Art via Evan Solano
Milwaukee is roughly 90 miles north of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan. The classic industrial city was once famous for being home to major breweries including Miller, Pabst, Schlitz, and more. Over the course of the Great Migration and the World Wars, these breweries and the cityâs other factories came to employ and sustain a prominent Black minority. Aside from factory work, music was one of the only viable professions available to Black people in Milwaukee in the early 20th century, and barroom dancehalls were among the only integrated or Black-friendly spaces even into the mid-century.
In the decades since the industrial boom in MKE, plenty of factories have shuttered, but what remained was a rich arts and music culture that still thrives in the city today, along with a rambunctious car culture and an abundance of fantastic bars. This mix of booze and joyriding has become the bedrock of a new generation of Milwaukee hip-hop.
Milwaukee has produced standout rappers for years. In the 00s, there was occasional breakout hits by the likes of Coo Coo Cal, CNS, and Ray Nitti. But by early 2020, a cluster of skilled rappers including Chicken P, MarijuanaXO, and Big Wan began developing a lyrical sensibility comparable to those then flourishing in Detroit and Oakland. Meanwhile, artists like Bankhead and Munch Lauren began experimenting with a style of beat defined by a clap on every downbeat or eighth note. This style loosely resembles New Orleans bounce music, except the rappers and producers in Milwaukee use this little percussion wrinkle to create motion that is hypnotic as well as danceable, a zone locals sometimes describe as being âin mode.â
At the onset of the pandemic, a guerilla army of teens were primed to pick up on this style, combining it with heavy bass and lyrics about boosting cars and joyriding, and collectively creating âlow endâ rap, a subgenre which may yet prove to be Milwaukeeâs most important contribution to the history of hip hop in general.
Weâve compiled a selection of the best this new generation of Milwaukee rappers has to offerâthe pinnacle of the new decade of MKE hip-hop. Enjoy. â Ezra Olson
The pandemic opened many opportunities for creative experimentation, and also for getting up to no good. I think itâs safe to say that kids in Milwaukee invented being KIA Boys, and if that sounds like a silly claim just search for KIA Boys on YouTube and see how long it takes before you run into something pinned to Milwaukee. Unfortunately weâve lost some of the best videos because the original 414HypeHouse page was shut downâso youâll probably run into the standard-issue white boy YouTuber Tommy Gâs special instead.
Anyway KIA boys are kids who steal KIAs and other cheap cars, pretty much just to joyride, because it is (or was) super easy, particularly throughout the pandemic years. Low end is the musical accompaniment to this experience. Claps, bass, and a bunch of kids free styling in a stolen car.
Anyone who drives in Milwaukee knows that our insane and often criminal car culture is not just an internet phenomenon. People drive crazy here. Thatâs just facts.
This song is about that, and also about shaking ass and tricking out of stolen cars (cw: it gets pretty crass). These rappers have continued to make good tracks, but this is kind of a standout posse cut that uniquely captures the sense of collectivity that can emerge among a bunch of kids doing something crazy together. Lightning in a bottle.
Certified Trapper was the first breakout star of the ânewâ Milwaukee rap era. A rapper-producer-videographer triple threat, he picked up the low end claps and made them his own, such that with just a little listening you can distinguish his beats from others in the genre. âEach Smackâ is a relatively early, stripped-back, archetypal Certified Trapper slapper.
âFuck bitch boy, bitch, you donât really want it.â
Other CT hits: âChemone pt. 1â and âChemone pt. 2,â âBeat Da Koto Naiâ
I went to a Certified show in California a couple years ago and he invited me on stage cuz I was the only one doing the special Milwaukee dances (we have special dances that you can learn easily on TikTok).
Myaap is a superstar and a leading crossover low end artist. She came up rapping into tin cans over gritty DIY beats. âFairyâ is a relatively recent and polished hit, itâs beautiful, Justin Bieber even danced around to it; itâs got a viral dance you can do if youâre a fairy (complementary). âOn my daddy, this shit smackinâŠâ
Other Myaay hits: âHTS (hit that shit),â âOn My Daddyâ (BEAUTIFUL)
AyooLii might be my favorite rapper (I always say âmight beâ because favorites are a bad idea in artâbut I really think the world of this guy). Heâs been quite prolificâparticularly before he signed to Roc Nation; he produces a lot of his own work but has a great ear and has worked with many of the best producers in the city. ThatGuyEli is an important producer who tapped into the low end sound after learning about it from kids he was teaching, and went on to make a series of hits with Ayoolii and others. âShmackin Townâ isnât my favorite Ayoolii song, but itâs a blast, and it also shows off how simple the technique of low-end-ifying an existing tune or sample can be: loop it, add some bass and claps.
Other AyooLii hits: too many to name, but âAll My Life,â âPhones Down,â âRollin Loud,â âHexâ w/ Tombo (Tombo is also super important and a personal favorite, does major work with a production team called In-House whose other members are MKE Neely and Tommy Electra, both of whom are also great and produced and mixed âHexâ).
AyooLii also works with a group called the Chicken Boyz including his younger brother Maz G. They are amazing. See this excellent mix of Chicken Boyz work produced by Ayoolii, mixed by Crimedawgbylaw.
J.P. is just a fucking star, man. Heâs a real singer, a trained vocalist, and he sounds like a one man barbershop quartet, only better. âBad Bittyâ is a monster tune and a huge hit. To echo a comment from John Chiavarina, when you hear it youâll be like âoh I know this, itâs a classicââexcept youâve never heard anything quite like it.
More J.P.: see the album Coming Out Party (heâs a very swaggy bi guy and for better or worse it was a little bit of a thing).
This is perhaps the most emotional track on this list, made all the more poignant by the fact that the artist RealStasher50k has spent most of the time since its release locked upâa development anticipated by the song itself: âTold bae Iâll be gone for a whiiiile / showed her how to shake them blenders how to knock them spinners down.â Contemplative, charismatic, vulnerable, Stasher reveals the heart of a creative and ambitious young man facing a truly perilous, often tragic path through life in the city: âThis my life I really live, nâa ainât no in and outs / I was fourteen nâa I gotta kicked out momma house / it was me and dude sleeping in them stolies behind [howsin??]âŠâ
More Realstasher50k: âPerfect Timing,â âThrew the Dayâ (w/Lil Trav and BabyD)
Lil Sinn needs to drop a proper project. Heâs a killer rapper with a brilliant, sharp personality. He did a duo tape with Ayoolii but otherwise most of his releases are one-offs with sketchy releases on soundcloud and YouTube. âFuck District 5â shows his aggressive posture and biting wit. Also: fuck district five.
More Lil Sinn: âSRTâ (my favorite), âAyy,â many snippets and previews on IG
This is a nod towards a slightly older bracket of rappers that established themselves more around 2018-2020. Numberwise, Chicken P is probably still the biggest rapper in the city. This track indicates how creative and agile his vocals can be. He just got sentenced to 3-6 years (hopefully less) on gun and drug charges. FREE CHICKEN. His collaborator here, Jigg, and another local rapper Celly Cell both passed in a shooting two years ago, RIP.
More Chicken P: âPeopleâs Favorite,â âRollin,â âMy YNâ
Mula Marâs auto-tuned falsetto is among the most distinct sounds in Milwaukee music and in American rap, period. Itâs so striking that Mula has dropped a series of non-auto-tuned tapes called âNo Auto Mar,â presumably to make sure we know he can rap without the vocal effects (he can). However his auto-tuned work also advances a significant strain of electronic vocal experimentation that has played a consequential role in the development of Milwaukee low end more widely, for example in the work of artists such as Lil Sinn and Ef Ay.
More Mula Mar: âNo Hook Pt. 4,â âBrittney Grinerâ (w/Big Steff)
Roughly of the same generation as Chicken P, MarijuanaXO is a really endearing spitter. This tune samples the EBT hold music. Talk about down to earth.
More MjXO: âBroke Da Scaleâ (w Joe Pablo and TGE L Masi), âBitty Juiceâ
Munch Lauren is another vet and MVP, heâs been doing this shit for a very long time, but it always sounds fresh and crispy. Heâs also a producer who helped crystalize the low end clap formula. He makes what I think of as âstrip club music.â And it fucks.
More Munch: âThe Beat Tape,â a couple great new tracks with important producer MKE Neely: â23 questions,â âWLMâ
Lonnie Monae is an outstanding and still young performer who has made way too many hits for someone her age. âFTPUâ (fuck the party up) is one of those hits, and the production by DannyGBeats also captures Milwaukeeâs close relationship with Detroit and Flint, Michigan. Michigan rap has its own distinct flows and beat styles, but nevertheless the two rap scenes are cousins on good terms (see for example Certified Trapperâs close collaboration with MI rap superstar Babytron). You should play this at your wedding. I would.
More Lonnie Monae: âPunch Me In,â âGo Fastâ
Spaidez is a vet and MVP who stays very active and present at live shows, supporting newer artists and showing lots of love for the community. He absolutely burned the house down with Maz G at this rap show I djâd this summer. â3rd and Concordiaâ is a massive hit, a great tune, a personal favorite, and a city anthem. More than any other track here, this one might capture and convey the distinct flavor of joy this music can yield.
More Spaidez: âBouncenâ ft. Maz G, âBEO Bounceâ
Big Frank is a great rapper with hella energy; heâs also a goofy dancer and loveable wingman to JP. Sunny Lou is a producer, engineer, and artist who made an excellent compilation album this summer with many Milwaukee stars, This Ainât High School. Sunny Lou is also a major part of RunAlongForever, an important label and video production collective run by some very young guys. âThere It Isâ is a straight up popped out blast.
More BigFrank: âE-Wayâ
More Sunny Lou:see album This Ainât High School
Thereâs a cluster of Milwaukee rap scholars who have done amazing work documenting the abundance of material generated by this movement. In addition to top-tier critics like Alphonse Pierre, Mano Sundaresan, and Bill Differen, excellent work has been done by junkiesRpeople, Bobby Vanecko, Colin aka Anglerfish, JOHNâS MUSIC BLOG and of course my guy crimedawgbylaw. See especially Crimedawgâs â90 Minutes of Low Endâ mix. More recently Iâve been stoked about DJ Paul, an NYC-based DJ who does some incredible nightcore or hexd flips of milwaukee tunes.
I also have a DJ mix series that compiles Milwaukee rap and puts it together with local dance music and Milwaukee music of all genres; itâs called Milwaukee/Trap/House (people in town tend to call me that or TrapHouse). I also did a Milwaukee mix for Hollow Points on NTS and a set with Crimedawg for the No Bells NTS show.
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