I always say it in my articles, but I am so proud to call the city of Chicago my home, and a large part of that is because of the incredible art that is brought to life every single day here. The culture in the Windy City is supportive, collaborative, and creative, three of the most important things on my radar when searching for music in other parts of the world, and I just have yet to come across another place that does it quite like the Chi. Ravyn Lenae is someone who definitely makes me as proud as I am to consider the same city home, and although she has moments of silence or brief hiatus, she makes sure to hit us with something even more spectacular when she’s back. As we anticipate and prepare for his upcoming project Hypnos that is set to drop this Friday, May 20th, she teamed up with one of my favorite beat smiths Kaytranada for her latest single “Xtasy”, and I couldn’t have had higher hopes. The instrumental is so woozy and spacy and just pulsates with vivaciousness which is delivered alongside a trademark drum foundation that pulsates much like Kaytranada’s other hits. …

Underground music has always been much more progressive and boundary-pushing than anything in the mainstream has ever been or even claimed to be, and that has remained true for years and years. I mean, the underground scene in the United States has always brought some of my all-time favorite artists to my attention in some of the most unexpected ways, but when it comes to the artists overseas in certain countries, I think they take creativity to a whole other level. The grime scene in England is definitely super captivating for me, but I think out of every place in Europe, the artists who came up in Sweden have been more influential than anyone else for me personally. I mean, Yung Lean is truly a trailblazer and an innovator, and Drain Gang has put out some of the wildest and most entertaining music in the history of hip-hop, in my opinion, so whenever someone from this European country drops music, I am surely going to listen. Drain Gang standout Thaiboy Digital is definitely as worldly as most artists come, and his latest Whitearmor-produced track “I’m Fresh” proves that tenfold, especially with the accompanying music video shot by Gus Reichwald. The …

With the exception of a handful of well-known names in the music industry, it’s not a very big surprise that hip-hop is a young person’s sport, and it has always been for the most part of its history. While young to some people used to be like 21 to 25, or something in that range, ever since the digital age has emerged, that number has gone down as low as ever, sometimes even including preteens who have bigger followings than seasoned vets. Well, one gripe I have with these youngsters is the fact that they don’t seem to put quite enough effort into the smaller, less fun things that make a song truly ready to be released because they’re often too focused on their next move. That’s why BabySantana has stood out to me from the moment I heard his music, and nothing has changed ever since. He just seems to try and make an effort to make sure songs are fully complete before he drops them, and I just think that his quality, especially for a kid his age, is leaps and bounds better than most other emcees in his class. I mean, if you don’t believe this statement, …

I don’t think it’s a stretch to call Pouya one of the biggest groundbreakers in the history of underground music because even in his very early days in music, he was able to hold his own and go toe to toe with some of the best, and that helped him progress much quicker than most emcees typically do. Although Boobie Lootaveli has been on my radar for less time overall than Pouya, he has fascinated me ever since I did find out about him a few years ago, and whenever these two emcees team up, you know there is nothing but fire being created. Unfortunately, Pouya’s collective Buffet Boys seemed to come to an end abruptly not too long ago, but thankfully it doesn’t seem like there is any bad blood or anything, they just wanted to move on to their next endeavor which is All But 6 records, and I’m pumped to see what they have up their sleeves! I mean, if the rest of their future is even half as entertaining as their latest release “Put it in My Pocket” is, then we’re in for a massive treat for years and years to come. Produced by Mikey the …

Considering hyperpop is a newer genre in the grand scheme of the music industry, it seems like even though some artists feel like veterans due to the mass amounts of amazing music they drop, there aren’t really any talents who have been seriously making music for more than a handful of years, at least on a more professional level. I say this with the one exception of 100 gecs, because this dynamic duo seems to serve as some of the only vets in the subgenre, and I don’t think it’s outrageous to credit them with pretty much originating this sound that has influenced so many others. Sure, they’ve been at it for years, and while their fanbase has always been strong and sturdy, it seems like they have completely blown up over the somewhat recent past, and I am beyond excited for them. I mean, getting a spot high up on the Lollapalooza lineup as well as countless other accomplishments shouldn’t be taken lightly, so I’m not going to risk missing any new releases whenever I see them come across my radar. With that being said, you already know I couldn’t resist writing about their most recent drop “Doritos & …

Michigan is a place where literally anything in rap is possible if you work hard enough and prove your worth, and if anyone understands that, it’s Bfb Da Packman. He hit the scene like a meteor a year or two ago with some insanely creative hits, and although it might be difficult for some emcees to stand out in a region as unique as Flint and Detroit, Bfb seemed to have no problem whatsoever. Obviously, one of, if not his most famous songs is “Free Joe Exotic” which features Sada Baby, and when that song dropped, Sada was definitely in a league of his own. I’m still a massive fan of his without a doubt, but I think it’s not crazy to say that the playing field has been evened a bit and he is now one of the many incredibly dexterous emcees in the city. Regardless, I love hearing these two rappers spit alongside one another on a song because they never disappoint, so when I heard their latest song “Perkyyyyyyyyy”, I wasn’t going to let it go by the wayside whatsoever. Also, yes, I counted out all of the Y’s in the name, and I’m still not 1000% …

Kaytranada has long been one of my all-time favorite producers ever because of the groovy, easygoing nature that he is able to bring to every piece of music that he’s involved in. While I admittedly slept on IDK for brief stints throughout my writing career, when I found out that this duo was teaming up for their project Simple., I realized that this was the wake-up call that I needed in order to fully engulf myself in the world of IDK knowing that I wasn’t venturing too far outside of my preferred comfort zone because regardless of how he sounded, I knew Kaytra would kill it. Well, within seconds I was rapidly proven wrong because IDK showed exactly how insanely adaptable and skilled he is no matter what kind of instrumental is thrown his way, and all 8 songs on this 18-minute-long project were nothing short of magnificent. Luckily, we haven’t had to wait long for a few music videos to come out in support of this effort, and his latest flick is for his record “Breathe”. Directed by Remi Besse, we are transported to Paris where IDK sits on top of a skyscraper overlooking the city. After this cinematic …

ITSOKTOCRY is one of the most unique and innovative emcees in the entire industry, and if that’s something you disagree with, then you clearly have some catching up to do in terms of educating yourself on his career. While he has long been one of my favorite artists out, he never fails to impress me when he drops something new, and even though we haven’t received nearly as much of an overflow of music as we have from him in previous years, that just makes his drops that much more special. GWEN STACY 4EVER was an absolutely outstanding project, and while I tended to lean towards certain tracks over others at times, I was blown away with the deluxe version CRY dropped a few days ago which added 7 new songs to the instant classic. While these new tracks were amazing, I was thrilled to see him drop an animated visual for his cvtus-produced song “F.A.O” with Surf, because for me, this has been played on repeat for literally weeks on end. In the BADPITBOI-directed motion picture, there is this extremely enthralling style of animation that basically opens up in a city that is being tormented by a creature that …