4kMicheal, “BOA”
The cinematography for Baltimore rapper 4KMicheal’s “BOA” video is so perfectly-viewed as, with fantastically captured scenes — with spooky shade grading and dynamic framing — that it feels much more like a small movie. But joined with the song’s lyrical material, it is crystal clear as to why the Vlad-directed video clip requires that route. Eerie synths that really feel like they’re straight out of a thriller, 50 {7f6434681cf846e799d512010ca13212984943b276111945a738aae9a67b65e7}-screamed lyrics and crunchy, heart-pounding superior-hats support push the tale of a male (4kMicheal) who’s at his emotional brink and completely ready to inflict hurt on other individuals.
The video starts with a masked guy withdrawing an outrageous amount of money of funds from a push-as a result of Bank of America ATM (while on foot) he then provides it to another guy at a close by laundromat. From there, 4kMicheal and his accomplice comply with them and ambush the receiver for his dufflebag of hard cash before screeching off in the auto. “BOA” is a person of those people unusual, but sweet, situations when a songs video is in total alignment with the tune remaining executed.
Lil Gray, “Doubted Myself”
In the context of DMV road rap, Landover, Md.’s Lil Grey excites due to the fact, although he does abide by some local conventions in terms of move pattern and vocal delivery, he paints outside those traces with passion and relieve. You get a obvious indication of his personality by means of the tunes: enjoyable, unpredictable, eccentric and assured. All of that can be felt when he switches a rhyme scheme mid-verse or vocalizes a seem outcome as a substitute of incorporating the true sound result. His most recent launch, “10B410,” is comprehensive of those people times. The 16-monitor challenge is largely manufactured by Sparkheem, the Prince George’s County native who’s been steadily elevating the DMV rap seem with his tendency to include playful, lighthearted synths and samples of your favorite ’90s sitcom topic songs in his beats.
One particular of the standout songs on the new tape is “Doubted Myself,” which finds Grey acknowledging how harmful it is not to feel in yourself. Over and above the message, it is the facts that’ll continue to keep you occupied in this article. Gray teeters between a possessed wail and a poised conversational approach each and every couple of bars when he talks about ringing someone’s bell, he screams “bing!” as an alternative of having Sparkheem and fellow Prince George’s producer Spizzledoe throw in a audio chunk. And for regional continuity, when he rhymes “carry it,” “married it” and “Harriett,” he doubles down on his Maryland drawl, resulting in them sounding far more like “curry,” “murray” and “Hurriett.”
Shordie Shordie, “Seattle”
If there is one particular matter you can depend on Shordie Shordie for, it is to serenade the girls with his gravelly voice. Singing about the joys and pitfalls of appreciate is what has assisted the growing star from Northeast Baltimore progressively plant himself in the mainstream hip-hop sphere. He’s more solidified that spot with “Memory Lane,” a new 12-monitor collaborative undertaking with platinum-selling Canadian producer Murda Beatz (Drake, Migos, Travis Scott) — placing Shordie in a put the place no other Baltimore rapper has been in the latest memory, if at any time.
Murda Beatz’s generation does not automatically add anything at all to Shordie’s arsenal that was not now existing, exterior of a extra prestigious hip-hop relationship. Album reduce “Seattle” is the closest that Shordie receives to uncharted territory on this tape. He has normally been much more of a singer than a rapper, even nevertheless his output design and style, facial area tats and gold fronts trigger persons to categorize him as the latter. But even when he does elongate his vocals, they have a rap-like bounce to them.
“Seattle” is unique in that it’s purely R&B in track composition and in the sort of emoting that he does on it. The tune functions him speaking about an timeless enjoy he has for a female who is linked to some of his worst enemies — a “Romeo & Juliet”-esque tale. The problem is what sparks the yearning that we hear on the observe, and it teases a layer to Shordie’s artistry that would be a enjoyment to see extra of going ahead.
Jayy Grams, “Late for the Bus”
Jayy Grams entered the broader public’s consciousness in 2018, when, as a superior school pupil, he went to New York to seem on famous hip-hop radio display “Sway’s Universe” to spit a Friday early morning freestyle that wowed those who had been formerly unfamiliar. It was distinct that the West Baltimore native’s rap model was significantly much more in line with the boom bap audio of ’90s New York City (just before he was even born), with a concentrate on storytelling and punchlines. Because of that, Grams’s identify does not typically will come up when men and women are listing their beloved Baltimore rappers the most popular artists in the metropolis shoot for a type which is additional akin to an interpretation of Philly’s Meek Mill or to what is coming out of areas like Atlanta and Louisiana.
But luckily for Grams, Harlem veteran Smoke DZA took him less than his wing. Now, the 21-calendar year-aged has carved out a place that he can exist in by himself, with a tape titled “G.R.A.M.S.” currently being his latest. Highlighted keep track of “Late for the Bus” receives to the coronary heart of why Grams is so particular. Gradual and brooding, with that signature saxophone-sampling, 8-track drum kick of hip-hop’s past, he spends the song’s two minutes reminiscing about what life was like as an adolescent knucklehead who woke up late, fooled around in the university hallways and in no way prepared on heading to college. As rap continues to evolve, it is often enjoyment to see how people today perform with classic appears that they weren’t all around to witness in real time.
IDK, “Just Like Martin”
Prince George’s County rapper IDK shines by not just due to the fact of his ability to weave alongside one another conceptual narratives in his audio, but also since he’s a master at presentation and how he rolls that materials out. Exactly where the the greater part of his friends — the two community and countrywide — allow new music do the vast majority of talking for them, IDK extends his impression and get to with how he frames his do the job.
In 2019, he began his individual imprint label referred to as Clue, in partnership with Warner Records. At the close of 2020, he was the narrator and music supervisor for Kevin Durant’s Prince George’s basketball-targeted documentary, “Basketball County: In The H2o,” and as a result of that released “IDK & Pals 2,” a combine tape that doubled as the doc’s soundtrack. And just final 7 days, IDK and Clue continued their quick streak of potent moves with Radio Clue, his individual hour-long monthly are living exhibit on Apple Music radio. In its first episode, he premiered a new monitor titled “Just Like Martin,” an ode to comedian legend Martin Lawrence, who has Landover roots.
The track, which is created by St. Louis’s ChaseTheMoney, builds on IDK’s appreciate for automobile-rattling bass and industrial synths. These sounds assistance drive dwelling his themes of having out of your seat and producing some thing of you, which, since of his latest career moves, have some motivational gas rather than the “looking down on people today who haven’t produced it the place I have” mindset that some rap takes. This is also exactly where he gets most inventive lyrically, like when he dismisses pilgrims to bolster his productivity (“No extra settlin’ ”).