Tag: Indie hip hop
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Bas: From Dreamville’s Protégé to Cultural Powerhouse
I first discovered Bas back when J. Cole was starting to put him on the radar. I remember seeing his mixtape Quarter Water Raised Me Vol. 2 floating around online, and it clicked because Cole had just dropped “Cousins” on SoundCloud in 2013 — a track featuring Bas that also doubled as promotion for the…
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Majo (sickoftheinternet) – Toronto’s Best-Kept R&B Secret
Daniel Cantu | August 27th, 2025 Back in 2017 when I was hard-core music producing for rappers and singers around the US and mainly the Chicagoland area, I used to network a lot with producers and beatmakers. One name that always stood out to me was Jordon Manswell — one of the dopest producers I’ve…
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MERGES: A Genuine Discovery in the New Wave of R&B
Daniel Cantu | August 25, 2025 I first found MERGES as a mention on Soulection founder Joe Kay’s album as a featured artist on one of the songs. His album had been out for a little while, and I finally got around to listening. She crooned her soft, sweet vocals over the chorus line of…
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Westside Gunn: He’s More Than Rap — He’s Building a Cultural Movement
I first discovered Westside Gunn in the most 2020s way possible — through an Instagram story. A follower of mine had posted one of his songs, and my curiosity got the best of me. The moment I hit play, I was locked in. His vibe instantly gave me flashes of ’90s hip-hop — that grimy,…
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LOONY: A Voice as Soft as Silk, With Lyrics That Hit Home
Again from the Northern Vibes playlist on Apple Music, I stumbled onto a voice I couldn’t ignore — LOONY. My introduction came through her 2021 EP soft thing, and the first track I ever played was Faceless. From the moment it started, I was pulled in by her lush, airy vocals that seemed to float…
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CHANCE THE RAPPER – “AND HE BACK”
After six long years of dropping singles and features, Chance the Rapper has finally returned with a full project — Starlight. For fans across the country, and especially for Chicago, this album feels like a breath of fresh air. I’ll be honest: The Big Day was good, but it didn’t stick with me the way…
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Obed Padilla – A Chicano Storyteller Cutting Through The Noise
It’s not every day you see Chicano artists breaking through the noise of today’s music landscape — but Obed Padilla, hailing from Oceanside, California, is doing exactly that. With a style that blends sample-based beats, soulful instrumentals, alt-rap flows, and poetic lyricism, Padilla has carved a lane that feels both fresh and deeply rooted in…
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Don’t Tap the Glass: A Bold Move by Tyler, the Creator
DON’T TAP THE GLASS was dropped on randomly on Monday to my surprise. I do recall Tyler, the Creator previously talking about why drop an album on a Thursday night / Friday, but I didn’t think he was going to be literal about it. Besides that random point, it makes me have something to do…