Author: Clever Tom
I’m gonna kick off the third volume of the Soundcloud Standouts series with a track from one of my closest friends in the underground scene, AJ Suede. Suede’s “Joints Like Cigarettes” is AJ at his hypnotic, self-loathing best. With a NEDARB NAGROM beat setting the angsty mood, Suede’s able to channel the depression of high school teens everywhere, and give them a song to smoke endless pinners to at the same time. Although it can be hard to stick with just one of the Pennsylvania-MC’s tracks for too long, “Joints Like Cigarettes” is able to withstand the avalanche of new AJ Suede music, and remain in rotation for an extended period of time. This song’s a cut above the rest in a consistently dope discography.
The new wave of swagged-out trap rap has been impossible to ignore (Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, MDNTKYO), so the fact that MDNTKYO’s in-house crew, Private Club Records, has been able to slide under the radar, while simultaneously being one of the dopest emerging rap crews, is nothing short of mind blowing. My personal favorite of the clique though, Noah Wood$, has got a song that I don’t think will be evading ears much longer. The recently released single, “Chill”, is the first song since Mac Miller’s “K.I.D.S”-era run to channel the stoned, suburban teen aura so definitively. Once this number’s got a visual to go along with it’s carefully crafted soundscape, I expect it to escalate in plays and views drastically.
Denzel Curry’s been the chosen one ever since his days as a stand out member of Miami collective, Raider Klan, so it’s the fact that it’s taken until now to get his proper recognition is what’s surprising. Considering his status as a completely independent artist though, it figures it would take an undeniably great track like “This Life” to finally attract the mainstream. If we could just get an album full of hooks like this, Curry’s wise-beyond-his-years lyricism would finally find it’s rightful place among the hip-hop elite.
Everybody knows Slug Christ for his grimy, blunt-edged approach to music and well-documented infatuation with hard drugs, but few are as well acquainted with his softer side. That side is present and center stage on his “Here We Go Freestyle” featuring Rome Fortune. Not only is the instrumental one of smoothest, most soothing productions so far this year, but Slugga & Fortune’s vocals are also lathered with a coat of edge-softening auto-tune that make’s the final product a consistent, mellow mood. Much like Lil B and the secondary focus on his thoughtful, conscious-themed records, it seems like fans seem to forget that Slug Christ has a sensitive side that has proven equally worthy of exploration.
Each and every GeeKey beat is its own fully animated cartoon. The sounds, textures, and arrangement of each piece are always so complex and well-executed that they can’t help but consistently be my most listened-to tracks from the underground. Considering he’s also a member of Trap $ensei’s 888 Collective, I figured it’d be best to demonstrate what these two can do when they collaborate with each other. “Airplane” is the best of both GeeKey & Trap $ensei. The beat is a story, theme, and mood crafted out of well-programmed synths, and Trap $ensei delivers his off-kilter but noteworthy vocal stylings as usual. These guys have a very solid foundation right here, they just need to add a few more pieces to the puzzle.
