What I’ve noticed about a lot of my favorite rap mixtapes of the year so far is that they’re full of thoughts you normally couldn’t say because they’re too vulnerable—or shouldn’t say because they’re too out of pocket. Maybe it’s because so much of the popular music seems so polished and market-tested that to hear rappers get on the mic and truly say whatever the hell they want is essential.
Each of the 10 rappers on this list is doing this in their own way, whether that be through the cerebralness of UK road rap, or the way-too-honest hilarity of Arkansas punchline marathons, or the smudged menace of Philly ghoul music. Some of this music makes me feel uneasy, some of it might get you a meeting with HR if you play it too loud on the job, but I deeply mess with the way nothing is stopping them from getting their shit off.
Jpay: Top 1
Jpay has a voice like he has po’ boy chunks stuck in his throat, like post-match interview Harry Kane was born a No Limit soldier. Over simmering Beats by the Pound-lite basslines with a small-town raggedness, the New Orleans go-getter tells loosely connected tales with the
mild exhaustion of a gumshoe in a crime novel. What happens to be wearing him down on Top 1, though, is a hard life of tricking: Flying women out (usually from Grambling State University or LSU), sending them black trucks, and transferring them funds through Zelle. This isn’t a lifestyle supported by Kalshi promos, he has to hustle to keep it up, because the Saks Fifth shopping sprees and Top Golf dates ain’t paying for themselves.
Bby Kell: Straight Pop
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