Depthfinder #5 - Better Late Than Never

Reviewing what I was listening to in February

February was three months ago. I have been busy, but this is mostly late because I was lacking desire to do anything. While this is going to be a mixture of words I’ve written over the past three-ish months, it is all going to be focused on new music that came out in February 2025. The next post I will make will cover March and April - hoping to get that out in the next ten or so days. Once I am caught up, I’m going to slim these down and make them more frequent - part of the reason I stopped finding the time to do this is because I’ve made everything on this page thusfar a behemoth of a read. I've opted to omit blurbs for album singles which will be featured on the next installation of Depthfinder from this post, so stick around for the next one as well! Thank you for your patience and support as I figure out what the hell I am doing with these posts - I am always surprised to hear how many people actually not only read but enjoy these, and I hope it can be something you will enjoy further in the future.

This was a battle for me to complete - writing for this spanned like three months of stop and start work and may come across as jagged in the interim, but there will be better, clearer, more concise works in the future, and more consistently. Thank you for reading and I hope you find something cool.

Sunlight Zone

Ayesha Erotica - Condom: I almost included this in the Valentine’s Day rap roundup, but I decided it’s really in no way a rap song. Is it romantic? That’s up to you to decide - it’s raw and hilarious and one of the most shocking songs of the year, that’s for damn sure though. I’ve been listening to Ayesha Erotica for years, and she still finds new ways to jar me with raunch like none other.

BlocBoy JB – The Purple M&M 2: Every regional Hip-Hop sound has the potential to become oversaturated, and modern-day Memphis I feel is the most in the weeds in this regard. Memphis artists ranging from major-label stalwarts to upstarts with just a few hundred monthly listeners to their name fall into the pitfalls of the same flows, voices, lyrical themes, and beat selections. BlocBoy JB can be guilty of this, but he has a personality on display that is unmatched in the city. Writing him off as a draft bust after “Look Alive” failed to grant him a mainstream career (even if he did leave his mark on culture as a whole by ingraining the least space-efficient dance move of all time into the collective American mind) is wasteful, in my opinion, as he had exuberance before the Drake-assisted track dropped and he’s made bangers in wake of the song too. The Purple M&M 2 is a tape that’s a ton of fun – you can feel his Soulja Boy-like ability to promote dancing innately, be mindboggled by his in-your-face, off-the-wall personality, and understand how his knowledge of the Memphis rap scene has allowed him to find a pocket which draws from Southern rap greats while refusing to sacrifice himself being on full display. Probably one of the most unfairly dismissed rappers of the modern era; give this tape a shot, I doubt you’ll come away frowning.

Boldy James & Chuck Strangers - Token of Appreciation: There are two memorable moments on this album for me. One of them involves Boldy saying “sorry for the wait” to his fans - at this point, it would probably do him some justice if he did force his fans to wait a bit more. His most recent batch of projects have been largely worthless to me, although if he was apologizing for making me wait for a good album, Token of Appreciation was worth it. The Lil B diss, channeling the late Capital Steez, was the other moment - just a fun throwback to a mental state I occupied back in the day where I was convinced the Beast Coast rappers were the top of the game, a phase I think was so widespread the collective embarrassment of it all makes for a good connection point now. Chuck Strangers as a producer is the final Pro Era pillar that has yet to fall, however, and his beats not only platform that bar perfectly but this album as a whole.

DJ Arana & REI JULIAN - Eu Me Remexo Muito: This is absolutely not a Trojan Horse to get you to listen to a funk song by one of the style’s best artists who definitely just used AI to make his voice sound like King Julian.

Eem Triplin - Melody Of A Memory: I wrote of Eem Triplin before giving him a chance - his early hits such as “AWKWARD FREESTYLE” and “JUST FRIENDS ?” I wrote off as industry bait to a degree, and even Melody Of A Memory has some notes of Tyler, The Creator’s Flower Boy and Teezo Touchdown in it, two musical ideas I find to be amongst the least interesting within Hip-Hop as a whole, but his mode of executing similar ideas is much more personalized to his own experiences than I gave him credit for, and the overall breeziness of the album hits more like lighthearted Florida rap than the typical rap album a Guayaki-fueled indie kid would elect to purchase in colored vinyl. Eem Triplin’s dramatic songwriting can feel overwritten at times but never detracts from the project’s flotation - the same can be said about the impact of the flowery production and repetitive vocal melodies. Few artists have attempted to toe the line between modern underground rap styles and some of the alternative or “real-rap” focused acts of the late-2010s (I think Kenny Mason would be someone who also falls in this bucket), but Eem Triplin has been perhaps the sole artist who has produced a quality album attempting this sound. Clearly a creativity-driven individual, I look forward to how he chooses to evolve his sound in the future.

EST Gee & Bloodhound Q50 – Flash: I went into this thinking that this was a huge spot for Q50 to be in, but he’s nearly as big as EST Gee is at this point – shows what I know. Stylistically, these two artists make little sense together on a track, but producers JohnGottit and Moz should get a ton of credit for how they spun their flip of “Flashing Lights” to allow the strengths of both rappers to shine while hiding the innate lack of chemistry between the two and make a legitimate rap banger.

Fimiguerrero, TeeboFG & F1LTHY - It’s Cool: I haven’t gone as headfirst into UK Rap this year as I did in 2024, but usually Fimi and Teebo are able to scratch that itch if I ever just want to listen to a song or two. I’m surprised a little to see Fimi’s ascension has landed him in the most popular zone on this list (Teebo’s ascension would’ve put him in the second one, they’ve both absolutely exploded since I started following them), but he deserves the success. Over a raw and crunchy beat from F1LTHY, a producer I’m quite honestly not willing to quit despite the worthless slop he propagates outside of rap, both rappers shine in a way that is reminiscent of 2019 Working On Dying and Lancey Foux music but with distinct personality and an overall superior sound - this song just slaps, what’s new?

Ichiko Aoba - Luminescent Creatures: I’ve never gone crazy for Ichiko Aoba like many, probably because I don’t speak Japanese, but I’ve always found it easy to immerse myself in the raw beauty of the sound she conjures. Plenty is likely lost while translating her lyrics given the differences between Japanese and English and her acclaim as a songwriter, yet I don’t find knowing what she has to say here even that necessary on this album, which I’d describe as her best - everything happening on this album feels so methodical and full of organic wonder, it’s almost like the lyrics were never meant to be fully understood by anyone but Aoba herself and the sound of the album tells you all she really wanted you to know in the first place. The best songwriting-driven album I didn’t understand a word of.

jigitz - tell you straight: No clue who this artist is, but they have over 1.2 million monthly streamers on Spotify, and boy does it sound like it. It’s about as plastic as a pop EDM romantic club anthem can possibly sound, but I’m not going to deny myself from falling into the “mass” part of mass appeal when I actually can feel the bliss and euphoria the average North Loop resident does when the blandest of synths hit their eardrums. Side note: the song “you’ll come back”, which autoplayed for me after “tell you straight”, did exactly the same thing. Maybe it pays to be bland once in a blue moon.

Kodak Black - Cluck: Something about Kodak Black doing something akin to a Baby Keem impersonation in 2025 is hilarious to me, I used to love his music, and it’s been a long time since I’ve genuinely enjoyed his output. Something about this track got my most primal synapses firing, despite this cut being unabashedly obnoxious. Sometimes that uncanny ness just hits.

LaRussell & Hit-Boy – RENT PAID: A linkup between prolific independent rapper LaRussell and omnipresent producer Hit-Boy uses its nine tracks well – whether LaRussell is keen on making breezy West Coast bangers, spewing financial advice, bragging about turning label deals down, or letting one of the many featured artists take the spotlight, Hit-Boy’s production is utilized at a high level, and LaRussell continues to solidify himself as one of rap’s easiest artists to listen to.

Larry June, 2Chainz & The Alchemist - Generation & Jean Prouvé: Larry June, 2 Chainz, and The Alchemist have all been releasing underwhelming music for a bit now, and their collaborative effort Life Is Beautiful is mostly in line with that trend. These two songs made the album worthwhile though, with “Generation” serving as a smooth, lowkey banger and “Jean Prouvé” proving that Alc can still make some classic be

Lelo - Kudos: Lelo continues to rise, and I’m here for it. His Michigan rap take on modern American Underground Rap naturally lands on a sound that is reminiscent of Lucki but got there in a completely different way - no track of his exemplifies this quite like this one.

Machine Girl & Squarepusher - Ass2Mars (Remix): I was lukewarm on the newest Machine Girl project, but some of these new remixes have been hitting me a lot harder. Machine Girl was wise to allow the legendary Squarepusher to add his own breed of chaos to the track, and the end result makes me feel like Antonio Brown after Vontaze Burfict obliterated what was left of his brain back in the day.

Oscar Maydon, El Alfa & Victor Mendivil - BRUTA: Listen to this one standing up or this one will force you off your ass - breakneck, booming dembow spearheaded by a corridos artist is all I should need to pitch this track

OT7 Quanny - Paper: I never know when a Quanny single is a real drop, but this one made a Spotify-sponsored playlist, so I guess that’s good enough evidence for me. Nobody can scratch the itch Quanny does the way he does, and “Paper” is yet another brief song that features an ominous beat and tough, memorable raps that will make you overlook every aspect of the Philadelphia artist that goes against your morals (guilty as charged)

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory: I love when an artist known for their work as a solitary songwriter latches onto their band and makes a project that detaches from the idea that the band is there to support their songwriting, and this album is exactly that. Van Etten’s songwriting feels less personal and instead more universal without sacrificing quality, while the new wave-inspired instrumentation feels equally important; this is just a good album to melt away to.

Skrilla - Butter: Before releasing the deluxe version of Zombie Love Kensington Paradise, Skrilla dropped a three-pack of singles. My favorite was “Butter”, which somehow failed to make the deluxe despite the song easily being the most chilling of the three songs.

Tommy Richman - ACTIN UP: I remember last year, shit, not even eight months ago, y’all were rocking out with Tommy Richman despite his popularity. Sure, he’s acted annoying, sure, he’s dropped a lot of boofpack-caliber tunes, sure, he probably searches “Soulja Boy Type Beat” to find the base of this song, but this is for sure his third best song, and I have no issue with enjoying it. Sue me.

Tropa do Bruxo - Mansão do Mister Mago: Sometimes a catchy flute lick is all it takes, but the MCs on this track ensure that it’s used to its fullest potential. Ronaldinho knows something.

Westside Gunn - Outlander: One of the rare songs on 12 that doesn’t have Stove God Cooks stinking it up, this feels like a classic Gunn track - a beautiful lowkey beat, real shit talk, vivid imagery, and Gunn’s unique voice used to its fullest potential. There are plenty of solid tracks on 12, his best album since 10, but this is the crown jewel

Young Nudy - That’s Not Gangsta: I don’t know why I go into Nudy singles with low expectations like every time, but at the end of the day at least I’m not disappointed. This song got little attention for a Nudy song, and I question why - it’s so goddamn catchy yet not reliant on a prominent melody. That’s like the recipe for the perfect Nudy song

YTB Fatt & Rio da Yung Og - Ghetto Fox: Rio absolutely blessed Fatt with this guest verse, which probably shows Rio is a fan of the Arkansas rapper, as he was locked up during his entire ascent - they have great chemistry here: even if this feels like more of a Rio track, Fatt can match Rio’s energy to a T.

Yung Lean - Forever Yung: I love this song because it feels like multiple personas and eras of Yung Lean coalescing into a personal pop ballad that only he could make - might be a painful listen for some, but the more you listen, the catchier it gets and the more that it gets your heart feeling right.

Other Considerations:

DJ Blakes - Automotivo Místico 2

MC Rick, Mc Binn, Veiga no Beat & Mc Dricka - Ritmado 1.0

Mc Saci - Amor Anos 90

Vonoff1700 - Blind Side

Twilight Zone

2Sdxrt3all & Whyceg - Ceg3all: If you know anything about Dxrt3all, it is likely the barrage of adlibs after every bar, played back at times louder than the bar itself. While the adlibs are still present on Ceg3all, he not only makes sure they occur less frequently but oftentimes turns down the volume of them as well – I think this helps bring his raps, which have turned down the aggression and matured as a whole, more into the forefront of this album. Whyceg is a frequent collaborator of dxrt3all’s and made sure to carry his end of the project here, too. The synergy on display from the two ascending rappers accentuates the improvements both have made too – if you were writing off the Atlanta artist as just another loud voice in the city’s underground, consider this project homework.

AK Bandamont - Gametime Part 2.: Going to treat this album like a Look-n-Find for you to find the most baffling bar of the year thusfar. As a project as a whole, it definitely feels like a Bandamont album, but despite it not changing up the sound or flow, its one of the most consistent projects in his discography.

B6 – Run Still Legendary: Few releases in 2025 have as much replay value as this new tape from Atlanta’s B6. It brings back the feeling of classic Young Nudy while also featuring that aggression and darkness that makes the music of younger Atlanta trap artists cut so deep. I assume he’s generationally in between the two in age, both due to the sound and because he properly recognizes FaZe Clan for quickscoping as opposed to whatever the fuck those guys are doing nowadays. This dude’s lyrics are fluid and easy to learn – lots of wordplay but it rarely will attempt to go over your head. You can tell he’s proud of this aspect of music by the way he uses emphasis to accent his bars: usually I’d use ‘effortless’ as a positive note when talking about rap music like this, but this project is full effort, and it hits despite this. That emphasis element also adds a ton of bounce into his delivery, further making this tape difficult to ignore. One of my favorite Hip-Hop projects of the year so far – I feel like I’ve said this quite a few times this year already but I haven’t told a lie once yet in this regard.

Baby Mel - In Mel We Trust: Mel first appeared on my radar with 2024’s collaboration with Fat Macc, Control the Traffic, but his 2025 solo effort has a similarly electric impact. The way he strains his voice incredible, his beat selection is perfect for what he’s trying to accomplish and stands out without being forward-thinking, and his adlibbing and annunciation style hits like Sauce Walka. Check out “Dirt To Diamonds”, “Stressing Me Out”, and “Ms Jackson” if you’re not convinced the whole album is worth a listen. Once you’re finished and realized this is one of the best Southern rap albums to release thusfar in 2025, you might as well check out DJ Fetti Fee’s Florida Fastened version of the tape, too.

Baby Money & G.T. - Get Some Money: This is for sure my favorite track on the new Baby Money project, which is a solid tape but not one with a ton of replay value for me. Every time I listen to Baby Money, it just reminds me of my old coworker Ernest, who put me on the day after his song “Moncler Bubble” came out, as he purchased one the day after the song came out and went to a Babyface Ray concert for the sole purpose of seeing Baby Money as the opener. There were a lot of reasons to remember Ernest, but he always crosses my mind every time Baby Money pops up on a track - probably the most random person-to-artist connection I have.

Backxwash - 9th Heaven: Backxwash with a little religious delusion and grandiose displays of self while rapping her ass off in a way that makes most gritty artists feel soft? Sign me the fuck up.

Barretta - Catholic School: If I released this post in a timely manner, Barretta would’ve been in an entirely different tier - props to him for increasing his exposure tenfold in about two months. This is a modern UG rap track that features a more traditional approach to rap and flips a Tyler, the Creator song from that era where you actually sought out his music and keeps it true to that sound while also meshing with the zoomer rap I refuse to be too old for. It’s a hit in my book, and one of many Barretta songs that show why he’s exploded in such a short period of time. It’s April now, so I don’t care if this is early - his newer song “Hog” is great too - I feel like this is what The Tasteless hear when they listen to Kenny Mason.

Chicken P - LIT 4 EVER: You can tell how contemporaneous this writing is by this next reference, but an appearance on PlaqueBoyMax’s platform with Sexyy Red amongst others, one in which he correctly called out the Streaming Titan of Industry for trying to get him to rap on trash beats, has directed some ire at the Milwaukee rapper. Those commenting “who is this Chicken guy calling out PlaqueBoyMax trying to put him on” et cetera hopefully checked out LIT 4 EVER and found out, as this 20ish minute collection of songs is a versatile pure-fun effort, exploring regional tropes associated with Louisiana on some tracks and proving Pi’erre Bourne can still make a beat that’s worth a standout performance on your album. I’ve been hoping Chicken P would get some notoriety at some point, as his talent level exceeds that of someone should be regionally gatekept. This album exudes charisma, flexibility, and legitimate rap chops - hopefully some of the ignorant hate directed his way metamorphosized into some rap fans discovering one of the most talented artists out of the Midwest as a new favorite.

Cortisa Star - Misidentify: This song accomplishes making both being from Delaware and being misgendered sound hard as fuck - an impossible task executed to completion all while sounding like the song was recorded on the Plug-n-Play Wheel of Fortune game.

Dee Mula - Blow My High: If this is the first Dee Mula song you’ve heard, you’d never guess he was from Memphis. If you listen to the rest of the project expecting more Glo Gang idolatry, you’ll be sorely disappointed; “Still Thuggin” is an insane song in its own right, though.

Dj Daniel Neres, Dj Muriel Henrique & MC Saci - Empina Pros Mete Bala: One of my favorite funk bangers of the year, this track laces some late 2010s trap synth bells that sound straight out of Omnisphere over my favorite funk drum loop of the year thusfar. Typically, eletrofunk isn’t my favorite variation of the genre, but this track makes me want to dive into more.

DJ Anderson do Paraiso - Interesse: Ghastly reverse melodies and memorable MC performance over some thick bass from one of funk’s most obvious Warlocks. It’s a subtle song that punched me hard enough to induce amnesia, forcing me to run it back to take it in again. And again.

DJ MATHEUS HENRIQUE, Mc Noka, Mc Magrinho & Mc Th - Ela de quatro é o mundo: A great production from DJ MATHEUS HENRIQUE that blends the best of São Paolo and Belo Horizonte funk styles and features a great verse from Mc Magrinho, one of my favorite yellers in all of funk.

Doe Boy - HYPOCRITE: Doe Boy’s “We Belong Together” and 100% he’s best poppy track. Didn’t know he had this kind of catchy in him, I think this one will always be under the radar and likely be under appreciated but I see you Doe Boy

EBK Bckdoe - Six Dollars: Bckdoe’s project Trife God 3 is a fine project with plenty of solid NorCal bangers, but the best song is most certainly “Six Dollars” - if not due to the solid chemistry with KySteez and Wopdell, it is because of two particular adlibs: “Why you always riding with a stick? I’m not a hockey fan (WE DON’T PLAY HOCKEY)” and, what is just an absurd segue, “I feel like Martin Luther King I got a dream now (I GOT A DREAM) / Matter of fact I feel like Chris Brown (I CAN SING NOW)”. Note “I CAN SING NOW” is sung in off-key autotune and is the only instance of autotune occurring on the entire track.

Glokk40Spaz - Zodiac: I’m always here for what Glokk is releasing, but part of what makes this song pop hard to me is how it feels like something Mal & Quill would’ve released in 2018 but with modern flair to it - one of those songs that feels like the artist is featuring himself on the track

Joan Thiele - Joanita: I got accused of shoplifting while listening to this album, and while that shit pissed me off, the music here is such a breeze that I couldn’t have stayed mad for long. Some of the best pop music to be released in 2025.

Lil king - White Chalk: Chicago has a lot of young talents operating in many styles, but Lil king injects straight raps with melodic earworms better than any of them. His talent level is so high that when he makes a solid track I feel disappointed - a high bar, sure, but one he clearly exceeds on “White Chalk”, assisted by a crystal-clear beat from 905

Luhh Dyl – RIP Gang: While Luhh Dyl’s ascension is suspicious to me, I’m not going to sit and act like Intrude was a bad album. My favorite song was “RIP Gang”, which is moreso proof that this Jagged Edge sample is undefeated than anything – credit goes to Dyl for utilizing it on a level closer to NoCap and G40’s applications as opposed to, well, almost every New Yorker that’s ever flipped the track.

Maruja - Tír na nÓg: Most of the music that comes out of the British Isles given the label of “art rock” in the modern age is quite shit in my opinion. Outside of that one BCNR album (I’ve written this so far in the future that they’ve dropped a followup that is so bad I might start a hater column just to talk about it), Maruja has beared the burden of being the only band in the style that makes not only listenable, but amazing music. The chemistry as a band is unmatched, plus the forward-thinking musical elements blended with the traditional music ideas coalesce into some real off-the-grid prog that takes music that brings me back to some of the more rural areas of Ireland I was in (given the title of the album, I assume a Gaelic-speaking area such as Ireland, Scotland, or Cornwall was intrinsic to the making of this project, despite the band’s roots in Manchester), but adds additional soul via manic saxophone usage. Just a few songs long, this project covers a lot of ground and focuses on the transportive elements of musical composition and that raw, folksier side of British Art Rock that actually seems to provide value in a style of music that is too keen on fisting a keyboard chimpanzee-style.

Oh Pôlemico - Polly A Origem 1.0: If any artist is going to get me to listen to 70+ minutes of Pagodeiro, or “pagotrap”, as Oh Pôlemico describes his variation of the style, it’s the man himself. As expected from the Brazilian artist, many of these songs exceed 10 minutes in length, but the raw drumwork spliced within that trademark Funk belligerence makes for an unforgettable mental dancefloor that took my Western ass to a place it was never meant to go yet felt so welcome in. Shout out Brazil for finding infinite methods to make the most danceable music ever conceived.

Prince Swanny - Zero Tolerance: This new project from Trinidadian artist Prince Swanny does everything it needs to in order to smash that sound that uses Hip-Hop to accentuate the artist’s Caribbean roots in ways that remind of Loe Shimmy and ffawty. Oh wait, they’re both on this project too - their songs are some of the best on the album, as is the electric “Billy”

RXKNEPHEW - The Truth: Never let Neph find out you were outside waiting for an Uber. Since this track came out, the narrative surrounding this track has came and went, but upon revisiting this double-digit minute track from one of rap’s best-ever figures at making such tracks, I don’t even think you need to know who Slimesito is to have an opinion on his hairline now. Probably one of the funniest diss truth records I’ve ever heard, and although I do love Slimesito’s music, I cannot say in good faith that he has any worthy response to this track in his repertoire.

ST6 JodyBoof - FRIED & AC640 - Hey Switch: What’s that one Rio bar - I love hip-hop so much I bump the opps music? Something like that. I couldn’t tell you who made the better track here, but I can say I’m thankful I’m not involved in any DMV rap beef both for my personal wellbeing and so I can enjoy both of these vile singles.

Wifisfuneral - Somebody’s Watching Me: Wifisfuneral is attempting some sort of a resurgence right now, and I’ve enjoyed enough of his songs from the late 2010s to at least approach them with curiosity. While most of them can be shrugged off, this Rockwell-interpolating track executes its gimmick to perfection while capturing some of the style that made Wifisfuneral an artist worth following circa 2016.

Other Considerations:

DJ MAVICC, DJ Rafinha Dz7 & Dj chiquete - Sofre Amor De Pica

Drego & Beno - Recipe 3

Duwap Kaine - Milky Way

fakemink- Face to Face

Finesse2tymes - Crucifix

Heembeezy & Mozzy - Nice Guy

Leakionn & Lilwhitez - Rich YNs

meat computer - weirdo type beat

Midnight Zone

18 Days - I’ll Hold Your Hand Until the End of Time: This is the first of five albums released under the name 18 Days this year (note: I have not listened to the rest of them) by an artist I know primarily as TURQUOISEDEATH. While I haven’t found the break-oriented music of Se bueno and their other projects to hit me in any particular way, this album was quite a beautiful listen. The fleeting, dreamlike nature of the project’s atmosphere, courtesy of layers of digital synths that give each track a natural breathing motion, makes this album feel like a fantasy world conjured in a daydream. Nothing here feels rooted in reality nor does this album demand your attention or make itself seem essential in any way - in the best possible way, you can drift out of knowing you are even listening to this project. Once the album finished, despite not paying too close of attention to the actual music, there was an obvious difference in my perception of my surroundings - the ability of the ambience this project to feed my subconscious and ingrain itself into my present is what makes it special, and while the overall sound of this album is not something I’m particularly interested by, it still hit me in a way reminiscent of my favorite ambient or soundscape projects.

Antropoceno - Terra do Fogo: Antropoceno is the alias of a Brazilian artist more commonly known as sonhos tomam conta, but this creative venture finds itself in a different sonic territory, drawing from both black metal and samba. Never an artist to shy away from discussing social or political issues in their music, Antropoceno is an environmentalism-focused music project which aims to spark conversation about topics such as destruction of the environment, agrarian reform, and the destruction of Native lands. This metal-focused project is inspired by agriculture magnate-causes wildfires that occurred in 2024 which released toxic fumes across Brazil and donned said magnates vehicles to expand their territorial claims, displace Native people, and destroy more essential habitats and Indigenous homes in the name of profit. This collection of songs is emotional, fed up, factual and collectivist - none of these elements are skimped on and the goal of this music is worth buying into. I included Terra do Fogo here because it was the more impactful EP to me, but Sinecretismo, the companion to this project, is also worth a listen, especially if you are interested in the range that Antropoceno possesses musically and topically.

Brezzo - Impatient: Atlanta-based rapper Brezzo has been an interesting prospect to me for awhile, and this is his first good project as a whole. Where his past projects would often feel too one-note, Brezzo doesn’t sacrifice his signature smoothly mumbled flows yet diversifies the methodology of its execution. It’s easy to melt away in his flows whether the track is bass-heavy (“Worst Case”), Philly-style (“Real”), venturing into Thug-disciple territory (“Keed”), or just showing off Brezzo’s style at its rawest (“Heart Cold”)

Bulldog Eyes - New U: Bulldog Eyes usually makes solid lo-fi music, so this album being great is no surprise. Reading the notes on how the album was crafted and why made it hit much harder. Read it here.

DJ YAN DO FLAMENGO - Yan vs Yan: While Funk is one of my favorite genres in the world, artists from Flamengo remain a bit of a blindspot for me. Enter: DJ Yan, who comes forth with one of my favorite Funk projects of the year. Long and subtle droning sounds in the background may glue the songs on this album together, but they are quickly obscured by expansive bass and superimposed melodies composed of vibrating bells and plucks, with the commanding voices of various singers and MCs lost somewhere in the middle. While this project may be only 17 or so minutes in length, the sweat it induces leaves the feeling of a full night of debauchery.

Dody6 – DodyWorld DayShift & DodyWorld NightShift: Probably the best indicator of Kendrick Lamar as a solid tastemaker, save drawing influence from Drakeo the Ruler and Ralfy the Plug on recent material if that counts, is putting Dody6 on his newest album GNX, amongst other up-and-coming West Coast artists. Having enjoyed Dody’s music for a few years now, its interesting to see how new ears have reacted to his solo work – despite getting the cosign from one of music’s most infallible figures, the Kendrick Industrial Complex which plagues social media and music review sites has not been so kind. These two new projects present why these reactions are shortsighted in my opinion. NightShift oozes that rawness and grit which I love in regional-level Hip-Hop tapes, while DayShift bathes itself in Stinc Team influence, something he executes in a true-to-style yet true-to-self way both admirably and in a more entertaining way than Kendrick Lamar did. That aforementioned grit manifests in a Midwest-like manner as well – don’t tell me you can’t hear a little Sosa on “Dody Did It”, for example. The chemistry with the other West Coast rappers (plus Li Rye, who keeps showing up on random West Coast rap tapes and fits in like he was born and raised there) is elite here as well, and the lyrics found throughout these tapes provide a lot to hold on to, as they range from emotional to heartless, perhaps covering both ends of the spectrum on the same song. Don’t sleep on Dody6, especially if the only reason you have been is due to Kendrick Lamar’s fans shrugging off his music – this is regional rap music at a very high level.

DREAMTHUG, Percatric & westani - Perc30west: Sometimes it feels like a Percatric project is a rare treat, but really he drops tapes at a normal rate and the barrage of singles skews my perception. This DREAMTHUG-hosted, westani-produced 12-minute endeavor is no-skips and is a good example of Perc’s madman demeanor and technical approach translating well over a consistent production style and tracklist that flows well. This project reads in a way like one big track, and Perc’s nonstop delivery slows down time over west’s hypnotizing loops. If you thought Percatric was a singles artist, use this as argument one as to why you need to hear more projects from him.

Emph4sis & WorldJosi - Pass out: South Africans just feel the beat differently. Literally zero American rappers would float over that Emph4sis synth loop the way Josi does here. Incredible.

FACS - Wish Defense: I was in a bad mood when I listened to Wish Defense, which was perfect for the themes this raucous yes artful rock piece dwells on, most notably touching on themes like denying who you want to be access to the resources that will let yourself shine. A lot of new rock bores me with formulaic approaches, but the angle they built this short project on was refreshing.

Flukhunxkhos - Back From Hell: One of rap’s original enemies of spellcheck is free after being behind bars for a few years, and his first track back is likely not music to any lawyer’s or PO’s ears, but he’s back like he never left musically, making this track have almost a nostalgic tinge to it. Sometimes it is refreshing to hear that an artist hasn’t evolved while they’ve been away.

hurts worse - i hate everything on earth but you and you love everything on earth but me: The artist’s name and song’s title probably will give you insight as to how melodramatic this track is, and it pushes those boundaries in a basic enough way that makes me question if I even like the song sometimes, but lo-fi, agonized screams, chunky slowcore guitar, and a rural Midwest-tinged guitar solo followed by random MIDI jamming are just too easy for me to get down with.

J1 - Second To None: Fort Meyers, Florida isn’t exactly a rap haven (although there are more artists from the city than you’d likely expect), but J1 is the best of all of them in my opinion, as this is his second straight drop full of consistent Florida bangers. While the second half of this project is good, the first four songs have some of the best tracks in his entire catalog. Florida is a hotbed of talent right now, so it’s easy to gloss over some of the medium-sized artists in the talent pool, but J1 is one who isn’t worth skipping out on and can be someone who can elevate the Fort Meyers scene as a whole.

klein - thirteen sense: A sign of an amazing artist: the last two klein records were over 70 minutes long, and the most disappointing thing about this project to me was it was under 50. The whacked-out guitars that klein graced 2024’s marked with continue here, but paint less of a cityscape as it does a picture of a rock album mangled by kleins ability to decompose any tangible idea within her art. While you can always be in awe over how klein is capable of making art like this, it’s most impressive as a personalized listen in my opinion, as the visualizations that occur within the mind while digesting her albums as well as the thought paths you journey down during the listen are what truly makes her music special, and I encourage anyone who chooses to enter thirteen sense, or any other klein work for that matter, to pay attention to what goes on inside of you as much as what goes on inside the music itself.

lade - No Reason: lade and his large volume of singles are destined to appear in the “other consideration” sections of these lists regularly as I don’t have a ton to say about a lot of what he does other than “shit’s tough”, so I figured I’d give him some shine here, as “No Reason” rules. There is plenty of 2010s and Chicago flavor in lade’s style here, enunciating his melodies like Chief Keef at times over a beat that combines some sstepteam flavor with the spice that Plugg originals like StoopidXool would’ve picked fresh from Purity and Omnisphere back in 2018. While a lot of the ideas on this track are around a decade old, the manner in which they are applied together feels fresh in 2025.

Lil Lik - 3702 Sherry Dr: Rising Flint rapper Lil Lik has been on my radar due to a variety of singles that stand out due lyrics that range from slick to crass yet are always memorable. On this tape, he finds new ways to deliver memorable bars, such as detailing how his girl takes out his dick before blaming it on his pants and by using the phrase “chocolate wasted” in a way that didn’t even cross my mind as corny. This tape breezes by and I come away with a new favorite track after every listen, but throwing a few of your favorites in a Midwest rap playlist hits like garlic salt when shuffle sends them your way.

New Not Shameful & trust blinks. - Split: Sort of a lopsided effort, New Not Shameful killed their side of this split with trust blinks. The opening track, “only for a second”, covers so much ground in its five-minute runtime. I love the doubled-up vocals that range from slowcore-adjacent to post-hardcore cries of despair. The guitar tone can feel rural Midwestern, drowned out in harmonics, crudely distorted, or made of cheap plastic and still hit. I love these tracks as musical arrangements operating as elevators for moodiness and emotional musings as opposed to an outpouring of unfiltered feels which these songs could have instead precipitated. Everything about the New Not Shameful side of this split is well done and worth a listen if you enjoy emo music that doesn’t stick around for too long.

Nokia Angel - Stay Cold: Swiss rapper Nokia Angel keeps 2015-era suburban mid-smoker cloud rap alive on “Stay Cold”, floating over an icy flip of Tove Lo’s Habits (Stay High) sporting drum sounds straight from a pirated Lex Luger drumkit that Salem would’ve used on a Gucci Mane flip in 2012 and dragged-out black magic synth leads. The vocal quality Nokia Angel possesses lacks an obvious gender or national identity, adding additional mystique to the track as it passes through a glasslike autotune filter.

Marshall Allen - New Dawn: Debut solo album at 100 years should be enough, but all that time spent with Sun Ra and leading His Arkestra clearly amounted to something. Really beautiful album that I think is quite special and doesn’t hide the fact that it was spearheaded by a man in his triple digits.

Papo2oo4 & Subjxct 5 - WINNERTIME 2.0: I can talk forever about how down-to-earth and fun to be around these two are in real life, but the one night they were in Minneapolis two years ago is not just giving me bias in favor of their music, they’re just great at what they do. Pap’s flows are as smooth as ever, and that smoothness is aided by the descriptive nature of his lyricism. If you ever have the privilege of seeing Subjxct live or spending any time with him, you know he’s a producer in name only - one of the few of his kind who was probably actually meant to be a rapper but just was too good at making beats - dude can actually spit and with personality too. Being behind the boards is more than making the beats for him, and that energy matched with his craftsmanship is felt heavily on this project. The two might have the best chemistry in rap music right now, and this is coming from no place of bias; the music speaks for itself.

PKW AYT - (Just Click The Link): Yeah, I’m not exactly sure how to type the title of this track (and Spotify isn’t keen on allowing me to copy and paste), but you can’t argue that Thailand’s PKW AYT isn’t sliding here. I don’t know much about the music or language of Thailand at all, but the vocal quality he possesses here isn’t something I can really equate to other music I’ve heard.

Raisa K & Coby Sey - stay: It is usually lazy to say a song or artist reminds one of Dean Blunt, but this song possesses that dreariness and abstraction from reality in a way that reminds me of my favorite Dean Blunt songs. In other ways, this track is quite different from the works of Blunt - the guitar’s wash, the VHS tape-filtered dreaminess of Raisa K’s vocals paired with the rustic, mothlike flutter of Coby Sey’s gives this track a one-of-one liminal aesthetic relatable to catching a fleeting memory of an event that never occurred. Does that make sense?

Rx Yp - Bugatti: I don’t listen to Rx Yp often, and I honestly forget about him more often than I’d like to admit. That’s a mistake, and “Bugatti” is more proof of that. Somehow his flow on this track feels high-energy while the demeanor remains lowkey, yet neither feeling outshines the other, making the track feel like a flotation device.

Saapato & KMRU - Fading Form: A single off of Saapato’s newest release (which I have not yet listened to) sees the New York sound artist and the God of Texture KMRU join forces to create a heavily layered ambient track which feels like it goes on forever yet lasts only about three minutes. The temporal and spatial manipulation is incredible here, especially through a nice pair of headphones, and revisiting the track makes me confused as to how I haven’t explored Decomposition: Fox on a Highway yet.

5heriff & Warhol.ss - DEVIL’S SIGHT: I’m here for the Warhol resurgence; he was probably written off too quickly. Doing so with one of the best producers he was working with, the also written off early 5heriff, adds fuel to the fire.

SkinnyBoi CJ - I AM CRAIG: Craig is the only rapper who makes it difficult to tell if they root their music in comedy or not, even more than someone like YN Jay. While his earlier music hit that comedic note more blatantly, I AM CRAIG legitimately goes hard yet still is set on making you laugh with one-liners, goofy word choices, and self-depreciation. The vocal flexibility is also a nice touch, as is the beat selection, but at the end of the day, the fact of the matter is that nobody has been better at rapping about not getting laid.

Smokingskul - Smoke Carter 3: I love Smokingskul, and a lot of that has to do with the way he finds new ways to add aggression into his raps. The third Smoke Carter tape is perhaps his least aggressive in the series, but hits like it’s the most. It’s one of his strongest projects and needs to be reupped on streaming services expeditiously.

snoa - together: This is on pace to be my most played song of the year - the beat loops perfectly, snoa snares you with plenty of surprises of catchiness, the lyrics are a good time, and the track is the perfect length to run back over and over. This song can give someone from Leicester something to be happy about, and given the state of that football club, I think they could use it.

Taz Money - Cant Stop Thuggin: I mean this in a way that shouldn’t be taken as a slight to Taz Money at all, but this is the most normal rap album I’ve heard in a long time. It feels like the Floridian is rapping like he simply wants to without feeling raw or trendy. This tape is sixteen minutes of hard beats and flowstate raps that don’t necessarily require attention to enjoy them. One of the most ideal albums for like a gym warmup or short drive, this album also has no required continuity to it either, and all of the songs will make your rearview mirror blurry enough to end up as fun playlist entries. This feels like the kind of music you hope that Hip-Hop show opening act you’ve never heard of will play to set your night off on the right note.

The Real Meladee & Loe Shimmy - We Can Talk: Read more about the situations surrounding my initial listen to this track under the Pape and Chicken P song featured in this list’s next tier, but this is one of the smoothest tracks you’ll find here - Meladee and Shimmy, while not rapping over a particularly distinct beat in unique ways, just add some nice melody and inflection in the way they rap here. Meladee seems like she can’t be concerned with anything in her delivery (in a good way!), while we get a Loe Shimmy feature that showcases his singing ability and too-cool-to-care rap style, something that I'm always wanting to hear more of. Just a slick track.

Tse e2 - Out On Bond: Both Tse e2 and Tse Vic dropped new solo album this month, and e2’s was in my opinion vastly superior. Why? The effortlessness in his raps. While both artists have great energy, possess strong voices, can flow like butter, and hit these sample-based trap beats where the drums and the sample aren’t necessarily in alignment, e2’s lyrics feel like they come natural to him, while Vic almost feels like he’s overthinking them. You can even hear it on their collaborative track on this album. I don’t want to dunk on Vic, because he has plenty talent and I’m sure can level it up in the future, but this tape is just controlled chaotic trap sweetness that highlights the wave these two rappers are on as not only an original sound but one that needs to be tuned into.

Yung Mal - Order: At one point, I would’ve told you Mal was the future of rap music. While the cards didn’t necessarily fall in his favor and a stretch of less-impactful music followed, he’s sounding crisp again here. Nobody does this flow like he does, and the more I listen to it, the more I realize how many tried and failed to copy it. Maybe he just never should’ve been a mainstream prospect, but he’s certainly not someone who should’ve went by the wayside and has plenty left in the tank.

ZAYGUAPKID & CHRIST DILLINGER - KnowDrugs: “She suckin’ dick in 5G”. I don’t really know how to process this one but that lyric stuck with me for some reason.

Other Considerations:

Atl Smook - Chit Chat

Blood Estate - Do or Dare

DiorSantana - Glory To Jehovah

DREAMTHUG & LottoVerxetti - get clip (essence)

Eddie Valero - Make It Home

Emph4sis & LxngliveLA - MNANDI

ffawty - Cruisin in my Lane

Polo Youngin - Drowsy

TogoBoiTen - designer sht

The Abyss

4TheWinn – Winnito: I’m loving a lot of the newer West Coast artists in this tier of popularity, and 4TheWinn has forced himself into my rotation with this new tape, a no-skips affair that had me looking like a fool in the gym the way I was bouncing out between sets. The lyrics will make you mean mug but will catch you off guard with some goofy tricks such as Mordecai and Rigby references (not going to quote that bar for valid reasons but one of the funniest moments on the project) and random interjections of perfectly pronounced Spanish – this is one of my favorite rap tapes front-to-back of the year so far, and I’m not going to pick out a favorite track because I honestly don’t know what I’d select.

Amulets - Not Around But Through: I debated including this new released from Portland’s Amulets on this list as I couldn’t easily put words to my feelings surrounding this project, but it was too captivating not to include. It features music that leans into tropes of post rock, ambient, and film score, using analog recording methods to add some extra life into some drawn out, gloomy, and cinematic tracks that emit feelings of cold and crystallization. While nothing here was truly mindboggling, this album added some creative input to my inner monologue and allowed me to synthesize images in my head to it throughout my listen which helped calm me down while I was in an anxious state - I figure at the very least this project can bring you pleasure by painting an unexpected image in your head during your listen.

anarchy & ivvys1 - regenerated: Two years ago, young rapper anarchy showed up on the scene making some insane, blown-out rap music and received a bit of hate due to the sound and the way he looked, despite being significantly more interesting than the music of any other 12-year-old I’d ever heard. Now 14, anarchy is improving and an artist, evident on this new track with ivvys, who continues to prove himself as one of the best beatmakers of 2025.

Baby Geeze - Richer Than I Came In (Deluxe): I can write a whole essay on the different types of Deluxe releases and what they represent and how it influences the listening experience, but I will use this Baby Geeze project as an example for one of them. The original Richer Than I Came In is an EP-length project with mostly great Milwaukee trap tracks that lean into the sound of the greater Midwest rap atmosphere, something he does and has done well for quite some time. There are a few songs that don’t hit that hard, and given the length of the project, they stand out a bit. The Deluxe doubles the length of the project. If you listen to solely the new tracks as if it was a standalone EP, the feelings would be exactly the same. Put the two EPs together and something magic happens - the lesser tracks on either side become high-end filler at worst, and the elite tracks on either project suddenly double in quantity, keeping the momentum high throughout the listen and blowing you away with how many great tracks show up on this project. By the end of the listen, you don’t even feel like you’ve listened to a deluxe release - the length of the project is normal, and it runs track-to-track like a consistent album. Why was this not just one release? The two versions were released within a week of each other. The “deluxe” tag may not encourage a new listener to listen to all of the tracks at once or someone who listened to the first edition to take in the Deluxe in one swing. All of this is to say this double-EP style of deluxe tape makes absolutely no sense to me, but if its done in this method, the holistic listen of the deluxe has the potential to be special. I didn’t talk about the music at all here, but I encourage you to either listen to the original tape first and then the deluxe in its entirety to see if you have similar feelings as I did - at the end of the day, if you’re someone who reads these and comes away with new music you love, I know this is a project for you.

Big Yaya - POSTAL: I’ve been deep into YTB since I don’t know when at this point, and while Shawny Binladen was my point of entry (via a Lil Dude Snapchat story, if I remember correctly (p.s. their collaborative track which is somehow not on streaming services despite likely not containing a sample (wild) is one of the greatest drill songs of all time)), it is Big Yaya who gets me the most hyped nowadays. “POSTAL” is one of those sub-two minute rap tracks that wastes no time and has you running it back time after time. My favorite element of this track is how Yaya’s delivery alternates from a DMV-style overlap to intentionally spaced out phrases - it just gives this track a noteworthy bounce that varies plenty for such a short runtime.

Caal Vo - bink anthem: From Surf Gang collaborations to Hyperpop Daily meme fodder, Caal Vo’s rap career has exhibited plenty of entertainment value, but at the end of the day, I feel like his output isn’t taken seriously and it may be perceived as embarrassing to enjoy what he puts out. I say nonsense to that - he’s dropped good music and still puts out a solid single once in awhile - “bink anthem” isn’t the most special track you’ll ever hear but it trumps plenty of underground rap you see getting praised in 2025, for example anything Nine Vicious has ever touched.

DJ Fetti Fee & 50jittsteppa - The Biggest (Fast): 50jittsteppa should maybe consider just working with DJ Fetti Fee and release the Fast Music versions as standards - the style just levels his sound up so much. DJ Fetti Fee is a magician - most artists focused on adding speed as a remix element do it without truly adding to the music; here, he takes an aggressively standard Florida rap release and makes it stick. It is incredible that even the talk 50jittsteppa wants to talk feels more impactful after Fetti Fee has doused this record in his potion.

El Mafe - Jamaica Dembow 2.0: I’m not Dominican nor Jamaican so I’m not going to be the one to determine if this song was okay to make in the first place, but even if it wasn’t, you can’t tell me El Mafe isn’t going crazy delivering a flurry of words in a way only a Dembow artist could while leaning into the Jamaican accent, slang, and production influence. Cultural appropriation be damned the boy can make a banger.

Flym9neyc0untup - post oak station: This project from Columbus, Ohio’s Flym9neyc0untup is just stuffed with some raw Midwest rap bangers, but given Ohio’s regional ambiguity, his ability to add to the Midwest-focused sound with ideas from the South and Northeast allows him to stand out amongst other Midwest rap artists while also feeling organic. “DAMM”, for example, features a Michigan-like hard piano bounce but some woozy, narcotic synths that would feel at home on an Atlanta rap tape. “Sept. 30th pt. 2” doesn’t rely as heavily on vocal melodies as some pain rap songs, but the production and lyrical content make it a standout edition to the style’s increasingly saturated sound, while “Get It Done” has some Chicago or St. Louis flair to it. Despite the parallels to other regional sounds, Flym9neyc0untup never feels like an imitator or like one who is searching for his lane - this is all authentic regional rap gold that needs to be dug up by more listeners outside of the Buckeye State.

FreshDuzIt & Shadow Wizard Money Gang – BLOOD ON THE MONEY: I was baffled when I saw this pairing, but I knew when early reactions to this tape were negative, mostly asking why SWMG would work with this guy and criticizing how the Indianapolis rapper graces the mic, that this project would be good. Sure, the edgy SWMG tags have lost their shock value- driven humor at this point, which can make this project a bit annoying at times, but Fresh had me crashing my shopping cart into someone purchasing some sweet onions at the grocery store, distracting me with carefree raps over a variety of Midwest beats. It’s also good to see Shadow Wizard Money Gang prop up some legit underground regional talent as opposed to some of the artists they usually work with (the most obvious reason why the backlash was expected); even if these styles clash a bit, it gave me some reasons not to underestimate their taste.

imb kave - To do list: If you don’t like imb kave I don’t trust you. I’m not convinced his raps aren’t planted by the CIA simply to control my mind, body, and soul. Just listen and don’t ask questions.

Lil Sinn - Wow: Lil Sinn released a lot of songs in February, and they were expectedly enjoyable, full of personality, and oftentimes strange - if you’re a Lil Sinn fan, that should sound amazing to you. “Wow” was my favorite (although “Stay Up” was a noteworthy contender), largely due to the lowend Blueface flip that constitutes this track’s beat. In concept, that should be an ideal formula for an ideal Lil Sinn performance, yet the unorthodox yet catchy autotuned melodies, obvious bedroom recording quality, pure and raw rap talent, and bold yet strange personality Lil Sinn provides on this track exceeds all expectation.

LxngliveLA - 2 Steppin: South African rap is a gift, and it’s going to keep showing up every time I post one of these. “2 Steppin” was a song I first heard immediately after an 11-hour shift at work, autoplaying for me as soon as I plugged my phone into the car. Just when I thought I was fresh out of dopamine, LxngliveLA gave me a second wind.

Manny Fresh - Belt 2 Ass: Manny Fresh is a good Milwaukee rapper who I don’t listen to enough, which probably led to me missing his New Year’s Day drop when it first came out this year. Balancing raw, smooth, vibrant, nonchalant, and boisterous, Manny Fresh’s effortless style hits home on tracks such as “In This M’f” with Larry Bird, the best solo cut on the project “One Call”, and the steel drum-backed, Money Mont-assisted “Gettin Rackz”.

Mike Mike - Bad Habits / Switchin Up / Sorry Mom: The rapper I call Milwaukee’s Young Dolph dropped a boatload of singles and a new full-length tape worth listening to in February. He is naturally hilarious, will speak his mind with full confidence, and is capable of getting emotional over a wide range of beats. I don’t have a ton other to say about his output here, it is just always a good experience listening to his music. “Sorry Mom” has some of the best cover art of the year though, and that’s not open for debate.

Pape & Chicken P - Paper Chasin: Picture this - it’s like 20 degrees outside and I’ve left my car at a friend’s house, a smart decision after celebrating their birthday thoroughly the night before, and my cat has woken me up by screaming in my face at about 7:45 AM on a Saturday morning. Now wide awake, much to my chagrin, I decide it would be wise to take my Vyvanse and walk over to grab my car. On my way over, an unleashed cane corso runs out of its yard, upset I would even choose to utilize the sidewalk on its side of the street. This dog is huge and hauling, and I am honestly terrified. Thankfull, a distracted Chevy Silverado driver nearly hits both me and the dog, causing it to retreat from the middle of the street as it was closing in on me. Although my heart was racing due to the coffee I had just pounded, the alcohol consumed the night before, the angry dog, and the near-miss with the pickup, this Pape and Chicken P song was blaring in my headphones at that moment, and that extra adrenaline spike maybe made it hit even harder for me. Even if that scenario never occurred, both Milwaukee artists slaughter their spots on this track, and the beat feels like something I’d play if I was training for a boxing match - perhaps if that moment wasn’t the first time I’d have heard the track it would be equally memorable.

Pissgrave - Malignant Worthlessness: Pissgrave’s first album since 2019’s Posthumous Humiliation completes a trilogy of crude, grime-stained, disheveled death metal records from the Philadelphia-based band, and the wait was worth it if you’re one who enjoys the genre at its least sanitary and most visceral. One of those albums that is likable but not fun, Pissgrave makes sure to throttle you with squealing vocals, intense grooves, and an overall brutal atmosphere that reeks like a corpse discovered in a septic tank, decomposed beyond identification.

Plutoe & Sada Baby – Duck Duck Goose: This track is hilarious for no reason. Plutoe breaks it in with these Milwaukee-style vocal flairs, which should set up Sada Baby nicely for his verse, but he comes in rapping like a pirate. It’s not a high-chemistry affair, but I think the incongruence of the two strange delivery styles makes this song more absurd and more entertaining than it otherwise would’ve been.

Rafiq Bhatia & Chris Pattishall - Each Dream, A Melting Door: Bhatia and Pattishal’s collaborative EP is instrumental art that takes the form of marble – the texture is smooth but the depth is added through the patterns found within. They create a dreamlike atmosphere that feels close enough to reality to make you question whether you are awake or asleep without venturing into the abstract enough to make you question if this is a work of fine art or not. This is slow music that goes by like a breeze, functioning as a quasi mind-altering supplement in the way Lion’s Mane or Ashwaghanda does. At the end of the day, you can throw on this project and entertain it at a variety of depths and at different degrees of focus and still find ways to appreciate it.

Selvnatt – Empty Life: While “one man black metal project from Ukraine” may evoke feelings of “how many of these can possibly exist?”, there is no reason to write of Selvnatt’s new EP as dime-a-dozen: the atmospheric elements, from conjured vocals to fuzzy guitars to blasting drums to adrift keys, all coalesce in a way that fully enveloped me, shining brighter than most black metal projects do. If that’s not what you want, go listen to Mayhem or something, I’m not here for those who complain about the new school of black metal at this point.

SEXCORP. & MAKHNO - INSACÍAVEL: MAKHNO is a cool person to me as they’re the only Brazilian artist who reached out to me thanking them for positively reviewing their album CAOS, baffled by the fact their music made it to Minnesota of all places. They contribute to my favorite song on this new SEXCORP. album, which is as expected a nocturnal, slimy electronic dance smash which takes the funk backbone to an almost indistinguishable place.

ShyBelligerent - Condescending Remarks: He’s not shy, but he is belligerent: this new EP from one of Los Angeles’s most underrated newcomers will have you spitting out your coffee with his lyrics on Condescending Remarks, seasoned well by his unhinged vocal style and flows that fall so off the beat that they hop back on it naturally. Truly a technician, comedian, and crowd raiser all in one package, definitely not an artist that should be flying under your radar.

squillo & Mel V – TF I LOOK LIKE: A bludgeoning linkup between two of SoundCloud’s most prominent yellers, their styles differ enough to keep this track engaging while their ethos is similar enough to keep it fluid despite the jagged flows and overloaded bass channel.

thanks god - DYSFWM?: Pretty sure I just wrote “???” for one of thanks god’s previous releases, and it is easy to leave this music at just that, but the confusion this music induces is not because it is difficult to explain or comprehend but because it feels like it shouldn’t be as foreign of a sound as it is. This track is a digitalized pop banger with some almost punk-adjacent drumming and vocal deliveries. Everything is obscured behind harshly composed yet soothing blankets of noise and android-timbred vocal effects. The design of this song is very human, yet the presentation of the track evokes that uncanny feeling you get when you see a gibbon and recognize their similarities to humans.

Tre Pierre, CHASETHEMONEY & Lex Luger - Bartier P 2: This tape was my introduction to New Orleans rapper Tre Pierre, an artist who is a big enough deal to have his entire tape produced by CHASETHEMONEY and Lex Luger. The sound of this album feels like a relic of what was popular from 2016-2018 as rap music expanded its reach and became the most popular genre in the United States. While this sound is still prevalent in the modern day, this is one of the few examples I can find that preserves regional rap rawness and possesses classic Southern bounce flavors. While the record is not perfect nor will be one I return to on a regular basis, it is a lot of fun to listen to and deserves a spot in this list if not for the random producer linkup supporting this project.

Told Not To Worry - Hands In The Air!: This album is 8 tracks and 10 minutes of unrelenting sass and violence, something the Rhode Island punk group makes sure is a memorable experience that holds no punches throughout its brief lifespan. Some of my favorite tracks were the tonesetting “Tonight, We Die In Battle…” and “Our Time Will Come”, but this album is best enjoyed as a complete listen due to the fact that it hits like a flashbang.

username - epiphanies: username has taken to Twitter recently claiming the end of his time as a footwork artist is nearing, and if that is in fact the case, there is no reason to assume his next adventure won’t be equally as exhilarating. A genre typically rooted in tradition and one full of artists wanting to distance their sound from Hip-Hop, R&B, and other Black dance music styles, username flips those narratives on their heads, incorporating a wide reach of techniques found throughout electronic and dance styles, often masterfully chopping up raps and vocal melodies with fine precision in order to give them new life. All of this expectedly appears on epiphanies, which is one of the best of username’s projects, if not the best. Some tracks, such as “net30”, flow more like inventive remixes, keeping the essence of the original tracks in touch while using new melodies and rhythms to give them a new life. Others, like “grip”, do more abstract the source material from its original form, using the chops as instruments to play out a track with an entirely original flavor. Either way, the songs on this project all hit and add a username-exclusive flair to footwork as a sound.

weed420 - amor de encava: The Venezuelan collagists collaboratively known as weed420 showed up on my radar with 2024’s malandreo conceptual, one of the year’s best albums and one of the most exciting and enthralling mixes of sounds I’ve ever heard. amor de encava takes malandreo conceptual’s momentum keeps the energy high. Blending elements of sound collage, reggaeton, digital rap, lo-fi electronic, salsa, and more, weed420 seeks to take you on a train ride through Venezuela on this album, constantly barraging you with moments ranging from deeply emotional to pure cacophony, sometimes all at once. Everything about this album feels familiar, welcoming, and homey, yet it cannot be overstated how contemporaneous and present this project sits as a whole. “La Guerra De Los Sexos” is a raucous, lo-fi gut-punch that treads between emotional dwelling and dancefloor derealization. “MALUCA” has that timewarping effect akin to what makes the music of fellow South American cut-and-paste master Chiquimamani-Condori’s music so special, although in a completely different manner. This track brings reggaeton and salsa into the fold, flipping Daddy Yankee’s “Llamado de Emergencia”, a ridiculous and incredibly sticky banger that has stuck with me since the dawn of my Spanish-speaking days, in a way I never conceived could’ve been done. This is a truly amazing album that I’m certain will end up as one of the top five-ish releases of the year for me.

Other Considerations:

6thaveyoungin, Wayz2grind & Bullymoney - Torch Season

Amour Neveah - money bih

Cashjunko - Iraq

Drocetti - erased

ivvys1 - bikini

KalumP & Fpliltay - Blitz

Kli9se, Ruben Slikk & Kirb La Goop - Dawgfood

LeekOnnaComeUp - Used to Be

MT TWINS - Vent 2 U

Sanfaneto & bigaj! - Man of the Minute

Sunny Amaya & 10kdunkin - Still Triple Kross

xxhang - Ot

The Trenches

$outKay - The motto: Kay is an excellent South African Underground rapper who doesn’t get nearly enough love - while the pink Sprite in front of a TV displaying Future’s “Codeine Crazy” may induce an eyeroll, the Milwaukee-style off-key autotune paired with the splashy, opium-induced South African trap-meets-jerk beat just meshes so well, making the song a SoundCloud gem in my eyes.

414bankroll - Business Man: Listening to this track, it was evident that Bankroll is inspired by Milwaukee rap, but his voice didn’t quite match - it had some Southern quality to it as well, which sort of fused with the Midwest aspects of his music to make it hit in an almost Chicago-esque way. Turns out 414bankroll was born in Milwaukee and moved to Mississippi at 13 - he’s more active there and is seemingly a prolific live performer in the area, even having opened for Boosie. He’s definitely more talented than his 2 monthly listeners on Spotify suggest, and the way he uses his Milwaukee roots to influence his Southern rap music works seamlessly.

45Duda - All Green: Milwaukee rappers with names starting with the number four continue to produce bangers. Duda’s secret weapon is enunciation – the way he stresses certain syllables, especially on the track’s hook, glued the lyrics and cadence of the song in my head. All that just to say “this track bangs.”

Breezo Real Trapper - Trapped In Carolina: Most of the rap upstarts coming out of the Carolinas, at least to my knowledge, are younger artists making a more internet-oriented underground rap sound - OsamaSon and prettifun are two artists that come to mind here. Breezo Real Trapper is much a much more traditional Southern rap artist, and his style is one that could easily warrant a hit down the road. “Feel Like” is essentially already one to me, featuring one of the catchiest Southern rap hooks of the year and showcasing Breezo’s ability to amplify an already bouncy beat with bouncy delivery. The opening track, “Lifers”, which features Arkansas’ YTB Fatt, is more of a straightforward rap banger, but one that shows that, despite the poop bars from both emcees, he can hang with more established artists, select hard beats that fit with his sound well, and ensure the Southern reality of the Carolinas won’t be lost in the sound of the region’s rap music. I would say if you enjoy modern Texas rap, this is probably going to be a hit for you.

D4 - Fire Purse: “Keep the pancakes we drinkin’ all the syrup”

EndleskiCali & bigaj! - On me: I still have no doubts about my stance that the South African Underground vastly trumps the United States’ output. I hope every rapper in the scene has bigaj! on speed dial if they need a feature - he is quickly becoming one of my favorite collaborators from the country. Lyrics like “tryna get rich like Elon” would cause me to roll my eyes if an American spit them - a Black South African though… hits a bit different now

Fb Teka, Hoesmacker & Chicken P - Quaker Oats: I promise I’m not just going to feature every song with a Chicken P feature here, but he doesn’t really give me much of a choice. Thankfully, neither do Teka and Hoesmacker (crazy name) here either - an absolute three-headed-monster of a Milwaukee rap track

Glenny8 - WHATS YOPPIN: This EP is 7 minutes of prime Detroit underground rap - the title track with The Big Homie will induce a deadlift PR, “DREAMS & NIGHTMARES” belongs on Martavis Bryant’s instagram story, and the rest of the EP does nothing to slow down the experience. Probably the highest quality Detroit rap EP when weighted for amount of people who’ve actually listened to it.

GrindHard Luh Bj - R&BJ: Unfortunately, I missed GrindHard Lul BJ’s four-track EP for the Valentine’s rap roundup, but the East Arlington, Texas artist deserved a spot on that list for this EP. While he definitely raps about sex and flips some more romantic tracks, he’s never overly graphic on this project and he prioritizes song quality opposed to unabashed horniness, making it a much more enjoyable listen than most of what appeared on the Valentine’s Day edition of this series. I think that project gave me some emotional scarring and is part of the reason why it took me so long to give that list its successor - perhaps stumbling upon this EP earlier would’ve eased that a bit. Also, I’m surprised I even listened to a 2025 V-Day rap project after posting that too, so the fact that this even hit a little bit is a testament to it being a solid project.

juggboigio - Avocados on my Tacos: Generally speaking, Big Sad 1900 is a bright spot in West Coast Hip-Hop, but if I had one critique, it would be that his beat selection can trend on the blander side. Enter producer juggboigio, who remixes Big Sad’s “Midnights in LA” and gives it some legitimate pop. Such a banger - hopefully he hears this track and Gio can send him some beats or something, because this is straight up evidence that the pairing was meant to be.

Lil Bo 954 - BOBE BRYANT: I still don’t know how this guy hasn’t taken off, like, at all. Why? How? I don’t get it. No excuse for everyone to be this ignorant in my opinion. This track is a banger, but he’s definitely an artist who excels most when making projects - give his discography a look.

LuhCBBGM & AZN Tae - Trappin Every Night: One morning I woke up more hungover than I expected to at 6:58 am on a Sunday and wanted to get some coffee but was disappointed to find I needed to hit Holiday before that would be possible, as I kindly left myself 3 miles worth of gas in my tank. While I was in an awful. mood and feeling not great, this song somehow brought me back to life and motivated me to fill my tank, even if that afterglow lasted just 15 minutes I have this song to thank for getting me through that particular inconvenience

Luhh Queso - Pills And Pounds: One of the brightest Milwaukee rap tapes of the year so far for me - Queso feels way too refined for someone who is obviously a raw artist and can make grimy lyrical topics feel bright. “Yings Off Da Smoke” feels like smoking weed in 2014, “Guap” hits those flows that make Chicken P and MarijuanaXO hit so hard, and “On The Same Shit” has and Lbf Jay feature verse that convinced me not to hang myself in the bathroom stall at work. Do yourself a favor and view the 16 monthly listeners on Spotify as a number that needs to go up as opposed to a number that’s low for good reasons.

Oni - Uncouth: South African rapper Oni has only been rapping since 2023 but feels more refined than many of his peers - I love the cold melodic delivery on here spliced between the frenetic hats and cybernetic bassline, it really brings back that feeling Uno and Fauni created back in the day while also adding a tasteful amount of Travis Scott seasoning to the mix

RRB Cheese, SME TaxFree & Chicken P - Tag Team Match: Milwaukee’s RRB Cheese has dropped a nice spread of singles this year already, and I listened to all of them in sequence on a walk during a warmer day this February. While many of them were strong cuts, “Tag Team Match” was the standout to me. While it may seem like a copout to highlight the one featuring two of Milwaukee’s most prominent rappers in Tax and Chicken P, I can’t deny that the chemistry here is incredible. SME TaxFree and Chicken P collaborations in the past haven’t hit for me as hard as I expected them to, but it seems like Cheese is the secret ingredient when it comes to getting their sounds to jell.

Sg Kingpin - Bendin Back: Milwaukee’s Sg Kingpin continues his run of almost experimental or deconstructed takes on fusing the euphoria of club music and zaniness of lowend. If you like to comment on the quality of mixing when it comes to underground rap music, you likely shouldn’t be this far down on these lists to begin with, but “mixing” rawness and creativity in music is something you love as I do, this is a track that should release some dopamine for you.

Tenebroso – Do Abismo Para Morte…: Black Metal EP from Brazil repping the anglerfish?? Sign me up. While this project may further the agenda claiming the Anglerfish as a harbinger of doom and gloom, something that is UNDOUBTEDLY FALSE, the music here, especially the hazy guitar work, more than makes up for it.

vlm2009 - Worldwide (Remix): vlm is a collective that contains artists such as Lil Shine, Yung Frendi, lebxanon and moncler3k, all artists I enjoy more than my age really should allow me to but their approach to PluggnB emphasizes that “nB” part of the sound in the poppiest possible way, which I enjoy quite a bit. I was completely unaware of the vlm2009 project, which to my knowledge just has two Big Time Rush remixes / covers. This one goes apeshit, I’m fully prepared to explain myself when this appears in my Spotify Wrapped come December.

Wasted.rsa - Umpokoqo: 100% the most tapped in I’ve ever felt when it comes to South African underground rap, Umpokoqo features a ton of artists who are way too talented for their exposure level even in their homeland obliterate some fairly barebones beats for the genre with immaculate smoothness in multiple languages. For such a language-diverse nation, it’s cool to see so many in action here, sometimes weaving in and out of each other effortlessly. Way too much talent for one album that under 40 people have bumped on Spotify.

Wayne Glenski, 8x8 Bocci & Raq baby - POPPIN OUT: Wayne Glenski and 8x8 Bocci absolutely snapped on this beat, one I consider one of the hardest of the year that doesn’t do anything to suggest any grand developments in beatmaking had to occur in order for it to see the light of day. Raq baby clearly understood this too, as his verse on this track keeps the energy on 10 from start to finish.

Ybg Kj - I’m Back: This 45-minute Milwaukee rap tape from Ybg Kj, who sports a whopping 11 monthly listeners on Spotify, is loads of fun but not for the faint of heart. Hip-Hop is at its best, in my opinion, as a collaborative art, and this album does not disappoint in that regard - at least 15 different voices appear on this tape. This is also a great exploration of the phenomenon known as Milwaukee Microphone Quality - it is easy to see that every artist that appears on this track used a different microphone and has their vocals mixed in a unique manner. While that might be the bane of an audiophile’s existence, those who appreciate Milwaukee rap or raw, underground rap at its least adulterated should enjoy this tape thoroughly. There is this sound effect, however, that legitimately made me pull over because I thought I ran over a cat with my car. I had a good laugh about it after the panic subsided, but maybe your first run of this project should be in the comfort of your own home.

Yk Das Dee & Drakko Nol - Was A Promise 2: Das Dee has been making some of Milwaukee’s stickiest tracks lately, releasing these at a high clip. Sampling pop songs can sometimes come across as blasé in underground rap’s current landscape, but the duo makes the Billie Eilish sample feel more like a natural element of the song as opposed to a vehicle for clicks.

Other Considerations:

45robb & Pablo turntt - State to state

633jay - Cmon

Ballhard Mook - Havana Leaf

Biro64th & EBESAVO - It’s Us

KezzBo & Apfrm216 - Bailing Out Da V

Kxngsxl & BRISTACKZ - Beat the beat

Liccy & Yandrel - Eu não converso com vadias!

PLUS JUAN & DaeMoney - know ima problem

Swankbo - X Games

ThatGuyEli - Something For Later

Taye PPG - Cali Vibes Pt2

Trapboy Mil - All star