Brandon Callender just found out that birding is overrated.
SleazyWorld Go – “Let Me Talk My Shit Pt. 3”
Spend a little bit of time on YouTube and you’re bound to run into SleazyWorld Go’s “Sleazy Flow” within a few clicks, or at least a remix of it. Originally released last year, it’s maybe the most passed around beat among street rappers right now (Only Lil Durk’s “AHHH HA” compares), and it will probably end up being 2022’s “Wack Jumper,” though I doubt that it’ll have the same kind of impact on production that ENRGY’s cartoonishly Loud Ass Clock Tick snare drums have had. (“Sleazy Flow” has a Loud Ass Clock Tick Snare, too, while we’re talking about “Wack Jumper”’s lasting impact). “Let Me Talk My Shit Pt. 3” is exactly what you expect it to be. Over a pounding piano loop that Icewear Vezzo would be jealous he didn’t get to call dibs on, the Kansas City-via-Grand Rapids rapper lets loose with a series of hard-hitting punchlines that’ll knock the wind out of anyone. “Face cute, her ass fat, she look like Karlie Redd / Huh? I mean Cardi B,” he raps with a knowing smirk. “What lil nigga goin’ hard as me?” Right now, I’m struggling to name someone else.
Lil Jairmy – “Baby Draco”
The buzzing chorus of MIDI horns and Lil Jairmy’s subtly melodic and nimble flow makes “Baby Draco” feel triumphant. Whenever the Houston rapper ends a bar, its like he had to hit about 30 backflips to get there. “I’m too loaded, take off, go to Jupiter/Her head cool, but her partner she stupider,” he intensely raps. It feels like if you took Lil Baby’s flow and trained it until it was at its most athletic. “Baby Draco” is only 3 minutes long, but Lil Jairmy makes it feel like a marathon.
WTM Milt – “Fool To Cry”
Kelefa Sanneh points out in his book Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres that in the 21st century, the term “rock star” is mainly used to describe “quirky CEOS,” “faintly charismatic politicians,” and, less often, musicians. I can’t say he’s entirely wrong there—I, too, have been called a rockstar for getting a question correct in a math class once upon a time in my life—but the New Yorker critic failed to consider WTM Milt. “Fool To Cry,” a freestyle built on the Rolling Stones track of the same name, is a smoky folk song for codeine cowboys across the world. “I don’t know where I’m going, but I just want you to come with me,” he howls over Wayne Perkins’ crying guitar. “Like Jay and Bey, on the run with me.” The rock star might be long gone, but the romantic soft rock ballad lives on forever.
1banboy – “G O G A N G (Flew To LA)”
1banboy’s ghastly adlibs sound like computer-generated demons trying to drag you into your computer’s Recycle Bin. With a beat from zee! (under his producer alias crewbeatz00), the Richmond, VA, rapper channels the spirit of 2012 Chief Keef in a way that plays homage, but still feels forward-looking as the 808s pummel the other parts of the beat until they calm down. “I just got a full pound in had to flip it/It’s 1banboy, had to risk it for the biscuit,” he growls. It’s the audio-equivalent of a steamroller.
Poundside Pop – “Z Double O” (feat. OT7 Quanny)
Poundside Pop’s “Z Double O” sounds like the inside of a boiler room. There’s not much to the beat, just mechanical whirrs, blaring sirens, and some sparse drums that lurch forward. The grisly beat only amplifies their menacing tough talk as their voices echo in its emptiness. “Come around us cappin’, pussy, we gon’ call your bluff,” Pop taunts. Quanny comes in later with his typical sleepy flow, taunting, “How the fuck you slide and try and kill shit from a block away?” They don’t even give you a chance to think of a response.