Featuring tracks by 2g Kaash, patchymate, Glen the Saiyan, 454, Central Cee and more essential artists
Follow our Unleashed playlist on Spotify to stay up to date with each and every week’s must-hear tracks:
2g Kaash – “LongLiveFizzle”
Irving, Texas rapper 2g Kaash hit his stride during the early months of the pandemic, with singles like “Nobody Love” and “2 Lit” spreading through word of mouth among local fans and industry trend-watchers. The 18-year-old showed striking emotional maturity on 2020 mixtapes like 3300 and Mixed Emotions, and his latest project On The Rise foregrounds his dense, existentially troubled songwriting.
Over the gloomy pianos of “LongLiveFizzle,” Kaash wrestles with the vicious cycles and violent traumas that encircle him. Plenty of rappers describe themselves as “hungry,” but 2g Kaash speaks of starvation in the literal sense, like the stomach pains are fresh in his memory. – Jack Ellis
patchymate – “Apathetic”
Philly-based patchymate presents their latest project, Avian, a “laptop rock” exploration of love’s inevitable deterioration and what happens next. On “Apathetic,” patchymate plays the passive lover who doesn’t realize how scared they are until the song nearly comes to an end. Compared to previous Avian singles like “Mirages” and “Perception’s really all that you have,” “Apathetic” feels subdued as if hesitant in its own instrumentation. The track is neither a bold declaration of mounting frustration nor a bittersweet acceptance that all love is imperfect. Rather, “Apathetic” represents the vulnerability of being held by a stranger as the sun rises and not knowing how to tell them just how strange they make you feel. “So you hold me / In the mornin’ / It’s like my head gets dark / And the bed’s on fire / When you told me / No, you warned me / Of bein’ too honest when you’re especially quiet.” – Katie Manners
Glen the Saiyan – “Slaughterhouse”
In Glen the Saiyan’s mind, any comparisons made of him to another artist are null by default. If one were to tell the Brooklyn-based rapper that he kind of sounds like Earl Sweatshirt or Navy Blue, he’d promptly respond by citing the hook on “Slaughterhouse,” the lead single off his double mixtape Serpent Road / SAIYAMANIFESTO: “Shut the fuck up / Get the fuck up / Out my face.” On the José Benjamin Escobar-produced track, Saiyan expresses his individuality through a megaphone, making it known that he resides and creates in a self-constructed bubble that is impenetrable by unwanted forces. – Millan Verma
Lil Double 0 – “BEEN SOLID”
19-year-old Lil Double 0 has distinguished himself in the Memphis rap scene with remarkable speed. He started releasing music last summer, and he’s already built an eager audience and inked a deal with Future’s illustrious Freebandz imprint. Lil Double 0’s new project Walk Down Gang plays like a spirited all-night freestyle session, and “BEEN SOLID” highlights his gift for building momentum without losing his train of thought. – Jack Ellis
18veno – “Blocc Life”
18veno made a name for himself by being uncompromisingly authentic. The late rapper possessed a rare duality that allowed him to illustrate the grim horrors of his predicament in the streets with a hard-nosed humor that made them easy to digest. 18veno’s posthumous album, Space Route, is a lament to the star that would’ve been if he was not fatally shot this January at the age of 19.
On “Blocc Life,” one of Veno’s most “radio-ready” tracks to date, the South Carolina artist chronicles a day-in-the-life by stringing his charred vocals over Its2Ezzy and Cv‘s production. – Millan Verma
Central Cee – “Day In The Life”
West London rapper Central Cee is currently enjoying a star turn in his home country, thanks in part to the masterful Wild West mixtape he released in March and the series of buzzy singles (“Loading,” “Commitment Issues”) he rolled it out with. Like many Wild West standouts, “Day In The Life” combines incisive storytelling with jazzy UK drill production, using a bright backdrop for Cee’s graphic details. “Came to the bando healthy, left with a dusty cough.” – Jack Ellis
Big Scarr ft. Enchanting – “IDL”
Last year, South Memphis rapper Big Scarr signed to 1017 Records with just a handful of songs to his name, after his cousin and fellow 1017 artist Pooh Shiesty introduced his label boss Gucci Mane to Scarr’s first single “Make A Play.” The macho charisma Scarr exhibits on “Make A Play” animates his debut tape Big Grim Reaper, which is bolstered by stuttering, trunk-rattling drums.
On “IDL,” Big Scarr trades bars with another 1017 labelmate, the Fort Worth rapper Enchanting, who steals the show with a venomous flip of an old Gucci hit. “I love things about him, but I don’t love him / And if he ain’t tryna spend that paycheck on me, then it’s fuck him.” – Jack Ellis
hahapoison – “Cryin’ inside a laser tag arena”
With a title like “Cryin’ inside a laser tag arena,” Sweden’s hahapoison‘s latest release evokes nostalgia for plywood walls spray-painted with Day-Glo and slick with preteen sweat. What was once a retrofuturistic venue for youthful vengeance, laser tag arenas have now faded out of fashion and quietly exist as liminal spaces in the minds of artists like hahapoison. As menacing chords meet chiptune melody, listeners are ushered through a wave of fog machine smoke until the beat drops and the first infrared shots are fired. hahapoison’s reverberating vocals are densely layered over pounding bass that would encourage any 12-year-old to betray their best friend in the heat of (laser-)battle, but the song’s nostalgic overtones ultimately inhibit it from becoming a simple hype track. As For Sale signs festoon the storefronts of our youth, we are faced with the reality that we are all losers crying in the laser tag arena of time. – Katie Manners
454 – “ANDRETTI”
In a recent interview with FADER, Florida artist 454 offered an apt mission statement for his debut project 4 REAL: “[I want] a person to listen to it and have a joyful feeling, as if they got cotton candy, or seen a rainbow, or seen a cool sunset.” The 22-year-old’s mixtape follows through on this intention, conjuring a radiant atmosphere with blissed-out beat choices and speed-shifting melodies. On the self-produced single “ANDRETTI,” 454 weaves playful bravado and heartfelt sincerity into a delicate tapestry of keys and synths. – Jack Ellis
screwyounick – “nothing stays the same!”
Artist manager, curator, and “cult leader” screwyounick encapsulates the work of 50+ artists, performers, and producers in his latest hour-long compilation album from me 2 you. The project is a three-year labor of love released on screwyounick’s 18th birthday, with multiple features from artists including lil skele, Jacksen, Re:, and bedhead. from me 2 you‘s tracklist is seemingly eclectic in its influences ranging from trap to EDM to R&B to Midwest emo. Ultimately though, screwyounick’s curation weaves the tracks together in order to create a cohesive product that feels like a group of friends just hanging out and making music.
As the album culminates in the pure-pop-punk hit “nothing stays the same!” featuring Laz-y and Skrwd there is a sense of closure that goes beyond the song’s placement at the album’s end. “So funny how fast everything can change” seems like a lyrical understatement when included in an album that was compiled over screwyounick’s formative teen years. Now 18, our curator has already started work on the second compilation album, which proves that some things might just stay the same. – Katie Manners