There’s been a lot of good stuff coming out of the US recently as the new guard of rap and hip hop artists have really begun picking up both steam and mainstream attention. These new artists come from a range of hard to define genres from ‘cloud rap’ to ‘swag-hop’, hence the title that sounds like a BBC4 documentary or the title of Newsnight segment. Although a Newsnight segment isn’t exactly beyond the realms of belief (I would advise anyone who hasn’t seen Odd Future’s appearance on the show to head to youtube A$AP).
Oldie is a song by the group Odd Future, and works as one of the best showcases of theircollective talent that they’ve released so far. Anyone with even a cursory interest in the genre will have heard of them, but the song demonstrates their different styles and even features a verse from Earl, who’s finally been freed from Samoa, and Frank Ocean forsaking his usual croon for a more aggressive rap, behind a beat that repeats through the song’s ten minutes.
Schoolboy Q, A$AP Rocky, SpaceGhostPurrp and Main Attrakionz are all derivatives of the ‘chopped and screwed’ style of rap which sees slowed down vocals mixed with woozy beats. There’s a lot of overlap between these artists, A$AP Rocky guests with Schoolboy Q and Theophilus London, on his rework of the classic ‘Big Spender’, while SpaceGhostPurrp has produced and guested on a number of A$AP Rocky’s songs. These songs have roots in the work of DJ Screw, who pioneered the screw music genre by slowing records and adding smooth cuts and slurred vocals to the mixes, before dying from an overdose of codeine caused from drinking cough syrup, a drug that is closely intertwined with the genre and the origin of the numerous references to ‘purple’, after the purple liquid.
Closer to the style of Odd Future, although his flow is a lot faster and possibly even more aggressive, is Joey Bada$$, who at only 17 has already released his first few tracks and has a mixtape, 1999, arriving imminently. A final inclusion is Mac Miller, who is relatively established with a Billboard Number One album under his belt, but this cut comes from his earlier mixtape K.I.D.S. which I personally think is much better than his album, which ditched a lot of what made him distinctive. The sun drenched video and the vibes from this song mean that, if the sun ever does come out, this song is a perfect soundtrack to a lazy afternoon in the park.
Tracklist: Oldie – Odd Future
Hands on the Wheel (feat. A$AP Rocky) – Schoolboy Q
Peso – A$AP Rocky
Survival Tactics – Joey BADA$$
No Evidence – SpaceGhostPurrp
Legion of Doom – Main Attrakionz
Big Spender (feat. A$AP Rocky) – Theophilus London
Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza – Mac Miller
Click here for the accompanying 8tracks playlist.
