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Image via Javon Johnson
5 On It is a feature that looks at five of the best under-the-radar rap findings from the past week, highlighting new or recently discovered artists, or interesting obscurities.
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Image via Javon Johnson
Javon Johnson – Vitruvian Man
If Houston rapper Javon Johnson’s previous releases were the calculated, tactical strikes of a measured, technical boxer, Vitruvian Man feels more like a flurry from a wily street fighter. This level of furor comes as no surprise from an artist whose story bears the scars of constant volatility, personal violence, and psychological trauma. Where Vitruvian Man also separates itself from Johnson’s past projects is in its beat selection, still maintaining the nods to classic hip-hop that marked previous EPs Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and All The Gear, No Idea while adding a more abstract edge (particularly on “On The Run,” lifted from Pink Floyd’s seminal The Dark Side of the Moon and billed as a “Pink Floyd Cover”).
Barely clocking in at 10 minutes, Vitruvian Man marks yet another of Johnson’s intriguing transmissions from the edge. It’s a brief work with enough depth—from its cover art and namesake, to its use of sampled film clips, and its densely layered, referential raps—to demand unpacking across multiple listens.
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Image via Injury Reserve
Injury Reserve – “Everybody Knows”
Injury Reserve’s “Everybody Knows” reminds me of the spirit of the moment when I started liking Das Racist—right around “Michael Jackson,” when I stopped taking myself particularly seriously and also stopped taking the group’s aims and antics at face value. “Everybody Knows” is smart, irreverent, occasionally self-deprecating, and backed by a beat that balances classicist leanings and Def Jux-ian sonic experimentation. It packs ample attitude and wit without any of the baggage that came to characterize the knocks against groups like Das Racist (namely that they were brainy college kids spewing nonsense and getting blog love because of it).
None of this is to compare Injury Reserve too closely to others, but “Everybody Knows” and the group’s project Live From the Dentist pack a cleverness, aesthetic sensibility, and sound that make it feel like a promising descendant of a brief era in indie rap—the fragmented years in the wake of Definitive Jux’s closure when the avant garde had no unified home and stalwart labels like Rhymesayers, Stones Throw, and Strange Music (though an eclectic trio of examples) seemed to double down on what won them fans, further solidifying feverishly loyal bases. The end result was a liminal space of hip-hop ronin who often signed to labels like Fools Good where the attitude towards rap was a bit more omnivorous and rooted in the question “is this dope?” than any specific style or philosophy.
All of this reminiscence is to say that Injury Reserve is onto something enjoyable, a sound and vision with ample room for fun experimentation. “Everybody Knows” (and its accompanying video) stands out from the pack, but you can listen to the rest of Injury Reserve’s Live From the Dentist here (look out for other highlights “Wow,” “ttktv,” and “Snowmen”).
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Image via Ciscero
Ciscero ft. Mannywellz and Asante – “Kids Wear Crowns”
Maryland rapper Ciscero’s “Kids Wear Crowns” is the sort of soulful, socially aware rap music that typified “Conscious Rap” at it’s best—a blend of light-hearted realism and pointed observation over a trumpet loop that has a familiar, gauzy warmth to it (the end result of producer Shaad Huron and trumpeter Diggs Duke’s collaboration). Pretty and buoyant, it’s never brought down by didactic weight, a testament to Ciscero and Mannywellz’s blend of inward-looking and detail-oriented lyrics.
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Image via Mike Melinoe
Mike Melinoe – “Venture Addict”
Easy way to my heart: Make weird, woozy drug raps that at least sonically approximate what it’s like to be on some kind of narcotics (or many narcotics at once, as in the case of Gravediggaz classic “Defective Trip (Trippin)”).
Detroit resident Mike Melinoe’s rapping on “Venture Addict” feels a bit too sharp to be under the influence of a drug cocktail, but his twisting lyrics, a woozy beat, and a just-unhinged-enough hook give the song an overall sense of the spins and the walls closing in. It’s an exercise in mood and evoking sense memory on the part of the audience. While it feels like it could have ratcheted up the mayhem a few more notches, sometimes trips are better taken with known limits. A well-executed introduction to an able talent.
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Image via Dewy Sinatra
Dewy Sinatra – “No War”
On “Bubble,” London rapper Dewy Sinatra effectively pointed his focus inward to capture an introverted slice of life. Latest single “No War” maintains similarly subdued, Brainfeeder-bred sonics while Sinatra turns his eye towards social and political aims, critiquing the droning, blind 9-to-5 culture of what he calls “broken Britain.” It toes a fine line between preachy and personal, thanks in large part to Sinatra’s melody-infused style. “No War” also lives nicely alongside the work of British artists like notable firebrand Kate Tempest who have turned barbed tongues to an assortment of their countries socio-political shortcomings.
