The prolific producers offer a wide view of SoundCloud’s third wave
Despite oftentimes working behind-the-scenes in Atlanta’s flourishing hip-hop ecosystem, producers Dolphin Talk and Stephen Niday have stepped into a limelight of their own with compilation tape ACTION PARK. The 10-track project is chock-full with over a dozen vocal acts, all of whom have been meticulously hand-picked by Dolphin and Niday. Production wise, the two artists display their earnest chemistry and uncanny attention to detail, crafting both minimalist and maximalist beats while also treating each with the care of perfectionists.
The array of artists on ACTION PARK—ranging from budding legends to bubbling newcomers—should pique the interest of even the most casual listener. While the lineup is anchored in Atlanta, featuring cuts from 404 veterans Atl Smook, Tony Shhnow, and Pollàri, Stephen Niday and Dolphin Talk also collected sounds from across the Atlantic, with Serane sewing together a string of French flexes all the way from Paris, and Rx Papi venting about his most recent relationship from the solemn, sub-zero city of Rochester, New York.
“Honestly, this project came together because we had a lot of unreleased songs laying around,” says Dolphin Talk, “the original version of the tape was literally just a playlist of songs we felt like were too good not to drop. But then we started to think about it as a project instead of a loose collection of songs, and it definitely evolved into something more concrete and thought-out.”
ACTION PARK exists as a sampler plate that showcases some of the most endearing rising voices in music. The tape starts off with a punch on “Paper Boy,” as Tony Shhnow confidently stomps all over Dolphin Talk and Niday’s “Saturday Night Fever”-esque production, delivering stank-face witticisms that seemingly run through the rapper’s veins. “‘Paper Boy’ was a beat we had set aside for Tony as soon as we made it,” explains Stephen Niday, “But you never know who a beat will end up with—’mr. freeze’ was another beat we originally played for Tony, who slowed it down then decided to rap on something else. 2 days later we had a session with Atl Smook and he immediately got on it and it turned out to be fire!” The tape’s other highlights include “Check!” by MuddyMya, “thin line between love and hate” by Rx Papi, and “85 north freestyle (spin)” by RobOlu and 3AG Pilot.
On “Check!” MuddyMya, the distinguished Atlanta newcomer, exhibits her serene vocals while simultaneously issuing threats to whoever wants it: ‘Okay you upset / you want smoke okay I’m with that / I got 7.62s she thought I was sayin’ digits.”
On “thin line between love and hate,” Rx Papi vents about his relationship issues with transparency only he and RXK Nephew can attain: “Yea I love you but I just can’t do it no more / Everything was gucci in the beginning / Nothing lasts forever who was I kidding… I told you shit I never told my mom / I thought we was solid I thought we had a bond… I wish it woulda went a different route / No matter how hard we tried we couldn’t figure it out / I walk in this bitch like ‘I figured it out’ / My name not on the lease so now you kickin’ me out.”
Undoubtedly, the most electric track on the tape is “85 north freestyle (spin).” Aptly named after a stretch of highway that takes Georgians like RobOlu and 3AG Pilot from Atlanta to their hometown of Cobb County, Niday and Dolphin Talk laced a menacing melody with thunderous 808s, over which 3AG and RobOlu swap verses, sounding like two guys freestyling outside on the street to a crowd that becomes more enthused with every bar. It’s loose, energetic, and nonchalantly intimidating.
Both Dolphin Talk and Niday assure that ACTION PARK 2 is definitely coming at some point. But in the meantime, the producers have shared that they “have a new EP planned, as well as a few tapes with specific artists. So stay tuned!”
Listen to ACTION PARK below.