When he’s done with rap journalism, Lucas Foster will have a nice career as a presidential debate moderator.
For all the hand-wringing about the death of SoundCloud as a streaming service or rap subgenre, the stream and scene continues to make room for experimentation that would not happen outside of its fertile soil. A song like this, one which rips auto-tune post-trap into tiny little pieces and puts them back together with glue mined from glitch pop, 100 gecs, and nite(mare)core influence, could not come from anywhere else (your Spotify algorithm would not, in a million years, give you something this interesting).
David Shawty & Yungster Jack, the two newest ranking members of my Rap Name Unintentional Comedy Power Rankings, made something not just innovative and interesting, but genuinely special. The Seattle rappers cut their teeth on SoundCloud over the last few years, making melodic auto-tune records that were pleasant enough to gain a following, but unrecognizable in contrast to what they do now. In the last few months they have created a new sound that remakes trap with nods to 100 gecs and bladee. A stop-start, hyper glitched-up approach to rap that throws every single rule out the window (their latest hit is “Kiss on My Own Dick”). They are having it both ways: simultaneously blowing up with 14-year-olds on Tik-Tok and the talk of all experimental pop enthusiasts from RateYourMusic to Twitter. It’s well-deserved, once you click play it will stay on repeat for a week.
