Destinee Lynn
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.
3hirtyk – “Pump Fakers”/”Free My Dawgs”
I can’t pretend these round-ups are comprehensive. There are huge corners of the city that are blind spots to me, and perhaps the biggest is the South Side, whose rappers I hear the least about. By all accounts it’s a robust scene, even if it doesn’t make a fraction of the buzz that the city’s North Side does. One South Sider who’s got my ear now is 3hirtyk, a dead-serious presence with a focused, breathless flow. His rhymes are dotted with South Side landmarks and locations so specific you could plug them into your GPS. Since I was behind the curve on him, I’m sharing two of his tracks here. “Pump Fakers” has the line I can’t shake from my head: “When you live on 94th how you from the trenches?/I grew up around trap houses, pipes and syringes.” “Free My Dawgs” sounds a bit more like some of the North Side acts that 3hirtyk periodically collaborates with—it’s got the slap—and has a striking video partially set in the eerily deserted Grand Avenue mall.
Destinee Lynn – “Broke Boyz”
If rapping doesn’t pan out for Destinee Lynn, she’s got a backup plan. The R&B-singer-turned-rapper also owns the Fantasy Girl Hair Boutique on Mitchell Street, and she’s brought the same drive to her music career as she has her business, touring around the country and building bridges outside the city, collaborating with artists like North Carolina’s DJ Luke Nasty. Her latest video “Broke Boyz” is a prime showcase for her mix of ferocity and glamour. She matches the bluster of the beat, spitting in a hard flow that makes most of the mumbly men in the rap scene sound very, very lazy by comparison.
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MB Shoota – “Regardless”
MB Shoota touches on the sugary, swaggy pop of early ’10s acts like the Rich Kidz on this one, a highlight from his ingratiating latest project, Money Counting Music Vol. 1. The album's title is a little misleading: An unabashed romantic, Shoota is more interested in matters of the heart than he is financial concerns. If that makes him sound a little out of step with his harder peers in the Milwaukee rap scene, then so be it. He’s got great melodic instincts and writes some seriously sweet songs. The entire album is highly recommended if you have even a modest soft spot for this sound.
Lil Chicken and Jigg – “Fast Cash Babies”
I try not to cover the horse-race aspect of the local rap scene too much; you can lose a lot of time and energy trying to predict which artists and songs are going to blow. But some tracks bring out my inner A&R rep, and this is one of them: This one sounds like a hit. Lil Chicken and Jigg channel Lil Baby and Gunna at their wildest and most inhibited, testing out one ridiculously catchy vocal tic after another. The track is inching toward 200,000 streams even without a video, so it’s not going out on too much of a limb to predict it could make real waves once it’s got a visual accompaniment to share. Save for its glorious drive-time DJ mixes, V100.7 has been skittish about putting Milwaukee artists in regular rotation, but imagine how brilliant this one would sound on the station.
Shle Berry and Nile – “Bloom”
Back on the more alternative side of the rap spectrum, Shle Berry and Nile have both been wonderful breaths of fresh air the last year or two, so it’s a treat hearing them team up on a track, especially one with a Mike Regal beat this smooth. Shle Berry slips in and out of her R&B lothario mode, while Nile’s serpentine verse slides around with shades of Andre 3000. Filmed in the Domes, the Gonzales Visuals video complements the beat’s old-school, Sony Walkman aesthetic.
Taiyamo Denku ft. Genesis Renji – “Filthy”
Speaking of welcome duos putting their own spin on the spirit of the hip-hop of yesteryear, workaholics Taiyamo Denku, lover of all things grimy, teams up with Genesis Renji for his latest single, produced by Dcypha. Even the lingo feels like a throwback: “filthy, raw, dirty, dope” they rap on the chorus. The track lives up to that billing.
414 Camm x RT – “Lemme Know Some”
Oh I love this Emazon beat—he took it back to Luniz with this one. Even more so than most Milwaukee beatmakers Emazon plays up the Bay Area stamp that’s all over the city’s sound right now, and this beat’s cold slap flatters 414 Camm and RT, two relative upstarts whose flows contrast each other nicely. Camm’s is classic and stately, while RT’s is weird, wily and modern.
WeUpNexxt – “Blow Tales”
If you’d asked me if I needed another local riff on “Plug Talk” before I heard this I would have given you the obvious answer. But I could listen to the WeUpNexxt guys riff on just about anything; they have a loose, playful vibe that makes them sound like they’re always laughing at their own private joke. Even on a relatively low-energy track like this these guys are such a blast to listen to.
Picasso The Creator – “Dedicated Trapper”
That patient slur, those unhurried punchlines, the melodic lilt—I’ve never heard a Milwaukee rapper commit to Gucci Mane's whole thing quite this devotedly. Like Gucci, though, Picasso has a sly, dry sense of humor that sneaks up on you.
The Royal Waev ft. IshDARR and BoodahDARR – “Checks & Balances”
The Royal Waev is a producer duo featuring Royalty The Producer and Playwai Fargo, two acts with ties to the city’s Cream City Motion collective. They’ve recruited two of that clique’s big names for their grandiose debut single “Checks & Balances,” IshDARR and BoodahDARR, both of whom really go in on this one. It’s as stylish as you’d expect given the talent involved.
In Case You Missed It
Looking for more? We took a deep dive into the weird, wonderful world of Milwaukee rap reaction videos. You can also read our interview with the MT Twins ahead of their new album, due March 10, check out our profile on Reggie Bonds about his new direction, and watch the vibrant new Zed Kenzo video.
