One of the best things to come out of Miami since DJ Khaled is rising rapper Nell. Atlanta is awash with young rappers jostling for our attention, but just a stone’s throw away, somewhere low-key in Florida (Zone 4 Carol City to be exact), you can find him steadily building a name for himself. Metro Zu […]
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Last week, Winter Storm Pax pulverised Georgia, coating the state in sleet and ice and making travel nearly impossible. In a city like Atlanta that rarely sees debilitating winter weather, the storm was a major concern—the second of two this year that left the metropolitan area paralysed and in a state of emergency. On the […]
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If you’re unfamiliar with the newer generation of artists who are jockeying to be Atlanta rap’s heirs apparent, it looks as though 2014 will provide plenty of opportunities to get acquainted. Early January’s Lobby Runners was an enormous group effort from three (!!!) DJs and six (!!!!) rappers gathered under Peewee Longway‘s watchful eye. Tracks and […]
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Substantive technical skill can often be the foundation of cinematic rapping, and on The Pimpire Strikes Back, Roc Marciano contends to be New York’s resident adept. If the Long Island MC’s first release on Man Bites Dog Records is any indication of his forthcoming album Marci Beaucoup, then we can likely expect it to be […]
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From the swamps of South Florida comes rapper Robb Bank$ with his second solo mixtape Tha City. Over a year after the Tumblr-fever of his debut Calendars has died down, Bank$ returns with a dark mixtape firing shots at all posers, exes, and cliches. With a library of references that cover Breaking Bad to Norman Bates to […]
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Ghetto Heaven Vol. 1 is spectacularly late. Originally slated for a July 4th release, Cam’ron’s first mixtape in nearly a year and a half opens with a peanut gallery of voicemail grievances bemoaning the lack of new material from the Harlem rapper. The messages complain about being “tired of listening to “soft ass rap…I woke […]
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Panel: Jon Alcindor, Kyle Brayton, Soraya Brouwer, Aidan Hanratty, Sophie Kindreich, Cayley MacArthur, Jess Melia, Michelle Myers, Warren O’Neill & Sindhuja Shyam. 1. Tuscan Leather Jon: The production on this, my God.. Noah Shebib is at his peak; it’s just this whirlwind of hi-hats, bass, and colorful leads. Lyrically, Drake, he sounds hungry, but sensitive thugs will be reaching for […]
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If Flying Lotus says that he wants to work with you after hearing half of one of your songs, you have to know that you’re on to a good thing. Now affiliated with both Brainfeeder and Beast Coast, this was the case with The Underachievers, Ak and Issa Dash. The track Flying Lotus heard was […]
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Promising young Westside rapper ZMoney belongs to a generation of Chicagoans, raised on dudes like Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane, who have mutated swagged-out ATL hip-hop into their own uniquely midwestern strain with its unique marble-mouth flows and roughly pretty autotune hooks. Although his music might sound at home alongside Southside drill rappers, ZMoney is […]
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August was a crazy month in hip-hop. Between the flood of mixtapes released and Kendrick’s bar-raising verse, there was a lot to take in and sort through. Not to worry though, as we’ve corralled the heatwave of hip-hop here at Truants so you don’t get lost in the sauce. Here’s the notable drops of the month […]
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Gucci Mane is no stranger to working prolifically, but 2013 has been an especially fruitful year for the Atlanta rapper. He’s dropped five solo mixtapes, four collaborative projects, and the Bricksquad compilation album is set to debut this fall. Earlier this month, Gucci released “World War 3: Molly, Gas, Lean”, a triumvirate of mixtapes rivaled […]
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The first thing you should know about Yung Lean is that he was 16 when he made “Unknown Death“. The second thing you should know is he’s from Sweden. Some readers may automatically be turned off by his age and brush him off as illegitimate but separate his young age from the music, as one would with an […]
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