10 Up-and-Coming Rappers in New Orleans

New Orleans stuck its flag into Planet Rap with a purpose over 20 years ago, and the whole world saw it waving. From Cash Money and No Limit’s international reach to a simmering scene of street-level indie labels that pumped out sounds from singsong, upbeat bounce to crafty, lyrical hip-hop, the ’90s marked a golden age for the city cradled by the Mississippi, in whose fertile crescent all American music was arguably born.

In more recent years, Cash Money, the enduring champion, has become a global powerhouse of extraordinary impact and reach. Via boundary-shattering champions like Big Freedia and the late Nicky da B, bounce music has traveled far beyond the project courtyards and block parties where it was born. Artists like Curren$y, Jay Electronica, and August Alsina continue to define the sound of the city to fans around the world, and back at home, New Orleans keeps growing talent. Here’s some of the latest crop.

Na’Tee has turned down deals offered by Timbaland and Def Jam, preferring for most of her career to keep a firm grip on her own brand. That’s likely because the spitter knows that she holds a winning hand: a fiery lyrical talent combined with the skills to produce her own tracks and videos. Playing purely on her own terms since she started rapping at the age of 10, Na’Tee has earned critical cheers (Time magazine compared her agile flow to Nas) and vocal fans in high places, from Chamillionaire to Missy Elliott. Her next project is likely the one that’ll take it to the next level. In spring 2014, she signed a deal with Russell Simmons and Steve Rifkind’s All Def Digital.

A great-nephew of the iconic Mahalia Jackson, Phips has worked with New Orleans artists across genres, from Aaron Neville and jazz-funk-rock hybrid Trombone Shorty to Fiend, Lil Wayne, and Curren$y, with whom he produced and appeared on two Pilot Talk tracks. He also co-founded the indie 0017th label collective, championed by Wayne, Juvenile, and Mack Maine. In 2009 and 2010, Phips introduced himself as an MC with a pair of mixtapes that revealed his lyrical side as clever, literate, and crafty, and his sampling hand—Ethiopian jazz!—as eclectic and cosmopolitan. A full-length album, Simply Phips, is coming in this fall.

It was back in 2009 that David Augustine quit his job as a middle school teacher to go all in with music, buoyed up by the viral success of his single “Jay, 50, and Weezy,” which challenged the titans to do more good in their communities. In the ensuing years, he went from cold-pitching Mannie Fresh on his music during a chance encounter at an AutoZone to having the star producer collaborate with him in the studio. In 2014, the socially and spiritually conscious rapper signed to RCA’s gospel-focused Inspiration imprint, and appeared for the first time on the BET Awards cypher.

With a raspy, full-throated voice as raw and singular as her native city, the petite Allie Baby is a lot of New Orleans realness. Tough, sexy, and playful, her lyrical chops are like a stealth bomb exploding out of a deceptively cute and tiny package, and tracks like “Yay” (produced by Drumma Boy) ooze Southern swagger. She also appeared in the critically appreciated 2011 Mardi Gras Indian drama Keeper of the Flame.

The Seventh Ward native earned Mixtape of the Year honors at the fifth annual NOLA Hip-Hop Awards in October for his project Dollar for Hate, which boasts features from Meek Mill, Juvenile, Pusha T, and others. His career launched during post-Katrina exile in Houston, but his sound—on cuts like the synthy “Buku,” featuring Juvie—is unmistakably NOLA at heart.

Pell’s melodic, singsong flow over beds of ambient electro-shimmer and spooky synth has been called “dream rap,” and the name fits: It’s lazy, layered, and lulling, softly funky—the kind of genre reboot that put artists like fellow native New Orleanian Frank Ocean on the map. His debut full-length album, Floating While Dreaming, dropped this spring, shortly before he was named one of our 25 New Rappers to Watch Out For In 2014.

Barely out of high school, Chase N. Cashe wound up on the West Coast after Hurricane Katrina, though he and his native Gulf Coast still share a lot of mutual love. His first big break was a production credit on Lil Wayne’s “Drop the World,” and though he was living in Hollywood at the time, he titled his 2011 mixtape release (and debut as MC) Gumbeaux, and dropped it on Mardi Gras of that year. Well established as a producer for artists including Drake and Troy Ave, he’s lately been stepping up his efforts as a rapper, with a 2013 solo EP for Scion, plus the brand-new 30504 collaboration with Miami’s Jigg.

Formerly known as Lil Dee God’s Gift, Dee Day started out battling on the middle school playground and performing on local radio; winning a freestyle contest inspired him to record, and since then the young lyricist has collaborated with Juicy J, Kevin Gates, Fiend, and others. His latest offering is a cheeky, animated video for the song “Instastar,” a playful send-up of social media addicts who may not be what they appear to be online.

Currently on the road with Mickey Factz, Lyriqs is known for his high-energy live sets opening for acts like Rakim, Lupe Fiasco, Slum Village, and others. He collaborated with fellow former Loyola University music business student G-Eazy on the smooth, funky “My Style,” and has been mentored by pillars of the conscious NOLA underground Truth Universal and Lyrikill.

A member of Curren$y’s Jet Life crew, Roddy has worked heavily with Spitta. In 2013, they released the 11-track collaboration Bales together, and in early 2014, he dropped the cool-toned and laid-back solo mixtape Route the Ruler with features from Curren$y, Smoke DZA, and Fiend.