This week, I did my damnedest to focus on and check out as many new artists as possible. Even if they aren’t “new” on the scene, they’re new to me, and probably to the rest of you as well. With that in mind, let’s get right to it and check out some of my favorite new tracks of the last week!
Mitch- Plugged In W/ Fumez The Engineer
Did I initially only listen to this because it’s an artist named Mitch? Yes. Was I extremely pleased that it ended up being fucking great? Also yes. Fumez and his Plugged In series have seriously been one of the best things about the entire scene as of late. Mitch raps over a more soulful instrumental before pivoting to something that can’t really be described as anything other than “hard as fuuuuuuuck.” He varies his flows, has funny and clever bars peppered all throughout his verses, and gives an incredibly entertaining performance.
I can also say that this is the first time I’ve ever heard someone compare the size of their bullets to a stick of lipstick. This is just overall fantastic.
Yargz- A12
Yargz is loud and brash, focusing on the energy rather than insanely complex rhymes or flow patterns. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. A12 is confrontational and in your face, which is pretty much everything you’d want from a solid ass drill track.
Tugz, KO and Jimmy- Bro Said
No new artists here, but still a great track. The fish eye lens is a bit much for the video. Even if it isn’t KO’s craziest verse ever, a “basic” verse from him sounds better than so many other drill artists. I swear, Jimmy’s gonna get his due one of these days. He never disappoints when he shows up on a song. The instrumental is madness too, with this eerie vocal sample repeating throughout.
FME- Unruly (Freestyle)
Everything I said about Yargz is amplified in this new FME track, with a much larger focus on quicker flows and punchlines. I love the instrumental here too, which feels like a modern drill beat with a bunch of more classic, somewhat glitchy grime-esque samples popping in and out constantly. He has a pretty wild, stop-you-in-your-tracks bar here as well: “What do you know about your opp screaming out ‘please my guy, you actually know me’.” It serves as a pretty grim reminder of just how incredibly intense and difficult this kind of lifestyle must be.
Handy, LK and Amz- Had To Retreat
Shoutout to SL for posting this one on his Instagram story. Admittedly, this is less polished than most of the other tracks here. However, even with some somewhat clunky bars/punchlines and the repetition of a few lines here and there, it’s hard not to hear the potential. It’s a little more low-fi and grimy, which goes hand in hand with what drill is generally about.
YF and Rayzer- LDN 2 LVP
OFB’s YF teams up with Liverpool’s Rayzer for a solid, solid track. I swear, someone needs to add up and give me a legitimate, accurate sum of all of the members in OFB. Every other day I’m hearing about someone new. A huge draw to this one here is clearly hearing the difference in Rayzer’s Liverpool accent as opposed to YF’s.
No Tourists- Dumbo
A little Canadian flavor for you. This is a little more experimental in terms of flows, cadences and overall instrumental. The constant repetition of “you’re a Dumbo, idiot,” throughout the verses from everyone here is funny and acts as a clever little through line. No Tourists definitely benefits from every rapper having a very distinct voice and flow, so every new performance feels like a pleasant surprise.
Ghetts and Giggs- Crud
Fucking Ghetts, man. He uses a million flows, sounds like 4 million different rappers at once, and the play on the Daily Duppy format with bars popping up on the screen. It’s all just insane. Even his “goo-goo ga-ga” bar ends up being hilarious and somehow hard at the same time, as I’m pretty sure it’s a little dig at that pedophile snitch 6ix9ine. Expect his new album, Conflict of Interest, to be covered here in full in the near(ish) future.
Yeah, I saw some comments here shitting on Giggs and his bars. They aren’t complex, and he continues to use his deliberate, breathy flow. But I can’t help but enjoy it almost every time. His bar about an opp getting hit 9 times, meaning he got “Curtised,” (like 50 Cent) is just rude as fuck, but that’s Giggs. The comments can suck 100 dicks- Giggs forever.
The Special “I’m a Dumbo Idiot and Forgot to Mention These Tracks When They First Dropped” Double Spliff Pack
wewantwraiths- Voices
wewantwraiths- Mad About Bars
Is there a better artist on this Wave…. wave right now? He’s the exemplification of the type of artists that I love: Someone who almost strictly sings, but isn’t exactly a technically great singer. His ability to express his pain and emotion through his voice, with a legitimately perfect amount of auto-tune, is damn near untouched right now. The world needs a full album from this man sometime soon. At least an EP. Or like one more song. Anything at all.