On Monday, June 4 Nipsey Hussle brought Crenshaw to New York City two times in one night, performing back to back shows at Irving Plaza.
The West Coast vibes connected effortlessly with the NYC concertgoers waiting in line for the 7 PM show as they listened to shuffledVictory Lap tracks blaring from a lone speaker sitting in the back of a sleek black 64′ Chevy Impala.
The scenery was epic as fans anxiously gripped their complimentary Victory Lap face towels and CDs. You could tell that they’ve been waiting for this for a long time and that it was truly special that the LA rapper picked NYC as one of the first tour stops on his debut album’s tour.
Inside, from the VIP wrap around balcony, you could tell that the crowd was a sea of Nipsey Hussle fans as they sported their exclusive Victory Lap tour merch in respect to the hip-hop prophet that was about to perform.
As fans waited they were graced with the presence of Funkmaster Flex. He crushed the boards and trolled fans by playing Lil’ Pump’s “Gucci Gang” until he voiced that the hip-hop entertainer was garbage and jumped into a playlist where each song paid homage to NY’s greatest rappers.
Flex was truly locked in…
Setor Tsikudo (@tsikudo_)
After a quick opening set from Flex, blue stage lights pointed down on an empty stage creating the right ambiance for Hussle’s grand entrance. The anticipation from the crowd could be felt throughout Irving Plaza and when Hussle arrived he was greeted with a warm roar of excitement.
Upon swagging his way to the stage in his blue plaid flannel, fresh white Pumas, and two gold chains carrying medallions around neck, Hussle expressed his gratitude to the NYC crowd before jumping into his set with the lead-off track to the album, “Victory Lap.”
Setor Tsikudo (@tsikudo_)
With a live band playing behind Hussle each song performed off of Victory Lap was a spiritual experience. Every fan was sonically in sync as they rapped back Hussle’s lyrics and recited some of his bars word for word.
It got even better as Hussle brought out three artists that he’s worked with, Bino Rideaux,Cobby Supreme, and J-Stone. All three live features were the cherry on top to this memorable performance.
Hussle poured his soul out and got even closer with his fans after he took it back performing songs off of his 2013 mixtape Crenshaw. Every song performed ignited a reaction from the crowd that made it possible to see how Hussle’s music has touched a generation.
Setor Tsikudo (@tsikudo_)
Hussle’s performance definitely left a mark on all those who attended the Irving Plaza concert. If you were in the crowd that night you had to have felt like you were a part of a legendary experience.
If you haven’t copped tickets yet make sure you do as Hussle definitely set the tone in NYC for the rest of his tour. Hopefully, fans and music lovers attending the upcoming shows will have the same experience in their cities.
Music is a young man’s game. The sound of hip-hop is constantly evolving and the kids are at the forefront, shaping that sound.
Rich Forever’s in-house producer The Lab Cook is one of the newer artists leading that charge. Producing for acts like Jaden Smith, A$AP Ferg, and Famous Dex, Cook is blowing up.
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Every beat from The Lab Cook sounds fresh and unique.
Mixing together smooth melodies with banging 808s makes for some of the hardest and interesting music you’ll ever have the pleasure of hearing.
His smash hit “Rich Forever Outro/Intro” has garnered over 16 million views on YouTube. But his beat for the smash hit “Plug Walk” on Rich The Kid’s latest album is by far his most successful track to date.
Kulture Hub caught up with the Toronto producer to learn more about his hustle in the music industry and his plans to take over the game.
Cook, who is only 20 years old, started making beats in his senior year of High School. He got into production with the help of his friend,
“I was intrigued by the idea of making beats one day and I wanted to see how it was done. I actually had a friend from school who made beats and he introduced me to FL Studio.”
From there began The Lab Cook’s grind. Within a couple months he was working with local artists from his hometown of Toronto. His persistence and talent ultimately propelled his platform and gave him the ability to reach more ears. Cook started networking and trying to get his beats to anyone possible,
“I just started to DM people on Instagram, sending videos of my beats. Just hitting up anyone and everyone. Now I have a lot more connections in the industry so it’s less of a hassle to get beats around. About a year in is when I started getting some more well known industry artists to fuck with me.”
And fuck with him they did.
The Lab Cook holds credits on some of the most creative joints out there. His crowing achievement however is the work he’s put in on Rich The Kid’s Rich Forever label. Producing 7 tracks on Rich The Kid’s 11 track mixtape Rich Forever 3, Lab Cook proves he’s no joke.
Cook is signed to Rich Forever along with Famous Dex and Jay Critch. He told us about how he initially linked up with the label,
“I had linked up with Rich at the time he was bringing up his label movement. I had started working with Famous Dex first and him and Rich recorded on one of my beats. I heard a snippet on the internet. It was a crazy feeling to have them both on a song. Rich just started fucking with me after that. A couple months later I woke up to a twitter DM from Rich saying I want you on my label.”
DM’s have proved very fruitful for the young producer but there’s more to the man’s work ethic than a strong social media presence.
Cook believes in a vision, a vision of being the top producer in the game. He knows exactly what it takes to reach his goal, now it’s all about the process,
“I have a vision [of] being a top producer in the game. When you have a vision like that it gives you motivation to do whatever it takes, the rest is just dedication and hard work.”
That hard work usually requires sacrifice and Cook isn’t shy about recognizing what he needs to remove from his life in return for success. The dedication he talks about comes in all sorts of forms, whether it’s working late nights or finding alternative ways to spread his brand.
It’s easy to say you have a vision, but Cook takes it a step further to be proactive in his chase of success.
“Long hours and late nights is a lot of it. Keeping up with what’s going on in the hip-hop world, reading the business side of things. Mainly it’s just focusing on me and what I’ve got going on, whether it’s not going out on weekends or turning down a night out. A lot of my priorities have changed in the last year or two.”
Along with production credits on countless songs, The Lab Cook has put a series of drum kits on sale for other aspiring producers.
Cook released a kit on Vyvydaudio.com featuring all original sounds created by the man himself. Staying ahead of the curve and recognizing the market immediately, he used his skills to provide a much needed service.
“I decided a few months back I wanted to make a drum kit. I like to create a lot of the sounds I use. I don’t use a lot of recycled sounds. My Vol. 2 is done, it will be for sale soon.”
This is all a part of the larger hustle needed in the music industry. Whether laying down a track or putting together a drum kit, The Lab Cook puts in the same energy as he would anything else.
Instead of being passive about his work, he knows he has to go out and take what he wants. Even though his passion is music, Cook is aware of every aspect of the business he needs to hone in on to truly achieve greatness.
“The main thing you need is to have a ‘workful’ mindset. You need a drive to go out and go get it. Definitely making connections is huge and perfecting your craft at the same time. Learn the business. Be a smart business person.
The Lab Cook is all in on his goals. Whatever it is you’re into, do that shit to the best of your ability, study your craft to the fullest, and make vital connections along the way.
TIDAL is putting it on for rockstar legend Prince as the music streaming app announced on Friday that it will debut a new and unreleased album in 2019.
This is exactly what Prince wanted, for TIDAL to show his music to the world after he died. It was no easy feat as Prince died without a will and his estate’s advisor was accused of going against what the” Purple Rain” artist would have wanted for his own music catalog following his death in April 2016.
Do you remember when Jay-Z dropped hints that Prince’s estate advisor, Londell McMillan, was being difficult AF on the “Caught Their Eyes,” track off of his legendary album 4:44? Jigga rapped,
“I sat down with Prince, eye to eye. He told me his wishes before he died. Now, Londell McMillan, he must be color blind. They only see green from them purple eyes”
Well, McMillian, you can kiss Prince’s purple ass.
The 2019 Prince album will contain previously unreleased music sourced from Prince’s vast archive of Vault recordings, will stream exclusively on TIDAL for fourteen days, and will be available for download seven days after its debut.
A global physical release is also in the works via The Prince Estate following the exclusive digital premiere on TIDAL.
This concludes the long legal battle between Prince’s estate and Tidal as the new release is a continuation of Prince’s 2015 partnership with the music streaming app, which resulted in the exclusive debut of HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two via the streaming service. The agreement was approved just this Wednesday.
In the announcement, Jay-Z spoke on the overall goal of the new album launch. He said,
“Our only goal is to share Prince’s music with his fans as he wanted. After a thoughtful and honest conversation with him, he chose TIDAL as his partner for HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two, and we will continue to respect and honor Prince’s enduring legacy and wishes with this new collection.”
It seems as if everyone in Prince’s camp is happy as too. Troy Carter who spoke on behalf of Prince’s estate noted,
“I’m very pleased this is resolved, and we get to honor the relationship between Prince and TIDAL with this album. We look forward to fans hearing the new music and experiencing the genius of Prince.”
We should all be hype for this. Prince was and still is a legend. May his music live on through the generations.
He would never let anyone get in the way of sharing his music with the world. This was one of his last wishes – to let TIDAL rock on with his legacy. His spirit won’t allow anyone to dictate his music’s legacy. As the rockstar beautifully sang it in his song “Uptown. We don’t let society tell us how it’s supposed to be…”
Its been 18 years, but thanks to a freestyle from Chicago’s G Herbo on Dallas radio station K104FM a couple of weeks ago (March 16), Three 6 Mafia’s stand out single, “Who Run It,” has returned to the forefront of popular culture.
Coming off of Three 6 Mafia’s fourth studio album, When the Smoke Clears: Sixty 6, Sixty 1, “Who Run It” feels like a blast from the past. The full, in-your-face sound that era strived off of is in full force and G Herbo floats on it perfectly.
Every Friday, we gather together the best new tracks of the week for your listening pleasure.
This week saw some star-studded singles off upcoming albums, some intriguing debuts in the form of Soccer Mommy and DJ Taye, and some overall cool shit.
Here are the best songs of the week, according to me.
Swae Lee – “Hurt To Look” (ft. Rae Sremmurd)
Rae Sremmurd, the Tupelo, Mississippi brothers who have lit the hip-hop world up with their party anthems, released a grip of tracks this week off their upcoming triple album.
This solo effort from Swae Lee sees him dipping his toe into a more groovy, soulful R&B sound. It’s fire.
Electronic gawd Moby released his 15th (!) album today, Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt. It’s a whole bunch of ambient, muted, soul-crushing music. Moby is a genius.
Ferg, who is very quietly one of NYC’s best MCs, enlists upcoming rappers IDK and Denzel Curry for this banger.
The track kicked off Ferg’s Mad Man Tour last Wednesday, opened by… IDK and Denzel Curry.
Soccer Mommy – “Cool”
Soccer Mommy, aka Sophie Allison, released her debut album today and it’s some wildly impressive indie rock music.
On “Cool”, Allison bemoans another girl who makes life seem easy and how she just wants to be that cool. Listen to Soccer Mommy.
Smokepurpp – “123”
One of South Florida’s most intriguing hip-hop talents, Smokepurpp, has seemingly not stopped working since his debut mixtape Deadstar last year.
The latest, with Murda Beatz, is hot.
DJ Taye – “Smokeout”
DJ Taye is a young Chicago footwork artists on the come up. Signed to Teklife, a Chicago record label dedicated to the genre made famous by the late great DJ Rashad, Taye’s debut album is a study in modern footwork.
Shit is fun as hell. It’s as easy and smooth of an introduction to the world of footwork as there is.
The Lovely Eggs – “I Shouldn’t Have Said That”
The Lovely Eggs, the two-piece psychedelic rock band from Lancaster, United Kingdom, have a bizarre, sludgy, badass, kind of goofy sound on their most recent album This Is Eggland.
It’s pretty weird, but these two can rock.
Chief Keef – “Tats”
Today, Chief Keef, the patron saint of drill music, released The Leek 4, a collection of tracks recorded back in 2013 when Keef burst onto the scene with an unparalleled urgency.
It’s great to go back in time to Keef’s origins. This dude has an endless amount of music.
Diplo – “Worry No More” (ft. Lil Yachty, Santigold)
Diplo dropped another single off his upcoming California EP. This time, Diplo tapped up Lil Yachty and Santigold for a fun, feel-good track.
Diplo definitely keeps looking for new sounds to craft his brand of dance music. California will be interesting one way or another.
Other shit
Been listening to a lot of UGK recently, especially Ridin’ Dirty, the 1994 album that brought the H-town duo into the spotlight.
Is there anything better than Pimp C’s opening bars on “Murder”? No, no there is not.
Dirty ProjectorsBitte Orca remains a truly great album to do menial tasks to.
Dawning a soft, pastel pink fur coat in front of an inviting wall of green life, stands the future of sound as we know it; the songbird of our generation and the heir to R&B’s throne: Swae Lee.
No, not Khalid. Not Daniel Ceasar, Kali Uchis, or SZA, but Swae Lee, who has the ear and vocals that will champion the R&B sound for years to come.
Today, that journey officially begins as Swae released “Hurt to Look”, the mystical front runner to his upcoming debut studio album, Swaecation.
I am well aware that when it comes to the term “songbird” or when we get into the subject of singing, or even R&B, a rapper known for turning up with party anthems wouldn’t be the first to come to mind. But with closer inspection you’d see that there isn’t an artist out who pitches a tune that resonates more than Swae Lee’s.
The rapper from Tupelo, Mississippi, who makes up 1/2 of the rap group Rae Sremmurd, has been showing off his penchant for melodies and vocal touch since he debuted with Slim Jxmmi on SremmLife in 2014. The only ones who haven’t noticed are the ones not paying attention.
Under Mike Will Made-It’s tutelage, the rap group has charted on Billboards top 100 11 different times, even snagging the number one spot with “Black Beatles”. But if you go back and listen to every single one of those chartings, from “No Flex Zone”, to “Perplexing Pegasus”, there is one common denominator: Swae Lee’s vocals.
Half of Swae’s mystique and why people don’t consider him a vocalist is because his brightest moments are in the midst of hard knocking 808’s and contrasted against his very rap oriented bandmate.
Think of Rae Sremmurd’s “No Flex Zone”. While you may dismiss Swae Lee’s shriek, that high-pitched “they knoooooow better” was full of ambition and purpose. The same goes for “Come Get her”, “No Type”, and “This could be Us” — Swae was constantly testing his range whenever he could.
Similarly, Sremmurd’s second album SremmLife 2, was even more foretelling of Swae Lee’s talents.
“Swang” was otherworldly. Swae Lee hit an auto-tuned falsetto so cold that, with the right alcohol to crisis ratio, it’ll make you stop and contemplate your entire life right in the middle of whichever club you’re in. Never has a voice cut through so buttery in the midst of a trap song like that. Ever.
Even on “Black Beatles” — which was the number one song in America at one point — Swae Lee’s near-whisper during the chorus and ad libs damn near makes the song. To have the presence of mind to put such a beautiful accent on a song as high-energy as that was Swae begging to flex his vocal creativity.
If the work on his first two albums wasn’t proof enough, his features surely should have been a tell-tale sign that Swae Lee was coming for the R&B crown.
Dating back to Travis Scott’s “Nightcrawler” in 2015, it was clear that “rapper” was far too constrictive of a descriptor to place on Swae Lee. 2 Chainz, Jhene Aiko, French Montana, and everyone else who featured him on their projects following seemed to agree, too.
In 2017 alone, whether he was serenading us on “Poor Fool”, harmonizing on “Sativia”, or going number one, again on “Unforgettable”, it was clear that the kid had something magical.
He managed to fit soothing vocals in between Metro’s boom and Big Sean’s delivery on “Reason” and, if you still don’t believe the hype, Kendrick enlisted his voice on this year’s best selling album, Black Panther: The Album on the tune “The Ways” and he straight up stole the show with his angelic touch.
When you look at his body of work, Swae Lee carrying the torch for the next generation of R&B isn’t far fetched at all. The 22-year-old, who is going on his fourth year in the industry, has had Billboard success, worked with the industry’s best and has even developed his own craft, adding ‘producer’ to his resume.
He gets sound; he gets melody; and he knows his voice. His tone and approach makes him liable for a hit every time he steps to the mic, and what’s most interesting is that he comes with a unique narrative — who wouldn’t want to hear a rapper turned singer from Mississippi sing his heart out?
Not to mention what we consider as R&B, like the rap game, is bound to change. The Beyonces, Adeles, and Sam Smiths of the world are becoming fewer and farther between. Power ballads and straight forward pop singles are a thing of old.
Thanks to Bon Iver and James Blake (and Kanye, really), synths are as much R&B as vocal range — which is evidenced in The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Sampha, Kelela, and others. Similarly, thanks to Bryson Tiller and 6lack (and, again, Kanye), heavy 808’s, too, have become staples in what we consider R&B — a trend SZA has definitely benefitted from.
Because Swae Lee is a mix of all these elements rolled into one, it’s his destiny to be on top.
Though Swae Lee hasn’t confirmed a date for Swaecation, his single “Hurt to Look” should indicate that it will be released soon, and though he hasn’t confirmed that it’ll be an R&B album, he’s already at the forefront to winning over new listeners to the genre.
This will be Swaecation Vol 1 as well as some on melodies on SremmLife 3 know I won’t leave you guys hanging 💪🏽 https://t.co/codMLn2egb
When you look at how Swae Lee is poised on the album cover to his lead single — hair free, face obscurely covered by the sun’s shadow — you can tell that the he’s going for something different from what he’s known for.
And whether we’re ready or not, he’s coming for the crown.
Take his most recent single “Loving Is Easy”. The song, with its twinkling little pianos and Rex’s unabashedly singing about his love for his partner, feels like a warm embrace. Like riding your bike on a sunny, breezy day.
Rex, born Alex O’Connor in the small town of Haslemere, England, about 50 miles south of London, is making some of the most damn enjoyable music I’ve heard in some time.
There’s nothing overtly “cool” about Rex Orange County, who got the name from an abbreviation for his last name and just liked the name Rex.
O’Connor is an unassuming baby-faced, 19-year-old with a bad haircut from suburban England. But his music touches on something universal; growing up, heartbreak, unabashed joy, and love.
O’Connor started seriously making music when, at the age of 16, he was accepted to the prestigious BRIT School, an arts school in London. His first project as Rex Orange County was 2015’s bcos u will never be free.
His debut record is a 10-track collection displaying an artist who writes extremely autobiographically about his feelings and backs it up with breezy, soulful instrumentation drawn from the entire musical landscape.
bcos is full of the angsty frustration of a teenager in high school, feeling isolated, and dealing with heartbreak. O’Connor told The Fader about his headspace while making his first project.
On “Paradise”, with 90s hip-hop drum kicks and splashy synthesizers, O’Connor samples Marilyn Monroe talking about choosing solitude over sociability, sings about seeing his friends in heaven, and raps about not having to act cool:
“See the reason why they did not understand you in school
Same reason why you tell yourself you’re not cool
Trust your ideas
And only drink beers, if you really want to”
Somehow, O’Connor can sing-rap about not drinking to fit in and it’s not oppressively corny. It’s just like, “Wow, you’re right, Rex, drinking isn’t for everyone!”
On “Belly (The Grass Stains)”, O’Connor compares the grass stains on his blue jeans, which used to be new, “But now they’re all fucked,” to the end of a relationship as he questions “Was she ever even mine?”
“Heartbreak
Summer’s gone and so is she
The only one left I know is me
But I still feel fucked”
There’s something endearing about an artist that’s so frank with their emotions. But, most importantly, O’Connor’s music just sounds good. While he’s still figuring out exactly what to do, and projects lack a little focus, he’s an excitingly honest and talented artist.
When he released his second album Apricot Princess, taking the title from a pet name for his girlfriend, in April of 2017, he was in a very different place to on bcos.
He told The Fader last May, “These days, I wake up, and I’m genuinely so gassed to be alive.” This sort of unbridled happiness may come off contrived, even annoying, but it’s hard not to feel gassed listening to Princess.
But it doesn’t matter how happy or in love someone is if the music isn’t good. And Princess is damn good. On “Nothing”, O’Connor sings about first falling in love, which is cool and all, but it’s the Back to Black-sounding production that makes it.
At around the 3-minute mark, O’Connor kicks it into full blues mode. The drums, those drums man, just rock. Then O’Connor wraps up the track with a brief synthy interlude that could be a cool indie hip-hop instrumental.
“Never Enough” is pure pop-rock with American country guitars that sounds kind of Arctic Monkeys-ish.
O’Connor told Pigeons and Planes about the function of Apricot Princess and how it navigates the emotions of a single night:
“Apricot Princess is like an inside album. You can listen to the album and feel all of those emotions within one night. It can be happy and dancey, and then you can think of something that you’ve fucked up on.”
It’s a wildly impressive album, both lyrically and musically, for a damn teenager (!) to make. So much so, in fact, that O’Connor caught the attention of Tyler, The Creator. Tyler brought him in to work on Flower Boy and the 19-year-old kid from Haslemere became the secret weapon on one of the most impressive rap albums of last year.
The album’s standout “Boredom” includes O’Connor singing and producing for Tyler, they form a fucking amazing partnership together.
O’Connor told P&P how the Tyler collaboration came about:
“He had emailed me in the summer of last year. He told me he liked my songs, and which ones he liked the most. I didn’t believe it was him, initially, but then he hit me on Twitter. We were talking for a while, which is crazy for me because I was one of those kids who was a big fan. Through him I found The Internet, Earl Sweatshirt, Frank, and all of them. Tyler was a big influence to me even before we worked together, so when we started working it was like ‘Wow!'”
“It was like ‘Wow!'” How can you not like this kid?
O’Connor is currently on his first mini US tour. I wasn’t able to catch him while he was in New York City earlier this week, but my sources on the ground told me he rocked it. He’s been dropping off a couple loose singles recently and there may be a larger project on the way.
For now, just kick back and let the dulcet, emotive music of Rex Orange County wash over you.
After about 20 years of whines, moans, and outcries for the return of the beloved Spice Girls after their six-year stint taking over the entire planet, the team has finally decided that they will, indeed, be getting back together.
This, as you may imagine, has an entire generation of formerly unfulfilled young adults leaping in the air for joy, singing, “I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want!”
We want the Spice Girls back!
If you think I’m hating on the Spice Girls, think again. I’m literally so excited for this, it kind of made my week, TBH.
“We are always overwhelmed at how much interest there is across the whole world for the Spice Girls. The time now feels right to explore some incredible new opportunities together.”
As per VICE, Posh Spice, I mean Victoria Beckham, didn’t want the girls together because she decided it was time to cut her losses.
“Rumors about the Spice Girls have been circulating for years. However, Victoria always seemed like she was firmly against the idea. ‘It is not happening,’ she said in an interview last year. ‘At some point you’ve gotta know when it’s time say, ‘That was great.’ Looks like Posh Spice had a change of heart. This will be the first time the girls are back together since performing at the 2012 Summer Olympics’ Opening Ceremony.”
Some speculate that the reunion has ties to Beckham’s low income from her fashion business.
Of course, these are just rumors and bullshit. The Spice Girls getting back together has absolutely no hidden agenda, they’re doing it for the #GirlPower and nothing more!
Brownsville, Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave dropped a track last night intimating that he will take the stand and testify against Taxstone, the New York personality of the “Tax Season” podcast.
Taxstone is currently being held without bond for the alleged murder of Troy Ave’s former bodyguard Ronald “Banga” McPhatter during an incident at Irving Plaza in Spring 2016.
On the new song “2 Legit 2 Quit”, Troy Ave raps about his apparent willingness to testify against Tax at about the 0:58 mark of the song.
“I’m only loyal to my fam/Middle finger from the stand/It’s either me or you.”
The corresponding visuals to “2 Legit 2 Quit” depict Troy Ave on the stand with his middle finger up. Shit is rather hotboy.
Not to mention, Tax is an extremely beloved figure in the hip-hop community. His podcast had become must-listen material for rap listeners.
Tax’s interviews brought a different perspective to the music and culture. Since his incarceration last January, there’s been a massive void in the podcast game.
As for Troy Ave, hip-hop Twitter lost its collective shit responding to Troy proudly claiming that he’ll testify against Tax.
Perhaps we should stop believing rappers….
Troy Ave is a rapper…. Y'all holding him to standards y'all shouldn't be holding him to… Stop believing these rappers, they're ALL liars.
Never forget, Big Sean made a song called "Ass"…. His last two girlfriends are Ariana Grande and Jhene Aiko.
As funny as some of the Twitter reactions were, this is obviously a pretty serious situation. It’d be great if it could be resolved simply without prison time for either individual, but that doesn’t appear to be an option.
Over the past couple of years, South Florida has emerged as a hotbed for a wild brand of aggressive, lo-fi, and heavily medicated hip-hop.
Artists like Denzel Curry, XXXTentacion, Smokepurpp, Lil Pump, Ski Mask The Slumpgod, Fat Nick, and Pouya have descended on rap music with a radical new style that feels like a direct “fuck you” to the years of post-Drake sadboy rap.
One of the producers supplying these rappers with the proper instrumentation to push their style forward is Ronny J, the New Jersey native who is bringing the stripped down, distorted, speaker blowing wave of South Florida “SoundCloud Rap” to the masses.
While the SoundCloud Rap moniker is a little overused these days and has kind of lost all its real meaning, Ronny J and his crew of South Florida rappers are changing the sound of hip-hop, whether you like it or not.
Ronny J first emerged on the scene producing most of Denzel Curry’s 2nd studio album Imperial, including the unhinged “Ultimate”.
Although Curry’s style is violent and fast, he isn’t quite in the same category of rappers like Smokepurpp and Lil Pump in terms of subject matter. In fact, his open opposition to lean bears in stark contrast to his other South Florida contemporaries. But, as Ronny J told HotNewHipHop, linking with Curry was “fate”:
“Fate, you know what I mean? I got a link with Denzel Curry, with his crazy fast flows and aggressive flows, with my hard ass beats because I played dreams, that’s kind of where I get it from. With me being an aggressive person as well, it just kind of clicked and then with me loving everything about Miami, I just kind of stayed down there.”
After his work with Denzel Curry, Ronny J became the producer du jour for South Florida rappers on the rise.
Looking through Ronny J’s production credits is a tour in the controversial, rip-roaring sounds of the region.
Like Smokepurpp’s “Audi”, a song that sounds like it was made almost by accident until you find yourself muttering the hook “I don’t want friends I want Audis” to yourself for the rest of the day.
On “Audi”, Ronny J’s aesthetic is on full display. 808’s backed by kicks that threaten to blow your eardrums out, weird ass synths that sound like their taken from the trap EDM world, and a hidden complexity that may not appear upon first listen.
Ronny J and Smokepurpp have formed a pretty impressive duo, regardless of what you think of the particular brand of hip-hop, with their grimy and dirty sounding music will leave a lasting impression.
“Phantom” is a swirling, chaotic, 2-minute long track with some of the wildest production you’ll hear.
Ronny J worked on most of Smokepurpp’s debut commercial mixtape Deadstar, a project filled with endless energy and potential and perhaps a prophetic glance at where hip-hop is headed in the future.
Ronny J’s work with Smokepurpp associate Lil Pump (of “Gucci Gang” fame) is similarly full of this intense potentiality, like the brief but simmering “Flex Like Ouu”.
It’s apparent from even a brief glimpse at Ronny J’s production credits that he has one of the more unique and out-there styles in contemporary hip-hop.
He told HotNewHipHop about his origins and getting into the rap game:
“I’ve kind of always been going to like the whole percussion side of music, more than the rapping and stuff like that, but, I do remember some time in middle school and throughout high school just like me and my boys, you know, wanted to be rappers. You know… like coming up with raps. And then coming up with different flows. I remember at one point I was in like a church choir too.”
But he has a different outlook than most producers who are content with staying in the shadows and making their beats for other people. Ronny J has released plenty of his own music and a mixtape OMG Ronny is said to be on the way. Ronny told HNHH about embracing the spotlight:
“I feel like I was always talented at coming up with melodies and stuff like that, so basically once I started producing, once I started getting some type of looks— I was getting looks but I felt like I still wasn’t getting publicity like I deserved— so I was like, ‘Yo fuck it.’ You know? I want to be on stage too. I don’t want to just be behind the scenes. Like I’m so much more than just like the beatmaker on a computer. I could touch like a lot of different areas, so then I started making my own shit and dropping it.”
On his new tape Ronny J will appear more as a rapper alongside artists he has worked with, like on “Thriller” with Ski Mask The Slump God.
On “Wanna”, a track that could easily stand alone on any current rap mixtape, Ronny J appears all by himself and it’s pretty effective, dude definitely has an ear for melody.
It’s clear that Ronny J draws from a broad set of influences, including dance and rock music, to create his own sound. He spoke to HNHH about touching many different genres:
“I consider myself being someone that can definitely touch almost any genre that I really want to put my mind to. I don’t want to just be rap, you know what I’m saying? I kind of want to just… like whatever comes out of me, that’s what I want to present in the best way possible.”
And that EDM influence? You’re not imagining it:
“Honestly I love going to raves. So that’s kind of how I got into the whole electronic, EDM, dubstep type shit. I just love the way it vibes because there’s no fights… stuff like that. So when it comes to Travis Barker, I just kind of like grew up playing like Tony Hawk games and shit like that and Blink-182 was always like… you know had some songs on the game and shit like that. And I grew up playing drums like I said, so, I always knew about Travis Barker.”
It’s ironic that a kid from Jersey has left such an intense imprint on the suddenly thriving South Florida rap game and Ronny J isn’t going anywhere anytime soon:
“Honestly bro, I’m from Jersey. I’m not from there so I don’t really know what they had going on down there before I got down there. But South Florida, bro, it’s great vibes. It’s sunny and beautiful all day every single day. What really attracted me down there was the beach and the lifestyle, the beautiful weather. That’s what really attracted me down there and I just kind of brought my talents down with me.”
South Florida, and the rap game at large, is lucky to have Ronny J’s talents. Look out for that solo tape OMG Ronny that should be dropping soon this year.
