You might find a cardboard cutout in the MLB stands of Harley Geffner puffing that loud.
YN Jay – “Coochie Scout”
YN Jay doesn’t punch his lines in so much as he funnels them. It’s relentless the way he slides his semi-whispers in, one after the next, an avalanche of coochie and Gucci bars. And his starting each line with a strong upbeat gives it a chilling feeling as it smacks you over the head, leaving the rest to trickle down your spine. His whisper is so animating, you can really feel it dancing its way through your body.
The Flint, MI rapper is one of the latest in a slew of Michigan rappers who keep popping up in the local videographers chronicling of the street rap scenes. And he’s one of the most fun too, playing around with rhythmic tics, laughing at his own bars on tracks, dubbing himself the Coochie Man, and bringing a full arsenal of signature markers like his extended “Hold onnnnnn” (which a Youtube commenter compared to the 42 Dugg whistle).
Coochie Scout has been going up for some weeks now, and it’s of course got the requisite Tik Tok challenge to complement it. It’s from his new tape Coochie Land. Listen to the tape in full to feel that spirited whisper take over your senses.
Jeff Skigh & YN Jay & Rio Da Young OG – “Wrong Things”
If you’ve ever wanted to hear Rio Da Young OG in his singing bag, this one’s for you. It’s another fun crew cut from Flint that had me going down a rabbit hole of Jeff Skigh songs. YN Jay and Jeff watch their own video with a cast of women who represent them and Rio, even down to the scarring on Rio’s face. It’s a creative video to match the smooth track.
Kasher Quon – “The 80s”
Kasher Quon’s flow never disappoints, and over a jazzy saxophone, he sounds even more powerful.
Babyface Ray – “If Wavy Was a Person” & “Tap In”
I’ve joked before that the Rap Up is really just the Michigan rap report, and it wasn’t really a joke. It’s basically all I listen to outside of Cali rap now. There’s that corny tweet that gets recycled once a year that’s like “Dudes only want to listen to hard ass rap, can we just listen to Frank Ocean on a late night drive” or whatever. Babyface Ray is my Frank Ocean. Something about his voice makes any track he graces feel very relaxing, and it’s hard to finger exactly what that is. Part of the effect also comes from his beat selection, in which he is careful to only choose ones that accentuate the subtle sort of tremor in his voice.
DaBoii – “Bill Gatin’”
“Bill Gatin’” is one of those sparse seesawing xylophone-based songs that’s easy to catch a groove to. DaBoii catches it in the video, dancing around his neighborhood, pouring out liquor, hanging by the local ball courts, and bench pressing bundles of money while tiptoeing along the rhythmic line.
Toosii – “Reminiscing”
A very sweet and heartfelt ode from Syracuse rapper Toosii to his lost friends, Niko and Tadeo, capped off by a voice recording of Niko’s mother thanking Toosii for keeping her son’s memory alive.
