Hot off his York New City mixtape – which is pretty much witty, catchy banger after witty, catchy banger – The Bronx’s Makinout is ready to explode.
After first hearing his single “Playground,” a few years ago following a Danny Brown co-sign on Twitter, Makinout’s sly, dizzy flow and sleek beat selection burrowed itself in my head and convinced me that the gem of a single could be blasting from any hip-hop station around the country. Ironically, his music spans the deranged sense of humor of Brown, the drugged-out atmosphere of Future and comparison after comparison to today’s established superstar rappers. However, there is something quite unique about Makinout’s music. At first listen, a lot his songs are party anthems; X2 doubling down on how every rapper can out stunt one other, but with a sense of a sarcastic smile as if to say ‘we’re all really just enjoying ourselves here, or at least we should be.’ And what’s more fun then a rapper sliding into an homage of an “itty bitty polka dot bikini,” while flexing on a verse? Which Makinout does on X2.
Makinout’s specialty is the kind of fuck it, brash style of hip-hop that is infectious, but in many cases with his tracks, you don’t feel cheated and abused when the melodies or rhymes get stuck in your head; everything is just a little skewed from the center to keep it original while maintaining an instant sort of appeal.
Makinout’s latest offering “Make It Clap,” premiering above, is a good indicator of his style; a cold, hard hitting beat and a trademark hook that sounds as if it’s coming from behind a sly smirk. Makinout already understands your going to be singing the hook before the song is through, and you’re okay with that. It’s an understanding. And as mentioned, it has pieces of what every great rap single has today, coming from a relatively underground artist just on his way up. As Makinout asks on “Make It Clap,” “What’s a mainstream, what’s an underground?” No need to draw battle lines. Just establish an understanding for an unabashed, slightly off-kilter, turn-up tune.
