North Carolina’s Refe Gang has been putting out music consistently since the “Emo Rap” scene was in it’s earliest stages. However, what Refe offers is different from almost everyone else in that category. Refe is more about blending MySpace and SoundCloud rather than trying to just sing on a guitar with trap drums. Refe is more about making you feel like 2008 and 2018 are the same year rather than trying to make ‘the next sound’, which they do while remaining unique and clearly themselves.
This song is a perfect example. Joshrefe, the group’s defacto leader, lays down a beat that sounds like 2008 never ended and outside of the typical trap drum style. Fellow Refe members, Johnrefe and King Christian, lay down verses about having been in love and wanting to get over it. Josh’s hook glides in between verses to be the glimmer of hope at the end of the sadness, focusing on not growing up and the power of love. The trio consistently trade off in a way that’s almost perfect, easily flowing between each other and using staples of the late 2000’s like gang vocal chants.
Refe is something that I feel most people in the scene often neglect, an honest and sincere treasure. Refe’s discography offers everything from adorable synthy-autotune trap songs and pop songs, to full on remixes of artists of the MySpace era like BrokenCYDE, Blood On The Dancefloor and even Ke$ha. If you were on MySpace and want something unique but nostalgic this is for you, it is sincere and inviting and unafraid of being itself.