Browsing Tag

Alt Rap

Jem&i’s ‘Gemini’ is An Alchemical Invocation of Hedonic Alt-Hip-Hop

Posted on 30 March 2025

With the release of his latest single, ‘Gemini’, Jem&i effortlessly dissolves genre boundaries, merging grime, house, garage, and hip-hop into an intricate structure built for pure hedonic euphoria. Through a dark, sultry production style that oscillates hypnotically around the synth lines and the steady pulse of the beats, he crafts a track that compels rhythmic pulses into obedience. Each beat becomes more than percussion—it is a command, sinking deeper into the psyche as the mind melts into the tones.

At a time when indie rap artists frequently deliver half-cooked productions, Jem&i refuses to lower his standards, carefully orchestrating instrumentals that open portals to new sonic dimensions. His arrangements set the mood, amplifying your susceptibility to his bars, which purposefully shift away from predictable rap cadences to fuse seamlessly with melody, paying respect to house music traditions.

Yet ‘Gemini’ offers more than mesmerising instrumentals. Its grime-infused lyrical narrative carries sharp conviction and a streak of lyrical gold, balancing urban grit with atmospheric cultivation. Jem&i navigates the shifting sonic landscape with confidence, embodying an artisan’s precision in his unique approach to rhythmic storytelling.

‘Gemini’ is now available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Paul Robert’s ‘Release’ Proves Catharsis Hits Harder With Cross-Genre Firepower

Posted on 23 March 2025

With Release, Paul Robert proves that artistic distinction lies within taking influences from genres instead of merely assimilating certain figures within the niche. With a cascade of synths serving as a polyphonic prelude that reminisces with a John Carpenter score before he allows you to imagine a matured offshoot of Bloodhound Gang, Paul Robert becomes the master of inter-genre alchemy.

With a sense of mindfulness reverberating through the enlightened, locked and loaded with lyrical gold track, it’s impossible not to feel the catharsis and the hype simultaneously being injected by the electronica, hip-hop and pop crossover.

After pivoting from a sales career in early 2024 and launching his debut 110—a nod to the steep learning curve and the commitment it demanded—Paul has shown no signs of easing up. When copyright disputes blocked his mixtapeLying from release, he didn’t retreat; he recalibrated. Relocating to Los Angeles, he restarted with new collaborators and fresh resolve. Release arrives as part of his new project Love Different, rolling out one unapologetic track at a time.

Paul’s optimism doesn’t come from naive cheer—it’s forged through friction, stitched through each verse touching on belief, action, love, and digital dysfunction. The track is a pressure valve and an invitation—both release and ignition.

Release by Paul Robert is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Lil Dom reigned as trap royalty in his emotively heavy hit, ‘emo prince’

Posted on 8 January 2025

Lil Dom has staked his claim as emo trap royalty with emo prince, a dark, immersive plunge into raw vulnerability. The track’s opening minor-key Latin guitar strings set a deceptively tranquil tone before the instrumentals dissipate into wavy obscurity, amplifying the emotional weight carried by his confessional lyricism. Every beat and verse swells with unfiltered emotion, creating a soundscape where ennui and exhaustion echo with haunting relatability.

Known for reshaping contemporary music’s edges with his blend of emo rap, cloud rap, and hyperpop, Lil Dom’s artistry pushes boundaries without losing sight of raw authenticity. emo prince exemplifies his ability to bridge the sonic gap between introspective lyricism and cutting-edge production. The track’s cathartic undercurrent doesn’t just narrate the tortured psyche—it invites listeners to sit in its midst, offering a shared solace for those wrestling with the weight of burnout.

As the song builds, its brooding atmosphere fractures with the bite of a raw rock riff, giving a powerful, climactic release that anchors the listener within its emotive grasp.

emo prince dropped on December 27; stream the single on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

KiDD Crash hit hard with his hyper-trap earworm, Fuck with Some Bitches ft Res YaxX

Posted on 6 January 2025

KIDD Crash’s seminal alt-rap track, ‘Fuck with Some Bitches’, featuring Res YaxX, obliterates genre boundaries. This high-octane track from the 2024 LP Partycrasher strikes like a sonic wrecking ball, merging hyper-trap tempos, polyphonic production, and silky vocal lines that tether the chaos. In a frenetic mix teetering on the edge of over-facing, the melody pulls through like a lifeline, steering listeners through the trippy, neon-lit, 8-bit-adjacent soundscape.

Hailing from Cleveland but shaped by Toronto, Ohio, and Florida influences, KIDD Crash (Jamelle Lillard) proves he’s no ordinary upstart. Armed with an honours degree in music production and a grind-hardened work ethic honed since his 2015 debut, Crash fuses raw ambition with the technical chops to rival his idols—Drake, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, and J Cole.

His dedication has seen him crossing borders to film music videos in Negril and Toronto, yet his roots in Sanford, Florida, remain grounded. Having first recorded music in his stepfather’s home studio at age 10 and cut his teeth on an upright bass in his high school orchestra, Crash’s sonic evolution has been a lifetime in the making.

With its acerbic wit and blistering conviction, Fuck with Some Bitches doesn’t just slap; it commands attention. As we step into 2025, KIDD Crash may still be hustling for his chart-topping breakthrough as a criminally underrated artist, but if he keeps on producing hits in the same vein as Fuck with Some Bitches, justice will soon be served.

Fuck with Some Bitches is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kilabear created a sonic sanctuary for the disillusioned with his dark trap stormer, leave me alone

Posted on 9 October 2024
Kilabear

In leave me alone, the alt-rap pioneer, Kilabear, stakes his claim as the dark sovereign of trap, invoking a prelude reminiscent of Sisters of Mercy, only to shatter the gothic serenity with a bass-heavy beat that propels us into his world of brooding introspection. The track is a raw confluence where the polished production of pop and the grit of trap music coalesce into an evocative vignette of how desperation for isolation can swarm the psyche.

Kilabear’s verses, laden with a poignant candour, penetrate relatable melancholy deep into the mix; his words don’t just hit close to the bone, they soak into the marrow as you’re confronted with unfeigned vulnerability, which acts as an olive branch to connect through one of life’s most solitary experiences. If you’ve ever wanted to withdraw into the recesses of your own spirit through disillusionment and scorn, consider leave me alone you’re new sonic sanctuary.

With his music, Kilabear addresses themes of heartbreak, substance abuse, and the everyday struggles that often go unspoken. leave me alone is a testament to his fearlessness in exposing unvarnished truth.

leave me alone will be available to stream on all major platforms from October 9th; check out the single on Spotify and Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Salon is an icon of raw authenticity in his alt-rap hit, About Me, I’m Real

Posted on 10 July 2024
https://soundcloud.com/realsalonmusic/about-me-im-real?ref=clipboard&p=i&c=1&si=F58D5B9C8FBA480EB086970AEBE0526A&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Salon’s latest single, About Me, I’m Real, is an unflinching testament to the power of raw, unfiltered self-expression in a world that often demands the opposite.

The heart-piercingly poignant single doesn’t just hit close to the bone, it’s enough to tear your soul in two through the choked-with-emotion vibrato in the vocals, the strident reflections of a frenetic soul through hyper-pop hooks, and the intimately intricate guitar layers which conjure elements of Midwest emo into this alt-rap hit, which serves as a visceral statement of intent from an artist determined true to himself, regardless of whether facades would serve him better.

Each lyric hammers intense emotion into your psyche, guiding you through a bittersweet lament of how authenticity can be your downfall. This track leaves no listener unscathed; its confessional nature, while pensive, invites you to embrace your own idiosyncrasies and reject incessant pressure to conform.

Since 2018, Salon has used music as therapy, transposing feelings into something tangible in the same vein as the late Chester Bennington, who left a sonic void of catharsis behind. Bennington is a big artist to live up to, but Salon, with his ability to turn vulnerability into salvation is succeeding on a profound level.

About Me, I’m Real was officially released on July 5th; stream the single on SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Vashaun set the alt-rap scene ablaze with ‘Lit Matches’, ft VHC

Posted on 4 June 2024

Few artists defy genre constraints with as much fire and fervour as Vashaun. At this stage in his career, his unflinchingly expressive discography, which focuses on visualising emotion, exploring phenomena, and welcoming listeners into his worldview and the streets that raised him, almost spans the entirety of the sonic spectrum.

From rock to emo to rap to Afrobeat to acoustic pop, it’s anyone’s guess where he will take his fans next. With his latest single, Lit Matches, the Chicago-born-and-raised artist collaborated with VHC to deliver one of his most expansively affecting singles to date.

Lit matches ignites with the grungy discordance of alt-90s indie before the first verse drifts into an organically melodic acoustic pop verse. But Vashaun doesn’t settle there; in the next progression, fans of Lil Peep and Juice Wrld will be able to get their emo rap fix, but Vashaun makes the style his own with the overdriven guitars, melodic Latin infusions and dualling rap verses that could rival ICP.

It’s a rarity to find a hit that gets better with every listen, but discernibly, we’ve stumbled on sonic gold with Lit Matches. Vashaun is a firebrand that will leave the alt-rap scene ablaze.

Lit Matches was officially released on May 24; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

7ELIX found a new depth in intimacy with his emo rap vignette,  ‘CALLMEWHENYOUGETBACK’

Posted on 30 May 2024

CALLMEWHENYOUGETBACK taken from 7ELIX’s seminal LP, emergency exit, pt.3: death of a memory, is the perfect introduction to the Asheville, NC-born artist’s music which is offered as a salve for the outcasted soul.

The songwriter, producer and audio engineer created the ultimate testament to his motivation to advocate for mental health and suicide awareness by orchestrating this confessionally evocative emo-rap vignette of vulnerability. By illustrating the power of candid expression and giving an outlet for jagged emotions that become scars if they’re harboured for too long, he gave a lesson in catharsis in CALLMEWHENYOUGETBACK.

The light production work on the intricately melodic track ensures that none of the visceral sincerity from the recording was stripped away. Painted in nocturnal light that depicts the intimacy of late-night thoughts cascading into vocalisation, CALLMEWHENYOUGETBACK captures 7ELIX at his most uninhibited as he attempts to hold onto a relationship that is precariously hanging in the balance despite his tight grip on the affections that bring warmth to the bittersweet release.

It’s a heart-wrenchingly authentic release which is a clear sign of even bigger things to come from 7ELIX. We can’t wait to hear what’s lingering in the prodigy’s timeline.

CALLMEWHENYOUGETBACK is available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

JMP tore through the façade of fallacy with their latest rap track, Don’t Lie, featuring Zinc and Sofia Kafas

Posted on 23 March 2024
https://spotify.link/QgiVqnqW0Hb

JMP’s latest feat of genre-fluid alchemy, “Don’t Lie,” featuring Zinc and Sofia Kafas, seamlessly fuses trap beats into a melodiously mellow atmosphere. As the lush reverb ebbs and flows, it envelops the listener in a rhythmic embrace, guided by the unique chemistry each vocalist brings to the track.

Sofia Kafas’s soulful voice adds a layer of depth and emotion, contrasting with the grit of the grime-y bars. Their harmonies paint a vivid picture of the narrative at the heart of the song – the detriments of deception. What truly sets “Don’t Lie” apart is its cultural richness; the bilingual verses shatter the monocultural mould, adding an exotic twist to the RnB lyrical rhythms.

Don’t Lie was unveiled as one of JMP’s most dynamic releases to date. The trio of contributors, each with their distinct style, unite under the theme of sincerity and truth. The result is a compelling track that resonates on multiple levels and is a reminder of rap’s capacity for storytelling and emotional depth, making it a standout release in JMP’s repertoire.

Don’t Lie was officially released on February 26th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

bleed moxie is the antithesis of Andrew Tate in his cinematically luxe alt-hip-hop track, women’s society

Posted on 8 March 2024

In a genre often marred by stereotypical portrayals, bleed moxie’s latest alt-hip-hop single, ‘women’s society’ is a refreshingly progressive deviation. Mitchel Paulson, under his latest persona, weaved a narrative that not only celebrates femininity but also challenges the listener to re-evaluate their perceptions and discriminations.

After an intro of 50s doo-wop and a touch of retro Hollywood glamour, the beat ushers into the dreamy-with-hazy-hues jazz-infused soundscape, which lays the perfect foundation for the emotionally charged rap bars. His verses are a poignant tribute to women, far removed from the objectifying rhetoric prevalent in much of contemporary hip-hop.

The track’s artfully nostalgic production juxtaposes sharply with its message, reminding us of a time when women were upheld with respect in society. This contrast is a sonically visualised commentary on the current socio-cultural climate, especially in the wake of incel movements led by figures like Andrew Tate. This track is not just vital; it’s a necessary step forward in the evolution of hip-hop.

bleed moxie, a chameleon in the music world, has evolved from the party-hard, emo-tinged innovator to the introspective, mature artist we hear today. His journey through various personas – from the Mox & J. Project to MJ FLAWS – has been a testament to his adaptability and depth as an artist.

women’s society was officially released on March 1st; stream the single on Spotify and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast