Evan Nabavian‘s wrist looks like a bowl of Lucky Charms.
The auteurs and the cultural ambassadors forgot about nasty mixtape cuts. Shrink wrapped albums with J. Cole and Post Malone features might mean you get to tell Ryan Seacrest whom you’re wearing. But it’s not the same as making something DJ Swamp Izzo can scream over. As a gentleman wrote on Twitter Sunday night, “Grammys got too many real instruments when they gonna play the Pierre Bourne drum kit.” I resolve to keep up with Strictly 4 The Traps N Trunks this year. I’m not kidding — here’s the RSS feed I made.
I caught Atlanta producer Mooktoven’s new mixtape because he has a song with Lil Keed and Young Nudy right in the middle. Lil Keed is a Young Thug protege who uses the piercing pitch of his voice and a propulsive flow to give the track urgency. His co-star is Mr. Hellizyoudoinn who lends world-class adlibs in the background, screaming like he’s hitting the beach at Normandy. Nudy cameos and a siren and a kickdrum do the rest of the work. It’s bombastic and heedless and uses exactly enough sounds to move your heart rate. No clunky concepts, no manifestos, no overwrought mythology, no politics. Just music that moves the room.
