Browsing Tag

Boom Bap

Saint Kon’s Latest Tour De Force is a Sonic Crusade for Empathy and Justice

Some artists use their platforms for good; some use them for ground-breaking greatness. After Saint Kon released 10000 Hours on February 8, she’s definitively in the latter camp.

The pop-meets-hip-hop mash-up ensured the track has swathes of cross-over appeal while her bars bruise in a way that you may start to question if you’ve ever been hit before. The raw and heavy lyricism explores everything from suicidal ideation to the compulsion to heal others despite how deep our own scars bed down in our psyche.

After a minor key piano prelude, the bass-heavy boom-bap hip-hop instrumentals storm in as she switches from vocal harmonies to a killer rap cadence that blazes through her compulsion to fight the countless injustices of the world.

If the orchestrally heightened, inventively produced and polished track doesn’t fuel you with the motivation to use your time on earth to fight against the insidiousness that seems to get more nefarious with every trip around the sun, you can probably consider your own soul defunct. 10000 Hours is a lesson in convictive empathy; if it worked its way into the consciousness of everyone who existed, the human race would be transformed overnight.

10000 Hours is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

River Bandit exhibited his electrifying versatility in his high-octane rap track, Work Night

River Bandit’s latest single, ‘Work Night’, is a high-voltage journey through the avenues of alt-hip-hop, showcasing an artist unafraid to push boundaries and force constraints to erupt. River Bandit’s tumultuous journey from a challenging childhood to a firebrand of musical innovation is palpable in every beat of this energised to-the-nines track, which is relentlessly fuelled by retro synths and a rhythm that pulsates with life.

‘Work Night’ is a masterclass in stylistic versatility, blending elements of boom bap and trap into a seamless, electrifying experience. The track refuses to let the listener settle into complacency; instead, it demands attention with its rapid-fire bars and unexpected twists. River Bandit’s rhyme scheme is anything but typical, delivering each mic drop with refreshing intensity, candour and introspective gold.

River Bandit’s lyrical prowess is on full display, offering not just entertainment but also wisdom and insights, a reflection of his own life experiences and struggles. It’s this authenticity that elevates ‘Work Night’ from a mere song to a narrative of resilience and determination.

For fans of alt-hip-hop, ‘Work Night’ is a revelation that showcases River Bandit’s unique ability to blend his Southern and West Coast hip-hop influences into a sound that’s distinctly his own.

Stream Work Night and River Bandit’s other blazingly innovative rap tracks via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dell Feddi waxed lyrical on life’s ebb and flow in his latest rap track, Sometimes

Dell Feddi’s latest single, Sometimes, is a striking testament to the dynamic nature of life, encapsulated in a track that resonates with the rhythm of our ever-changing mental states. The Bay Area rap artist has delivered a piece that is as profound in its message as it is captivating in its delivery.

The track is a narrative woven with the threads of life’s unpredictability. His killer flow and sharp lyrical wit are the driving forces behind this track, each word meticulously chosen to reflect the myriad of ways a new day can alter our perspective. The bass-swathed beats, inspired by 90s boom bap, provide a robust backdrop to his charismatic delivery, making the track a massive hit that leaves a lasting impact.

The song delves into the essence of human experience – the simplicity and complexity of life, the ups and downs, and the ever-changing rules that govern our minds. Feddi eloquently elucidates the concept that nothing, especially our mental states, is forever. Each day brings with it a new point of view, an opportunity to don another guise and see the world through a fresh lens.

Feddi’s ability to articulate this perpetual motion of life and mind is not just creative; it’s a flawless exposition of the human condition. The track invites listeners to reflect on their own experiences and to find solace in the fact that change is the only constant.

Check out the official music video for Sometimes which premiered on December 1st via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

17thekid became the fieriest flow queen on the underground hip-hop scene with her latest single, Roll Call

Roll Call, the latest boom-bap hip-hop track from 17theKid, is a fresh nostalgic throwback to the 90s, infused with the artist’s fiery and larger-than-life energy.

The multi-talented indie artist brings her unique blend of skills as a rapper, drummer, singer-songwriter, producer, audio engineer, and dancer to the addictively electric track that is a testament to 17theKid’s intellectual prowess and sharp wit, as she weaves intricate lyrics that showcase her academic background and deep understanding of the genre. Her flow is impeccable, effortlessly transitioning between rhythms and rhymes, proving why she’s quickly becoming known for her conviction and creativity in the hip-hop community.

The beats are masterfully crafted, offering a rich and layered backdrop that complements 17theKid’s dynamic vocals. The track’s production, despite being self-recorded in a modest home studio, doesn’t lose any of its polished edge, highlighting 17theKid’s growing skills as an audio engineer.

Her ability to meld different aspects of her artistic personality into a cohesive and compelling narrative is a testament to her versatility and dedication to her craft. In Roll Call, she not only pays homage to the boom-bap style but also puts her unique stamp on it, making the track both a nostalgic journey and a bold statement of her place in the modern hip-hop landscape.

Roll Call hit the airwaves on November 25; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

_sicko narrated ‘A MODERN HORROR STORY’ in his seminally twisted boom bap track

Hip-hop’s darkest hour struck when the UK alchemist of boom bap, _sicko delivered his PLAY ME EP on Halloween. After a chilling horror score of an intro track, which sets the tone for the rest of the EP, the standout single, A MODERN HORROR STORY, kicks right into macabre gear, following an anachronistic haunted music box prelude.

By painting himself as a twisted protagonist to portray the sickness that breeds online when the worst impulses of the human psyche are vindicated by nefarious echo chambers, _sicko (AKA Aaron Terror) provided a spine-chilling exposition on the proclivities of perversion that are worryingly prolific.

With a twisted lyrical style that isn’t out of the ordinary in death metal projected through a rap flow, which makes it all too easy to lock into the sickness within the horror imagery, A MODERN HORROR STORY is plagued with sickness that will make you stop, shiver, and think.

While some would undoubtedly rush to cancel _sicko, we can see the ingenuity within his creativity, which is on par with some of the greatest horror writers out there.

Stream the PLAY ME EP via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

It’s all bells and no whistles in Roman Gastelum’s ingenuitive hip-hop track, Pavlov’s Dogs

After a bell ring in the intro to pay a conceptual nod to the iconic conditioning experiment, Roman Gastelum moves straight in with an amalgam of funk grooves, jazzy timbres, and hip-hop beats in his standout single, Pavlov’s Dogs taken from his debut LP, EQlibrium.

With the single and LP title, we probably don’t need to tell you that the LA-based bassist, vocalist, lyricist, and composer is an intellectual cut above the rest. In fact, if there were any more genius touches to this release, Roman Gastelum’s door would be blown off its hinges after an army of sapiophiles came knocking. But it is far from just pretentious art over substance.

The sublime sonic atmosphere conjured around the bruisingly clever bars by the artist who received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from the Musicians Institute in LA ensured that even on the 100th listen, you’ll take something new from Pavlov’s Dogs. As the cherry on the urban alchemist cake, the spacey sci-fi surrealism towards the outro is a lesson in experimental scintillation.

Pavlov’s Dogs is now available to stream on Spotify with the rest of the EQlibrium LP which dropped on September 29.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tony Newbury came in red hot in his latest rap track, FEEL THE HEAT

https://spotify.link/XH8n0M5G1Db

For his latest genre-evading urban earworm, FEEL THE HEAT, the virally successful artist Tony Newbury fused the bass of Boom Bap beats with rap bars which run with strikingly sharp reminiscences of Eminem and lush layers of trappy RnB.

To accentuate the sticky-sweet melodic appeal to the nth degree, when Newbury wasn’t blazing through his high-fire rap bars, he was reeling you further into the polished and sun-soaked production with clever pop hooks.

It comes as no surprise that the New Jersey recording artist has made a name for himself in the local scene and beyond since making his debut. In addition to the clear crossover appeal in his sonic aesthetics, which vary from release to release, Newbury remains committed to helping his ever-growing army of fans understand the chaos of the ride we’re all on. Everything is relative, but as his lyrics prove, plenty is universal, including the ability to appreciate the artistry in his uninhibited expression.

FEEL THE HEAT was officially released on September 25; start your obsession with the seminal track by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jah-Sun Collier futuristically reconfigured old-school boom bap in his latest single, RICH THOUGHTZ!

A blast of retro boom bap hit the airwaves when the latest satirically sharp rap track, RICH THOUGHTZ!, dropped as a courtesy of the ultimate urban antagonist, Jah-Sun Collier, who is also well-known as a popular YouTuber, actor, and video editor.

By futuristically reconfiguring the retro tones and adding a further lyrical trajectory to the evolution of hip-hop, the US rapper and record producer did far more than revisit vintage sounds with his tongue-in-cheek track that points out how contrived society has become through its obsession with capitalist gains.

He set the resilience to mercenary vanity bar transcendently high with the introspection-rich hit that proves that being rich in any real sense has no correlation to numbers on a screen, the brand names on your clothes or the car you drive.

RICH THOUGHTZ was officially released on September 1st. Stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Specyal T pioneered nostalgia for her boundary-breaking boom-bap RnB pop track, Double Take

Canada’s hottest RnB artist, Specyal T, brought enough heat in her LP, Foresight, to start an inferno. The standout single, Double Take, runs through with funk-laced retro synths to carve the grooves and boom-bap beats to deliver rhythms that will intoxicate your rhythmic pulses.

With the fiery old school rap bars in the verses and lashings of luxe soul in the harmonised vocal lines, Specyal T ensured their seminal hit was dripping in dynamism to accentuate the pioneered and manicured nostalgia.

The Caribbean-Canadian artist splits her talents between her vocations as a pro musician, actor and executive; her multi-award-winning tracks have featured on several popular TV channels, and her hits have been heard on commercial radio stations across Europe and North America. After working its way into her boundary-pushing LP, Double Take will also feature in the soundtrack to the 2023 film Alarmed. 

Stream the Album Version of Double Take for yourselves by heading over to Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Spotlight Feature: Tampa’s premier hip-pop nostalgist Class Vee sent an invitation you won’t want to ignore with her latest music video, House Party

After sensing the contemporary inclination towards retro aesthetics and sonics, Tampa, Florida’s hottest hip-pop nostalgist Class Vee doused the airwaves in 80s and 90s hip-pop nostalgia with her latest single, House Party.

While the music video pays an ode to the 1990 film of the same title staring Kid N Play, the single brings a solid slice of 90s boom bap flavour for the ultimate aural escapism from the 21st century. The bass-drenched beats and earwormy grooves beneath Class Vee’s glassy-with-soul vocal lines creates the ultimate feel-good anthem, which reminds the listener that life is for living and parties are for attending.

Following the release of House Party, the singer-songwriter will release her Arianna Grande-inspired single, Wierdos, on the 30th of July and perform at New York Fashion Week in September 2023.

Class Vee said:

“With my latest single, I wanted to create nostalgia; a lot of people miss the 80s and 90s; House Party is high vibe hip-pop invitation back there.”

Add House Party to your Spotify playlists or watch the music video, which has already garnered 13k streams via YouTube.

To keep up to date with all of the strides Class Vee is making in the industry, follow her on Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast