Baby Kia has found his sound, and it includes a lot of screaming. When I first heard “OD CRASHIN,” I immediately put an X on both of my hands with a sharpie and started doing spin kicks in the living room. Here, the Atlanta rapper conjures the spirit of M.O.P. over paranoid synths. As Alphonse Pierre was right to point out, his On The Radar freestyle would’ve been better without the guide track. Can’t win ‘em all.
Answering Machines “Pizza Driver”
Rickety guitar pop, both lo-fi and low stakes. But where is the band from? Bandcamp says Chi-Town, but YouTube tells me that the duo (?) comes out of the Lone Star State. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. "Pizza Driver" is a cut perfect for the cool evening breezes of Anytown, USA.
Bassvictim “Air on a G String”
Finally, a song that manages to reference Sisqó, Johann Sebastian Bach, and The Black Eyed Peas. There are worse options for music enthusiasts in the market for a new “neo-electroclash banger.” Now I have a hankering to listen to “Wearing My Rolex” by Wiley, for whatever reason.
AZÚCAR “ꜛʙ͎ꜜꜛᴏ͎ꜜꜛᴜ͎ꜜꜛɴ͎ꜜꜛᴄ͎ꜜꜛᴇ͎ꜜ”
From the track title alone, it wouldn’t be hard to guess that we are deep in SoundCloud land here. The artist refers to this one as “ethereal bounce,” and you know what? Fair play. I think I hear Sissy Nobby poking out of vast sheets of sound, but I can’t be sure. It sounds like Belong showed up at a bounce party and started jamming. Tip!
I was not up on Butter 08 until a few days ago. The Grand Royal supergroup—Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori and Yuka Honda, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion drummer Russell Simins, filmmaker Mike Mills, and Skeleton Key percussionist Rick Lee—made one record and peaced out. “9MM” is a different kind of breakbeat hardcore, all fuzz bass and shouting. Some might call it party grunge. I’m calling it John’s Throwback Pick of the Week.
MIX OF THE WEEK: Crimedawgbylaw “Milwaukee Rap, Vol. 4: CHICKEN BOYZ”
If you are looking for an audio companion to my interview with Run Along Forever, jump into this recently-released mix celebrating everything Chicken Boyz, AyooLii’s crew with Maz G, Ad Huncho, OTB Pablo and Alpha P. Even within Milwaukee’s post-Certified Trapper landscape, there is a specific sonic viewpoint here. The mix is all jolly MIDI, whopping kicks and hysterical claps. It sounds like a heavy hand on the soda gun—a lot of syrup.