Not much is known about Hitman, and that’s not just because he has the least SEO-friendly name of anyone on this list. His only real traces on the internet come in the form of two projects, 2018’s The Real Tallahassee Pain and 2019’s Street Poetry, but so far, we like what we hear. The young rapper has a knack for weaving together vivid street tales in a way that’s at once honest and addictive, and all his talents come together on his best song yet, “Dumb Lick.” Over a sample of Nina Simone’s 1965 classic “Feeling Good,” Hitman lays out a daily mantra about staying focused on his business and stacking riches. Sure, you can technically call “Dumb Lick” a rap song, but after hearing Hitman pour himself out over wailing electric guitars and harmonicas, it becomes clear it might be more accurate to classify this as contemporary soul music. At this point, Hitman’s a mystery, but he’s clearly onto something. —Eric Skelton
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