Gwapo Chapo
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.
Lil Chicken – Story of My Life
A decade or so ago, the dominant story in Milwaukee rap was the divide between the city’s North Side and East Side scenes. Though just a few miles removed from each other, those scenes operated like separate worlds, with artists rarely crossing over. That’s changed quite a bit in the 2010s, as artists have made a concerted effort to bridge those gaps. Yet for all the strides they've made, there’s still an enormous pool of talent on the North Side that hardly receives any attention east of the Milwaukee River.
So let’s kick off this month’s Hip Hop Round-Up by spotlighting several of the artists that are making real noise on the North Side (and racking up massive streams) yet falling under the radar of most of the Milwaukee media. And it only seems right to begin with one of the artists that’s making the most noise of all, Lil Chicken, a young chameleon of a rapper who continually finds new sounds and styles to adopt on each track, and somehow makes all of them work for him. “Story of My Life” is another knockout, a manifesto that opens with a stratospheric line that sets the tone for the whole track: “Usually I just rap, I don’t write, but I started because I finna write a book about my life…” And we’re off. On some of his recent tracks Chicken has taken on a little bit of a Rich Homie Quan lilt to his voice, and here he sells the hell out of it. His dance moves in the video are an added bonus.
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Gwapo Chapo – “David Ruffin”
Gwapo Chapo & Looney Babie – “Extortion”
If you’re going to invite comparisons to another artist, it might as well be one of the best, and with his unforced slur and understated punchlines Gwapo Chapo recalls none other than Gucci Mane. And like Gucci Mane, his flow is so effortlessly melodic he can turn even a throwaway aside into a hook. Sometimes the hardest part about writing these roundups is picking which song to feature from any given artist, so I’m going to cheat and highlight two: “David Ruffin,” which might be his catchiest track of the year so far, and the masterfully efficient banger “Extortion,” which pairs Chapo with one of his regular sparring partners, Looney Babie, whose hoarse voice cuts a mighty nice contrast to Chapo’s glycerin-smooth flow. Both of these guys are writing some seriously memorable verses.
Velle Vell – “Bounce Out”
“Chiraq made/Mil raised, on the same shit,” Velle Vell raps, explaining his pedigree on “Bounce Out,” though the song’s West Coast slap owes more to the Bay Area than the Midwest. That Vell sometimes raps in the animated yammer of Too Short only underscores the track’s Oakland vibe. Nonetheless, there’s a combustible energy to the song that’s pure Chicago; like the greats of that city’s drill scene, Vell is relentless in his rapid splatter of boasts and gun play. He packs a lot of bars into a lean two minutes.
Marratedr x IshDARR – Ali Boys EP
Rappers are collaborative by nature, so it’s rare to see a pairing that surprises me, but this one was genuinely unexpected. I have no idea how IshDARR, one of the Milwaukee rap scene’s most visible stars, crossed paths with Marratedr, one of the city’s most uncompromising, under-the-radar rap provocateurs, but I’m glad he did. Their brief, three-song collaborative EP Ali Boys works precisely because the two are such opposites: Marratedr’s flow is weird, ornery and introverted, where IshDARR’s is bright and extraverted. It’s a trip hearing IshDARR a little out of his element; Marratedr’s cantankerous trap is a far cry from the party music IshDARR usually specializes in. Here’s hoping IshDARR’s profile helps call a little more attention to a rapper who very much deserves a wider audience, and who’s been on his A-game lately. Marratedr has flooded his Soundcloud page with new songs this spring, and many of them are remarkable. (Check out Mar’s solo track “JOHN LENNON***,” which is just massive.)
Shle Berry – “When You’re Ready”
Shle Berry might be the most unabashedly romantic rapper in Milwaukee. With every track she puts her heart on her sleeve, musing on the complexities of intimacy with the suave confidence of an ’80s R&B singer (she’s the kind of artist who can sing “damn, girl” without a lick of irony). Her songwriting tends to be straightforward, but there’s a lot of wisdom in it, and her latest single “When You’re Ready” is no exception. “It’s about digging someone who’s also digging you, but isn't quite ready to take that leap with you,” Shle writes. “Respectfully, you give them space until they're ready.”
$HUNMILLION$ - What I Made Today EP
21-year-old rapper $HUNMILLION$ has only been on the local radar for a year or so, but in that time he’s collaborated with WebsterX and BoodahDARR, while honing his own memorably spacey style. Spotlighting his strained, unnatural flow, his new What I Made Today EP is short, delirious and mysterious, a tiny taste of a product that he hasn’t fully revealed yet. It feels more like a tease than anything else, but it’s a tantalizing one.
Thane ft. WebsterX – “Sink”
Speaking of WebsterX, he’s the latest rapper to complement a track from Thane, a Milwaukee electronic/hip-hop producer who’s drawn national attention for some magnificent tracks he’s done with acts Anderson Paak, Mick Jenkins and BJ The Chicago Kid. “Sink” is another fantastic addition to his song book, a tense, moody track that builds to a magnificent combustion.
Young Deuces – My Unapologetic Black Thoughts
You may remember Young Deuces from Streets-n-Young-Deuces, a Milwaukee crunk duo that gained some traction outside the city years ago. Those two were better known for their energy than their bars, but over the years that changed, as their music evolved, mellowed and began to draw from a wider well of influences. Young Deuces’ new solo album My Unapologetic Black Thoughts feels like the culmination of all of that. “The legal system is the bullshit they feed us/Can’t trust the law, the judge or the D.A.s, either,” Deuces raps, railing against a rigged system on “The Lie.” It’s a wise, wizened, unabashedly political album that showcases Deuces’ consistently creative flow. It also opens with one of the most effective modern rap album tropes, the no-hook “Dreams & Nightmares”-style intro.
You can stream the album on Spotify, iTunes and Tidal.
Ace Parker ft. PRZ – “Onlyxne”
Ace Parker sounds like one of those guys who raps because he can’t escape his own head. He’s a tuneful rapper prone to breezier sounds, but there’s a tension in his music between his affable persona and his slightly paranoid thoughts, and it comes to a head on his latest track “Status,” a compact little trap tune that plays off his fidgety energy. It’s a more conventionally of-the-moment song than some of the others we’ve heard from Parker, but he definitely puts his stamp on it.
BoodahDARR – “SUPA DEMI”
BoodahDARR has never shied away from risks, but this one is daring even by his standards, a tightrope walk where he seems to be trying out new flows in real time. This guy does some of his most interesting work when he’s operating without a net.
Taiyamo Denku – “Stand Back”
In November we spotlighted “Stand Back” Taiyamo Denku’s collaboration with one of the great unsung innovators of New York’s Latino hip-hop scene, Psycho Les of The Beatnuts. We’re going to spotlight it again, because it’s an awesome track—that beat is so sly and tactile—and because now it has an alluring new video from Milwaukee artist Wes Tank that fits the song’s dusky vibe perfectly.
Hiii Tribe – Essentials Vol. 1
And finally, if you’re anything like me, you’ve had trouble keeping up with Hiii Tribe, the chemically addled Milwaukee hip-hop crew that releases its music under a variety of names and projects that aren’t always easy to keep straight. That makes their new playlist mighty handy. Essentials Vol. 1 compiles 10 tracks of the group’s psychoactive rap, and taken together they make a hell of a statement. “The first thing on my mind is where the dank at?” one of the guys raps on “Run It Up,” getting right to business.
