Browsing Tag

Dark Hip Hop

Jay Staxx goes interstellar with his latest hit, Cosmic

Posted on 13 August 2021

Jay Staxx’ domineeringly dark trap sound has been garnering plenty of hype since he made his debut with his new moniker in 2021. His recently released seminal single, Cosmic, is a trippy ethereal hit that serves as the perfect introduction to his playful and gritty lyrics, his deadpan candour, and his atmospheric beats.

Alongside working on his music, Staxx is also a co-founder at Loyalty over Royalty Records in San Diego. After the passing of his mother, Tameka Russell, in 2019, he returned to the music scene with even more determination to make an impression on the airwaves. Considering that he is now averaging over 67k monthly listeners on Spotify alone, it is safe to say his hunger for greatness is being sated. We couldn’t think of anyone more deserving.

Cosmic is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

TRAP FREEDOM – Menace 2 Society: dark tones & introspective gold

Posted on 12 August 2021

The trailblazing US rapper, singer, producer and artist TRAP FREEDOM has unleashed his darkest trap track to date, Menace 2 Society. The scathing track finds a conceptual way to broach societal anger and challenge perceptions. Despite the menacing tone, it is a goldmine of introspection that all of society would benefit from heading.

If there is any silver lining to late-stage capitalism, it is singles such as this that unify us despite the corrupt socio-political system pitting us against each other. N.W.A. would be proud.

Menace 2 Society is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

BabyEros hit us right ‘In My Feels’.

Posted on 17 June 2021

Opening up with some eerily creepy guitar work and a heavily vocoder-sounding autotuned vocal, ‘In My Feels’ finds itself a genre-defying niche somewhere between alternative edgy trap and alt-rock; sounding like the unholy lovechild of Linkin Park, Alice In Chains, and Skrillex, ‘In My Feels’ is taken from BabyEros’ self-titled debut EP, and flips effortlessly between straight-out rock delivery and rapid-fire hip hop flow, it’s dark, brooding, and unsettling in equal measure, and that’s a very good thing. It’s a quality cross-over piece that deserves a proper listen.

You can check out BabyEros on YouTube and Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Tyteanna has released her fiercely visceral sophomore single ‘Entitled’

Posted on 13 May 2021

Up and coming rap artist Tyteanna has followed on from her 2021 debut single, ‘You Feel Me?’ with the confrontationally infectious track, ‘Entitled’. There’s an intoxicating darkness to Entitled, but at the same, Tyteanna couldn’t have paid a better ode to old school hip hop. With her intellect and deeply meta lyrics feeding into the atmospheric mix, you’re almost over faced with reasons with reasons to immerse yourself deeper in the single which throws inspirational lines such as, ‘If I want it then it’s already mine’, your way.

Tyteanna’s diction and cadence in Entitled establish her as a rap artist with almost unparalleled talent. With so many voices hidden behind reverb or running through rapid-fire bars without letting the words resonate, Tyteanna won’t struggle rising from the underground with her fierce and visceral ability to wax lyrical.

Entitled is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

As days get dark, 9URIE brings relatable comfort with ‘Barely Alive’.

Posted on 16 April 2021

At 18-years-old, Swedish producer and singer-songwriter 9URIE already has seven years of experience in creating music; his latest single, ‘Barely Alive’, shows just how much he has honed-in on his skills.

Barely Alive perfectly alludes to the mentality of feeling nothing but ennui as dark thoughts spill through your consciousness, but there’s still that spark of life residing within that assures you that there’s something worth fighting for.

It almost feels ironic that I stumbled across 9URIE’s latest release on Chester Bennington’s birthday. A lot may have happened musically since Hybrid Theory, but 9URIE’s grippingly dark hip hop release carries a candle for it and parallels the level of emotion. It’s honest and raw tracks such as this that open up the conversation around mental health and depression. 9URIE is definitely one to watch.

You can check out Barely Alive for yourselves by heading over to Spotify or SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Melbourne hip hop artist Prymal tells us ‘When It’s Real’

Posted on 4 April 2021

Prymal is a Melbourne-based hip-hop artist with an eye on story-telling and lyrical flow, rather than aggression or high-impact. Opening up with some chiming tubular bells before deep throbbing bass, fast dotted-note rimshots, and hi-hats and flashes of strings fill in and populate the groove of ‘When It’s Real’, Prymal’s in-your-face attitude given extra weight by the laid-back, nonchalant delivery.

Working with more established rap artists such as Empathy, on whose album ‘Mirror Mirror’ Prymal guests, has clearly paid off, helping the twenty-year-old establish a mature rhyming pattern and delivery and a genuinely solid flow. ‘When It’s Real’ shows some epic promise, and bodes well for Prymal’s forthcoming album ‘Lions Den’, due later this year.

In the meantime, you can check out ‘When It’s Real’ on Spotify, and follow Prymal on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Nick Andree spills vivid imagery in their atmospheric trap hit, ‘HIDE AND SEEK’

Posted on 17 March 2021

If you look past the macabre imagery in Houston-residing hip hop artist, Nick Andree’s latest single ‘HIDE AND SEEK’, you’ll find the consolation which the powerfully meta release contains.

With atmospheric trap beats running steady under layers of trippy distortion and Nick Andree’s despondent yet convictive rap bars, it’s all too easy to immerse yourself in the darkly hypnotic vibe-out single.

It comes as no surprise that Nick Andree has been able to amass so much acclaim since making their debut in 2019. If you appreciate hip hop which spills vivid imagery, you’ll want him on your radar.

You can check out HIDE AND SEEK for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Henksson has delivered their darkly ambient rap single ‘Drunk Dreaming’

Posted on 8 March 2021

With the ability to conjure intriguing vivid imagery in their titles alone, the lead track ‘Drunk Dreaming’ from their debut album, ‘Eyes Wide in the Nightmare’, Haitian/Belgian rapper Henksson won us over before we heard the ominously ambient approach to hip hop.

With most artists too afraid to use their ‘real’ voice and opting to assimilate icons instead, the airwaves fall short of authentic expression, but Henksson fills the gap perfectly. As the bars run through, you’ll be able to feel every ounce of emotion which inspired them.

Drunk Dreaming may be riddled with gritty despondence, but it won’t fail to leave you transfixed and emotionally invested.

Henksson’s debut album is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shade Apollo bridges the gap between urban and alternative with “Straight out of the Coffin”

Posted on 17 November 2020
https://youtu.be/ydFReSc0fbo

Seattle-based Hip Hop artist Shade Apollo released their latest single Straight out of the Coffin on Friday the 13th, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more transfixing 2020 dark Hip Hop drop.  

With phantasmic reverb creeping behind their nihilistically feverish Rap bars as lines such as “I know I can break the cycle, but the nightmare never ends” are delivered, Shade Apollo offers a gripping ominous sound complete with heartbreakingly resonant lyrics.

For anyone who knows how relentless the grip of depression and anxiety is, that line will hit bruisingly hard while handing you the affirmation that you aren’t alone in your perpetual cycle of suffering.

With Shade Apollo’s influences ranging from everyone to Marilyn Manson to $uicideboy$, he’s bridged the gap between urban and alternative with Straight out of the Coffin. Which may make their sound ‘niche’ to some, but I can guarantee it will be as evocative and powerful to others as it was to me.

You can check out the official video to Straight out of the Coffin via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sergio Tachini – Danii: An edifying and accessible ode to vulnerability

Posted on 11 November 2020

From Tachini’s fresh EP ‘Broken’, ‘Danii’ is a chilled, space-filled ode to vulnerability and a lover lost to suicide. Heartfelt, beautiful, and tragic all at once, ‘Danii’ pays tribute through Tachini’s honest, reflective rap style, consoling and celebrating whilst never feeling self-conscious or forced. Tachini is open about his own battles with depression and anxiety, and that frailty comes through in the track’s sparse arrangement and instrumentation.

Invoking comparisons in such a personal and intimate piece of music is always hard, but the influences of artists such as Lil Peep and XXX Tentacion are undeniable here. ‘Danii’ is an open, sincere and profound track, almost conversational in its delivery. Candid and affectionate and yet immediately edifying and accessible, ‘Danii’ is both a fitting tribute and a gentle, delicate single in its own right.

You can see Sergio’s video for ‘Danii’ on YouTube.

Review by Alex Holmes