YPN Merc
Milwaukee's rap scene has been in overdrive for the last few years, but we do our best to keep up with it. Once again we've rounded up our favorite recent singles, mixtapes, videos and odds and ends for our periodic Milwaukee Hip-Hop Round-Up.
Scallops Hotel - sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face
Milo is making some of the most important music in the world right now. That might sound hyperbolic, but it's true: Rap is the genre most qualified to speak to the major issues of our times, and between his indelible gift for words and knack for grounding big ideas in common experiences, Milo is one of the rappers most qualified to do it. Last year he released his best project yet, who told you to think??!!?!?!?!, and found the national recognition he deserved for it. It's an album we'll be chewing on for years to come.
Milo doesn't exclusively make important music, though. He tends to releases his weirder, more personal, sillier, lower-stakes experiments as Scallops Hotel, basically the moniker he uses for music he doesn't care at all what the rest of the world thinks about. I generally run a little colder on his music as Scallops Hotel. Some of it's a little too shapeless and low energy for my tastes, but that's not the case with his latest under that moniker, sovereign nose of (y)our arrogant face, a short but pointed album that captures him at the top of his game. Is it important like Milo's proper albums? No. But it is remarkable.
He does stuff with words I've never heard before. "To live without fear of penalty, penance, gangs, wrong, shit/Yo, to live without fear of penalty, penance, gongs rang length infinite/Maintain bonafides, confide in conifers within inside, shit," he raps on the early highlight "bought my kid a highchair," after simpler but even more potent couplet: "People pray for bounce back/People pray for the loud pack/People pray their enemies get caught in mouse traps/People pray for forgiveness and never give that." Damn. He makes this look way too easy.
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Queen Tut - The Co$t of Living EP
There isn't anybody else in Milwaukee's rap scene quite like Queen Tut, a rapper who bats around words with the same nonchalant malice that a cat plays with a trapped mouse. Her fierce, manipulative flow is her greatest asset, but she's got great taste in production, too. On her latest EP, The Co$t of Living, she recruits producer Randal Bravery to conjure dense, cosmically abstract re-imaginings of classic boom-bap sounds.
YPN Kes - "Paid Forever" / YPN Merc - "2 Phones"
Based on streams alone, few Milwaukee crews had a bigger 2017 than YPN, a rap collective so sprawling and prolific that keeping track of their output can feel like a full time job. They've been pumping out singles, videos and mixtapes at an insane clip, but these two are my favorite from the last month or so, and they give a good sense of how musically omnivorous this crew is: YPN Kes's manic "Paid Forever" rides a wild, hyphy-inspired beat, while YPN's "2 Phone" has more of a classic, soulful street-rap vibe. (If you prefer your rap even harder, faster and more drill-infused, then YPN Rex's latest mixtape is probably the way to go). It's easy to see what the appeal is: These guys absolutely tear into every track they tackle. It's going to be a joy trying to keep up with them in 2018.
Ace Parker - "Good Time"
We've only heard a handful of tracks from Ace Parker over the last year, but enough to paint a picture of what he's all about. He's an agreeable, melodic rapper with uncanny pop instincts. It's hard not to like the guy. "Good Time" is the first track I've heard from him where he brings some real heat, though. With more than a little bit of Kendrick Lamar's rasp in his voice, he goes in, packing what could have been another breezy little pop song with some real conviction. He's got a new EP coming soon, and if he can continue pairing these kinds of hooks with these kinds of performances, he could be one to watch.
Sean Sison - Bloom
As a general rule, rappers usually like to get right down to the rapping part of rap music. Sean Sison is an exception, though. On his debut full-length Bloom, he prefers to savor the ambiance. Save for a few assists from Mic Kellogg and Charley Cooks, Sison produced the entire project himself, and production is clearly his strong suit: He concocts lush, crystalline beats that pack a serious kick, taking generous cues from popular electronic music and dreamy indie rock. He sings as much as he raps, and for a newcomer he does both pretty well, but Bloom is primarily a mood piece, the kind of thing you can queue up on a lazy afternoon and get lost in. Even at its moodiest and most dramatic this is deeply comforting music.
Ryan Oddity - "Ode to Summer"
Here's another Milwaukeean who blurs the boundaries between rap and... well, not rap. Ryan Oddity specializes in soulful, chilled-out pop that borrows some of the phrasing and thump of hip-hop but scans as something very different. "Ode to Summer" is one of his better recent tracks, a love song that captures the rhythm of the seasons. "These colder days and longer nights are such a bummer," he sings wistfully.
Genesis Renji - "2 A.M."
Over a churning, fittingly nocturnal beat, Genesis Renji charts a productive night in Milwaukee while the rest of the city sleeps. "Nights in the studio/Living life like a movie tho/Pushing coupes and the roof is gone," he raps on the hook, but the song isn't entirely a victory lap. There's still work to be done, he insists. The takeaway is that success doesn't come without sacrifice.
King Bando ft. Jacob Latimore - "In My Cup"
Milwaukee R&B singer Jacob Latimore has some serious industry ambitions and a clear understanding of what plays on the radio. His weightless voice makes for an interesting contrast to King Bando's heavy-lidded flow on this smoked-out jam produced by MVP local producer Derelle Rideout, which sounds more like something out of Houston than the Midwest.
Quron Payne - "Party and Kick It"
Consider this your mid-week pick-me-up. Quron Payne comes through with a happy-rap jam that reminds me a lot of feel-good tracks that used to dominate the radio in the early days of the Obama era (whatever happened to Maino, anyway?) The video is just as cheerful and good-natured as the song itself (Payne and company go laser tagging).
Eli Cash - "Tribal Knowledge"
Here's one that gives me major Def Jux vibes. On "Tribal Knowledge," old-school-minded Milwaukee rapper Eli Cash rides an almost tribal boom-bap beat accompanied by some unusual, Ennio Morricone-esque spaghetti western guitars. It's kitschy, yes, but it's also absolutely massive.
Various Artists - Land by the Lake II
And finally, there's probably no better way to end the first Milwaukee Hip-Hop Round-Up of 2018 than with the latest Land by the Lake compilation, a kinetic sampler featuring more than two dozen local producers and rappers, divided almost evenly between veterans and relative upstarts. It's yet another reminder of how deeply collaborative the local rap scene is.
