Mano Sundaresan All roads on SoundCloud lead to DJ Phat. For the last half decade, the tastemaker from New Jersey has hosted countless songs by some of the platform’s most talented rap acts on his page. Virtually everyone in the current buzzing wave of Plugg and Plugg-adjacent rappers including Tony Shhnow, 10kdunkin, YTB and Surf Gang has … Read more
Most people who appreciate music eventually start to speculate about it. “How did they make this song?” becomes “How did the song do?” Albums are suddenly not only pieces of music, they’re eras, rollouts, first week sales. Music discovery as a way to broaden taste becomes a race to who found an artist first. Some … Read more
Before changing how a wave of rappers rapped, before dropping his SoundCloud classic Underdog at the age of 16, before walking in smelly traps and remixing Spongebob songs and mesmerizing every online teenager with an ear to the orange, Duwap Kaine was a literal child who rapped under the name DolphinGod. Now, thanks to some … Read more
Where were you the first time you heard “Broke Boi”? For me, Playboi Carti’s entrance on that song paired with producer MexikoDro’s seismic drop opened the doors to a world of online music. Carti, Warhol.ss, Uno, Fauni and, of course, the BeatPluggz producer collective. Back then, their beats sounded like nothing else. Blown-out, blissed-out collisions of Atlanta … Read more
Publications’ year-end rankings are supposed to carry authority and personality. They should argue passionately for a specific picture of the year in music. But what actually tends to happen is some sort of muted compromise around event releases and genre tokenism. In the last few years, this truth has shown itself even more as people’s … Read more
We’ve heard a lot about the death of live music this year, but to what extent does that affect a rap scene like MA’s in which many of the artists never had access to those spaces in the first place? It’s been well documented that Boston rappers have historically been shut out of venues due … Read more
Another one from the old Substack: 2019 was years ago but here’s a list. Connis – Conn(is) This album will always feel like my last semester of college. Trip after trip down Rt. 2 (road road road rest stop road road field road cows…) feeling like MA is empty and everything, not knowing where I’d … Read more
In late 2018, I talked on the phone with billy woods for two hours. I was a senior in college, and I interviewed him as part of a final project on Black radical art. I don’t know why he said yes, or why he was so generous with his time, but it’s to date one … Read more