Browsing Tag

Emo Hip Hop

Indie hip hop artist, PUre MX wore his heart on his dial tone in his seminal single, PHONE

Posted on 15 October 2022

Independent hip hop artist, PUre MX, has been racking up the streams with his melodic bitter-sweet feats of alt-hip hop since making his debut in 2020. His seminal single, PHONE, softens the blow of the raw confessionally introspective lyrics with the mellifluous indie guitars and gently jarring glitchy electronica motifs.

Evading the typical break-up tropes, PHONE gets right to the crux of the entropy and dejection by capturing the aching feeling of knowing a relationship has moved to the point when they only need you when they need to use you, but despite it all, you’re still a caring confidant. On the basis of PHONE, we all need a PUre MX in our lives; lucky for you, you can add him to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ky Woods’ words cut deep in his new wave rap track, Mentally Wasted

Posted on 9 October 2022

Raw wounds bleed in Ky Woods’ latest confessional indie new wave rap track, Mentally Wasted. Between the juicy vocal hooks and the ensnaringly deep lyrics, it hits hard, but there’s some comfort in the dark narrative the up-and-coming artist weaved through the relatability and the sticky-sweet sensibility of the angular guitar lines against the rattle of the 808s.

The Indiana-born, Dallas-based emotion-driven artist takes complete control over his tracks after he learned how to mix and master before his debut single, No Where, which was released in 2021. Between his determination to make it in the industry and the clear talent in his sound, it is easy to see that he’s not going to be on the underground for long.

Mentally Wasted is available to stream across all platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

UniqueSince3 set a score of cinematic minor-key hip hop in Make You Mine

Posted on 24 August 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgqx62hE9vI

With their cinematically classic hip hop single, Make You Mine, the up-and-coming artist, UniqueSince3, sent emotional shivers up the spine of the minor key piano melodies.

After doctors wrote off his prospects with his autism diagnosis at the age of three, the rapper refused to subjugate himself to the same dim fate and strode into greatness. Notably, Make You Mine took him one giant leap forward.

As someone else that falls on the neurodivergent side of the spectrum, I can only imagine how much inspiration others will get when they look up to UniqueSince3 and his evocative wordplay powers.

Check out the official lyric video by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Vatic keeps it raw and real in his downtempo emo hip hop track, 3 am

Posted on 26 March 2022

Vatic’s latest raw and honest single, 3 am, is an acknowledgement that nobody is always ok, and that’s ok. The slow tempo, heartbreak infused single takes new wave hip hop to an ambient and almost ethereal level. With the solemnly hushed vocals adrift over the simple minor piano chords, it is all too easy to find yourself at the heart of this plaintively meditative single that hammers home the depth of pensive pain that we all feel in our lives from time to time. 3 am carries no sense of ego or grandiosity; instead, Vatic paid homage to the reality of the true human experience. He’s a true artist, we can’t wait to hear what follows.

3 am was released on March 10th; you can hear it for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Tasty takes the sting out of growing pains with his latest single, ‘Grow Up’.

Posted on 11 May 2021

After racking up over half a million streams with his EP, ‘Therapy’, New Orleans-hailing alternative artist Tasty is here with his latest sonic evocative firestorm, ‘Grow Up’. His lyrical exploration of growing pains collides with instrumentals which exhibit his versatility throughout the progressive track that incorporates elements of alt-rock, synth pop, hip hop and plenty of other textures in-between.

Carrying the same angst as Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory, the same atmospheric grooves as The Midnight and plenty of the new wave hip hop sound, Grow Up is a stunning act of unintentional genre-defiance. There is a real sense that the authenticity flowed through unadulterated expression, which explains Tasty’s success since rebranding themselves from a hip hop artist to a pioneer of the new wave.

Grow Up is now available to stream via Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Blank666 exposes the dark side of hedonism with ‘Wasted’ featuring Nikki Vale.

Posted on 10 May 2021

Blank666’s standout single, ‘Wasted’, poignantly exposes the darker side of the hedonist lifestyle that many rap artists are quick to glamourise. But not many lyrics hit as hard as the deeply introspective ones you will find here that wistfully regret choosing escapism over affection.

To give you an idea of just how heartfelt a track Wasted is, if Simple Plan switched from alt-rock to rap, their sound would carry plenty of reminiscences. The lo-fi indie feel to the simple yet poignant offering of alt hip hop amplifies the intimacy but Wasted is so much more than your average emo melancholy-fest thanks to the grooves and four to the floor beats that allows energy to echo through the mix.

You can check out the official video to Wasted by heading over to YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast