past with his candidly edgy hip hop track, The Ex-Files

Posted on 15 March 2022

After a stint away from the recording studio, the South Jersey-raised, Philadelphia-based hip hop artist Ron A.P. is back on edgy and imaginative form in his latest single, The Ex-Files.

The clever ingenuity of the track title sets the bar high, but the lyrics and spacey atmosphere in The Ex-Files leaves nothing to be desired. Of all the hip hop tracks on the airwaves mused by ex-girlfriends, The Ex-Files is easily one of the most evocatively charged and complex for the way it navigates a myriad of contrasting frustrations while leaving no intimate emotion off the table.

Ron A.P. almost exudes Jekyll and Hyde vibes for the number of transitions in evocative nature. That’s just one of the facets that take this dynamic earworm to the next level. He may have taken influence from Nas, Jay-Z and Kanye, but Ron A.P. is well and truly standing in a league of his own.

The Ex-Files is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: all is fleeting but the hype around Current’s sophomore alt-hip hop album, It’s Just Temporary

Posted on 4 March 2022
https://soundcloud.com/currentmusicofficial/sets/its-just-temporary/s-FsgdWvHAbYl?si=4f8a937f72344af8969aafaaf7d9dca1&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Here to remind us that all is fleeting is Kansas City’s hottest hip hop act, Current, with his 2022 sophomore album, It’s Just Temporary. If there was ever a point in our history that we needed that affirmation, it is now.

With the candid and epiphanous spoken-word pieces in between the mindfully lyrical lo-fi trap tracks, Current makes it all too easy to get on a level with him and his polished craft that always cuts close to the bone with the lyrics and hooks.

Even though it is an unskippable vibe of a release, the standout tracks include the stormer of a trap track, Like Me, the trippy, glitchy and angsty hit, Glow Up, and the ethereal dream-like closing single, Dreams / Demons. The concluding single is slick with delirium in the first half before Current breaks into urgent howls, depicting how we all feel from time to time while struggling for an outlet. In the second half, Current’s dynamic and primal expression makes the resonance hit infinitely harder for anyone that can sympathise with insidious racing thoughts that trigger when your head hits the pillow.

In his own words, here is what It’s Just Temporary encompasses:

“It’s Just Temporary is a project that tells a story, my story. Over the past six years, I have experienced positives and negatives; there are some days I can’t believe I am where I am. What I learned from all these experiences is that everything is temporary. I learned how to take lessons from the bad times and cherish the good. This is what I convey through my album. That there is no time not to do what you love, no time to give energy to what does not give back to you because everything is temporary.

The first half of the album shows themes of anger and resentment. There are songs filled with ego and frustration. It takes a turn through the last half, where I am focused on the depression and anxiety that I have experienced. The interludes include my thought process towards these emotions. As an artist, I always want to be vulnerable and show who I am in my art.”

It’s Just Temporary will officially release on March 4th. Check out the independently produced LP for yourselves via SoundCloud or Spotify. Connect with Current via Instagram and TikTok.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

MTV Mozey is blazing in his sun-soaked trap track, Designer

Posted on 27 February 2022

Instead of making you wait until summer for a sun-soaked trap drop, the luminary hip hop newcomer, MTV Mozey dropped his high-fire earworm, Designer, while the bitter months were still biting to deliver a much-needed potent dose of aural dopamine.

At 19-years-old, MTV Mozey is already proving to be a force to be reckoned with in the Connecticut hip hop circuit and far beyond. Designer is a riotously infectious track that uses xylophones to deliver the shimmering melodies that arrest the rhythmic pulses as they pop against the trap beats and create a vibrant platform for Mozey’s mellifluous mumble rap bars. He is more than worth the room on any hip hop fan’s radar.

Introduce yourselves to the luxe high vibes in Mozey’s latest single, Designer, by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast