5 On It: The Only Time Is Party Time

Need to know rap from beneath the surface.

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Direct from Artist

Image via K$ace

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5 On It is a feature that looks at five of the best under-the-radar rap findings from the past two weeks, highlighting new or recently discovered artists, or interesting obscurities.

K$ace - "I Might"

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I have no idea if New York-based rapper K$ace knows his hip-hop history and, for the purpose of enjoying his gleeful single "I Might," I couldn't really care less.

He might know every Big Daddy Kane lyric, he might not know Big Daddy Kane exists.

He might know that hip-hop's roots sprouted from 1520 Sedgwick Ave., he might not.

He might be an encyclopedic historian, and, you guessed it, he also might not.

The conversation about whether or not young rappers should know their history is sort of a silly one: We should all know our history, and none of us have that much of an excuse since the breadth and context of recorded music is at our fingertips at any given moment thanks to Spotify, Apple Music, Wikipedia, AllMusic.com, and Discogs.com. That said, knowing your history isn't a prerequisite for being able to make great, enjoyable rap music—in the same way that being a remarkable technical rapper isn't a requirement for being a memorable, complete artist.

(For the record, I could have easily reached out to K$ace to clarify his understanding of hip-hop's history, but that's not really the point either—unless the point is to simply create more divisive headlines about new vs. old school)

There are purists that will probably hate K$ace's "I Might," lumping it in with the exuberant, playful, and often decidedly non-technical music of artists like Lil Yachty, Nessly, and D.R.A.M. Those purists should probably be reminded that before there was boom bap, there were dudes dressed as cowboys, aliens, and ancient Egyptians rocking parties of teens who just wanted an escape from the world, but that's neither here nor there. "I Might" is pure fun and joy, a silly, catchy two and a half minutes about spending money, getting fucked up, smoking cigarettes in Ubers, and...that's about it. It's not particularly complex in its subject matter; it's purely enjoyable music meant to be blasted in bars and clubs, at BBQ's, in Ubers, and anywhere someone might want to run up a check, no matter the size of that check. 

Chill out. Turn on "I Might." Have a good time. It's Saturday.

El Shareef - "Uniform Souls"

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Milwaukee rapper El-Shareef channels another midwest favorite on "Uniform Souls": Slum Village. That comparison isn't meant to set impossible expectations for a song from an up-and-coming rapper, but rather to set the universe in which "Uniform Souls" exist—one in which soulful grooves soundtrack parties instead of trap music, and relationships mingle love and lust, making for something a bit more complex than wanting to fuck a groupie who just popped a Xan (or whatever it is that kids are doing these days in clubs...I don't know, I'm almost 28 and I have a wine of the month club membership).

"Uniform Souls" feels of a piece with the Soulection universe without leaning too heavily on the now overly done '90s R&B-sampling, future bass aesthetic, instead building warmth and bounce on soulful funk. A strong step forward from an artist bubbling in one of hip-hop's more overlooked scenes.

Meet London's A2'

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London rapper/singer A2 luxuriates in the sort of late night energy that's typified much of the best American rap and R&B of the last two years, a trans-Atlantic cross-section of the lustful hip-hop soundtrack Uber rides and late night parties. Occasionally channeling the gruff troubadour energy of King Krule, A2's music arrives with a certain distinctiveness even in its most familiar moments, pairing American moods with pointed introspection and reflections on romance delivered with casually clever, densely stacked rhymes and a gift for rough-hewn, easy melody.

UG Vavy - "Gwap"

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Chicago rapper UG Vavy has a gift for melancholic, melodic rapping that makes for hypnotic listening on "Gwap," the sort of song that sticks in your head after one listen and pops up in the background radiation of your brain when you least expect it. Vavy's style and inspiration spring from his omnivorous attitude towards music. 

"Recently I've been inspired by all the new artists who’ve released projects this year," says Vavy. "I literally listen to everything that releases because you never know what new ways people may find to do things. I've also been digging back and listening to older songs I loved as a kid, from hip hop (Lil Wayne, Ye), 90s R&B (SWV, Mary J), and even reggae music (half pint, Wayne Wonder, etc). I've noticed that you can be inspired by anything just put it in your way and make it appeal."

"Gwap" is one of a series of singles Vavy has released over the past year, a piece of his very modern strategy for attempting to effectively release music and cut through the clutter.

"It's not time for a full body of work in terms of me, I have to be at a certain level before that time comes," says Vavy. "Honestly, I feel like music is releasing at such a rampant pace and it’s a lot. Even for me, an album can drop and be forgotten about in a month but 10 years ago the projects could hold you for a while. Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter so I rather have a moment with a single and kind of show people like 'hey listen to this for now.'" 

This mission to seize attention ranges from Vavy's roll out plan to his art choices.

"My homie Reuben and I thought it would be cool to have a running theme to set my work apart from the others," he says. "That way when people are scrolling they know for a fact it’s me and new music. We often let the song dictate the imagery and sometimes the image chosen is a metaphor for the songs title or theme. It's kind of like Ye when he dropped albums in the past, it was always an adaption of the bear which was cool and showed progression."

None of that strategy would particularly matter were songs like "Gwap" not mesmerizing in their unusual way.

Yonkwi - "Ripe Plantains"

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One of hip-hop's less vocally celebrated qualities is its omnivorous absorption, acceptance, and repurposing of other culture. Part of rap's power is its osmotic malleability—beats and rhymes transcend language, giving young artists across the world a framework for celebration and expression of plight alike. It's a musical form unlike any other, built on notions of sampling and hybridization of sounds and ideas as a way to create new communities and aesthetics. 

Just as hip-hop makes rich territory for those looking to strip mine new ideas for polished pop, so too does it resist such theft through evolution, providing fertile soil for those looking to explore their origins and identities via what can best be described as a modern folk tradition.

New York rapper/producer Yonkwi gives himself the following billing on Soundcloud:

"Yonkwi is a Cameroonian creative mind who resides in NY. Since his birth in Tokyo, he has been inspired to make dope content. Now, in his room, he produces, raps, and sings his own music to inspire his home of the Undé and his peers."

Single "Ripe Plantains" feels like filtration of existing culture in the service of identity discovery as well as resistance to the claws of purely commercial interests. It's fun and catchy, but it avoids the familiar and treacly—it's like a hidden treasure that doesn't feel manufactured by those trying to guarantee the delight of the new.

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