Going Left: Defcee and 4 Other Indie Rappers You Need to Know

Going Left is a monthly column that highlights exceptional work from indie hip-hop acts. Read previous editions of the column here.

A lot of rappers juggle their releases in between other endeavors. Some artists are moguls and fashion designers who find time to hit the studio between other obligations. For Chicago MC Defcee, it means writing bars as a new father while putting together courses for the classes he teaches. As he let us know on For All Debts Public and Private standout “Dunk Contest,” “This is what I wrote in my kitchen brushin’ the bottle nipple and rinsin’ soap from the dishes.”

We don’t always hear MCs offering that kind of candor about the mundanity of their writing conditions, but Defcee is no regular rapper. He’s one of the most technically adept MCs in the game, as he displays on For All Debts Public and Private, his new 11-track collaboration LP with producer and fellow Closed Sessions member BoatHouse. The project is a Chicago link-up, but throughout the project Defcee is talking M.I.A.M.I.: money is a major issue. 

FADPAP explores the consequences of poverty from a human perspective—from wanting to make more money as an MC on “Moving Targets” to the effects of having less on revealing songs like “Rossi” and the album intro “Even,” where Defcee vividly rhymes, “It took fever dreams and quarantine for me to relax.” It’s a cold, trancey, drumless hookup from BoatHouse, the talented producer who is making noise lacing Closed Sessions artists (and others) with his sharp production. 

Defcee has said that he wanted to attack “Even” with an unorthodox flow, exploring the freedom of a drumless beat, and he excelled. He challenged himself throughout the project, rapping with tremendous precision and craft, whether he’s freewheeling and boasting, or getting vulnerable as he rhymes about a “stage dive from the abyss from my limits” on “Bubble Coat.” 

Honesty is a virtue throughout FADPAP, as Defcee culls through his life and times. Almost every track is littered with reflections, like, “Hate when I’m being honest, but they love me for my honesty” on “Ragarok.” But the project really shines when Defcee takes a deep dive into storytelling, like on “Qtna,” when he explores the fraught intersection of depression and addiction, rhyming “escape was just the price of what a beer cost” on a track with a poignant chorus: “Was I livin’ or surviving? / Shuffle through the days pretending that I was tryin’.” 

“Rossi” with Armand Hammer explores alcohol dependency, as Defcee depicts “wrestling with demons even the devil rejects.” Both ELUCID and billy woods follow up with strong verses, adding to a collection of standout contributions from guests throughout the project. SolarFive makes his presence felt on multiple tracks, including “Summer 06,” where he and Defcee delve into romantic dalliances that didn’t always go smoothly. As Defcee cleverly admits, he had the “same amount of game as a rain delay.”

BoatHouse and Mother Nature pick up where they left off with their 2021 SZNZ collaboration album on “Shuriken,” where the duo takes turns and Kievah rhymes, “Everything immortal ‘cept my ego she cerebral I decided to let her live.” And Greensllime has the funniest moment on the album, rapping, “I’ll throw a broke AOL disc at your throat.”

Along with Defcee’s introspection comes similarly witty put-downs of other MCs, like, “Had my first daughter and let the industry raise my sons,” on “Dunk Contest,” which Defcee has said comes from his belief that “every cypher is a dunk contest.” He’s as cognizant of the competition as he is his own qualms, offering meta commentary on where the game is at. On “Recollect,” he rhymes about MCs who “ain’t sharp as their drama is entertainin’.” Then he calls everyone to task on “Moving Targets,” his version of Jay-Z’s “Family Feud,” where he implores, “the target’s not a rapper, it’s the bag,” and likens Twitter beef to “cheap fumes in a fiend’s spoon.”

Elsewhere on the track, he says his “debut [is] older than my students,” offering perspective of just how long he’s been at it lyrically. Those years of refining his craft are apparent throughout For All Debts Public And Private, where his polished lyricism bonds with BoatHouse’s expertly crafted samples—whether the beat is as dark as “Bubble Coat,” as mystifying as “Rossi,” or as searing as “Moving Targets.” Defcee understood the assignment. 

Check out some other dope projects below:

During a vocal clip at the start of “Dark Alley” on The Graveyard, incarcerated Philly rapper AR-Ab implores, “You gotta have a nigga who’s dedicated to…” Then he pauses slightly, making you think he might end the sentence by saying something like “dedicated to helping you grow as an artist.” Or maybe ”dedicated to working as hard as you do.” But instead, he says “dedicated to killing people.” Philly rapper Dark Lo and Allentown, Pennsylvania rapper Don Gunna’s The Graveyard is one of those albums.

The seven-track project is everything the title suggests, and everything the two Pennsylvania artist’s fans would expect. Both Gunna and Lo are currently incarcerated. Gunna is currently awaiting trial for attempted murder in Pennsylvania, and Lo was sentenced to seven and a half years for witness intimidation (but as he told us last year, he went inside with plenty of music to drop while he’s away).

The flood starts with The Graveyard, a gritty project where Lo and Don Gunna offer unbridled glimpses of the Philly streets, where love is few and far between and many are “trappin’ night and day, PM Dawn shit,” as Lo slickly rhymes on “3 A.M.” with Prospect Penz, who joins eto as the only guests on The Graveyard.

Though both MCs offer the rawest brand of street rap you can find, they go about it in different ways. Lo is relatively methodical, deftly swerving through scenes, and going from bar to bar with a distinct flow that’s most evident on “3 A.M.” and “Blakk & Deadly.” Gunna follows up on most songs, rhyming with ferocity, as if every bar is life or death. When he rhymes that his bars are “emotions filled with some pain” on “Dark Alley,” it’s easy to believe him.

The project’s soundscape fits the proceedings, showing you just how many different tones a producer can utilize when injecting menace into the atmosphere. “Out Of Order” and “Graveyard Skeletons” sound like a frigid nighttime walk through Lo’s North Philly. “Bilingual” is crafted with ominous keys and strings, sounding like the score to the climax of a gangster film, while “Bulletproof” is the most cinematic offering on the project, swerving and unfurling with a calculated intrigue that fits both artists’ gritty narratives. 

The Graveyard will be enjoyable for those who enjoy rappers tapping into their inner Scorcese, and completely unpalatable for the squeamish. It’s also a glimpse of how talented both men are, and what a waste it is that they’re currently incarcerated. Hopefully they can resolve their situations in the best way possible for everyone, and return to their craft if they choose to. 

Brooklyn rapper maassai describes her Personal Year 8 EP as “a lil fun vibe” on her Bandcamp page, and after listening to it, it’s clear that more rappers need to be having her kind of fun. In just three songs, he displays her versatility, poring through a range of relatable reflections over eclectic, entrancing production. 

The songs on the EP were crafted to score her “The Per Sonal Year Eight” performance piece, which she streamed in February. And each track stands alone to offer a disparate glimpse of what massaai, who made our 2021 rappers to watch list, is all about. 

The eponymous track is a smooth stream-of-thought, where she grooves along to a synth melody that stutters ever so slightly under springy percussion. Massaai speaks for many of us who seek the simple things when she rhymes, “I don’t need the ice /I just want some nice land and a sigh of relief like ‘Damn I know Ma gonna be good.’” It’s a self-affirming song, showing she’s resolute about who she is and who she won’t be. Massaai flows with an easygoing, melodic cadence that belies the ferocity of lyrics like, “I ain’t never cryin’ for no white man, for us by us.” She also shares personal memories that leave her feeling like “niggas think they woke I can’t even sleep.”

“Fw the mix?” is a meta-titled song, where she rhymes with a more deliberate flow and a lower tone. The track’s ending rhymes are tweaked with vocal pitching effects that add character and an experimental flair to the spacey soundscape. Then on “Body Part,” maassai speeds up the flow, showing off her raw craft with slick double meaning like, “It ain’t safe for you hoes in the winter how I’m cold/ You already felt the brick in ya bones, but this the shit that’ll stick in ya soul.”

The three-pack is another strong offering from maassai, and an indication that her craft is only sharpening as we await a full-length follow up to 2021’s With The Shifts.  

How do you make a 20-track project digestible for a wide swathe of listeners in an era of short attention spans? In rapper YL and producer Zoomo’s case, you compile shotgun doses of slick lyricism, and put them over one of the best suites of soul samples we’ve heard in recent memory. The two have nearly symbiotic chemistry, as In Memory Of demonstrates. 

The frequent collaborators locked in for the first joint project since 2020’s Born Again, though Zoomo’s warm production has been on YL projects since then. Zoomo has said that he determines which beats become instrumentals, and which get laced by rappers, by “feeling.” And after listening to In Memory Of, it’s clear he must have had a good feeling throughout the process.

The project starts with a soulful instrumental, soaking the tracks in dulcet waters, before YL sets a thematic tone on the aptly titled “Amazing,” rhyming, “Sunrays hit me when I walked out Utica station / can’t front, life’s amazin’ summertime in NY blazin’.” The visual hammers home the album title, evoking imagery that anyone who has visited the city in the summer fondly remembers. 

The project is laced with quick memories, like, “Used to sell verse for $150, in the club feeling like I’m 50,” on “Foolish,” and, “Tryna catch me when I’m out and about… didn’t fuck with me when I was down and out” on “Instant Regret.” But YL isn’t just reflecting on bygone memories throughout In Memory Of. He’s toasting to his present and future rap success. On “Statistics,” he raps, “Goin’ up check the stats, matter fact check the Cash App/ This ain’t no backpack, Why charge a stack for the rap.” 

Considering his work rate, YL likely has more than enough to splurge on the Celine he mentions on “Sucka Free Sunday.” The RRR Music Group rapper is a reflection of a post-Roc Marciano underground scene, boasting about his independence and staying true to his craft, but also infusing those bars with enough braggadocio and lothario lyricism to subvert any misconceptions that underground rappers don’t want to floss. 

YL utilizes his wit, quintessential New York bravado, and lyrical dexterity to whip up extended verses that remind us why he’s one of the scene’s brightest acts, and Zoomo helped him shine with a soulful soundscape. There isn’t a miss on the whole project, sample-wise. 

It’s often been theorized that rap songs with soul samples—especially from a quintessential New York rapper—work best as winter soundtracks. But In Memory Of, released in April, came right in time for the warm months. This is a sunny album, ripe to be played during strolls down Utica (or your favorite avenue) while making new memories.