Related Recs

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Xaviersobased - You See Me

If future generations wonder why hip-hop became what it became, they should look no further than Xaviersobased, the 21 year old native of the Upper West Side. Xavier dropped two albums in 2024 to much acclaim and fanfare — including a Best New Music at Pitchfork — and became a sui generis rapper of Gen Z. They’ll be talk about Nettspend being the future: Xavier, however, has been able to develop a signature style that is indebted to previous generations and still utterly modern and fresh. It’s not just the hyperpop, the jerk, the trap, crashing into the cloud rap with Xavier, it’s the vignette songwriting on “Pediatrician”, where he recalls a time where he was watching noggin in the waiting room while looking at his spongebop wallet. “I had bands on me back then, I have bands on me right now”, he says, singing with a boyish nasal. On “You See Me”, he floats, over a Rainbow Road-like beat, saying “I didn’t speed down that strip.” Somehow, it’s both laconic and intense, perfect for the kids of Gen Z, who are growing up with worse resources but more knowledge of self than ever before. The kid is laconic and understands stardom — I saw him do two songs at a warehouse in Soho and was shocked at how sober and focused he was. In 2025, Xavier will be leading the way.

@jayson

STAFF

Dec 30, 2024

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Babytron

I'm not exactly recommending the music – the sound is very specific: punchline Detroit rap about scamming over sped-up '80s samples – so much as the total package persona. When I first stumbled on Babytron in 2019, I was drawn to his ridiculous references (Jimmy Neutron, Dennis Schröder), unpopular music videos shot in electronics departments and beginner's mustache, but also the YouTube comments saying that he looked like Drake Bell or speculating about his race. In the years since, he's gotten some good press and grown out his hair yet almost everything else is the same: tons of music, low-budget videos, rapid-fire Gen-Z Mitch Hedberg bars. He still doesn't have a Wikipedia page. When I saw him live earlier this year, someone asked me how old I was, because they were pretty sure I was the oldest person there. (I’m 34.) He headlined for like 25 minutes and missed about half of his verses because he was hitting a blunt. Stop saying that I'm offbeat if I match the tempo.

@joe-coscarelli

Nov 9, 2022

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Roc Marciano

Upon realizing that the wind was bound to slap me in the face last night when I left home to buy groceries, I tightened my hooded sweatshirt, put on my big puffer coat, and pressed play on the music of Roc Marciano. Yes, it is the season of winter, where your hands tingle by way of the low temperature. This also means that it is Roc Marciano's season of drug talk, Black nationalism, mafia references, and expensive clothes and dinners. Marciano, or "Roc Marci" for those in the know, is a Long Island (Hempstead) rapper who functions as a specialist for New York hip-hop fans. He is an expert in the lush-sounding, lyrical coke-talk that has permeated in New York for my entire lifetime. However, it would be a mistake to lump Marci with the rest of the old-soul rappers that are nostalgic for Prodigy. He's much more disruptive than that. First off, he spent decades being underground with Busta Rhymes's collective Flipmode Squad before breaking through without compromising any of his original ideas. Here's the difference between Roc Marci and the traditional boom bap: he is the bridge between generations. He has the flow of Kool G Rap, the ability to be cold and cool at the same time, the grit of Prodigy, but he also has the no-drum and laconic production of Cloud rap geniuses like Lil B and current rappers like Xaviersobased. This is not an annoying kid who talks your ear off about old school hip-hop; this is a sincerely cutting-edge rapper that was able to create something new and brilliant from an already-established style. (The rapper Ka, who died in October, was a frequent collaborator of Roc Marci's. Check him out too). There's nothing like listening to Roc Marciano in the winter time. His voice is grotesquely seductive, as if he is intimidating you and whispering at you at the same time. See "Wheat 40's", where he flows over a Blaxploitation beat, and starts the song with "I have no home, I'm a rolling stone/Life's one long road, God lighten my load/On the low I might need lipo, white sold underneath the light pole/I believe police might know." Do you hear that? It is the sound of a God MC, taking what I heard growing up, and putting his own self-destructive spin on it. He has more songs that match that vibe, pure id while maintaining a veneer of style and glamour. He's a hero. So much rappers -- even rappers I adore like Conway the Machine -- took his style, and then added their spin, but it was never as good and intricate as his work. Roc Marciano is rap music. He's a trip to Brownsville while wearing a mink coat; he's a trip to the heavyweight match at Madison Square Garden in a polo jacket; he's a Five Percenter who could have been a romantic interest on Golden Girls. (Maybe that's why I connect with his music so much. That's what my vibe is, or at least the vibe I want to convey at all times). Roc Marci is cool, in an era rappers where rappers are losing their cool by either being insular, emo kids (Nettspend is a star but the music is brain-dead right now, sorry not sorry), or they're weirdly collaborating with Trump and the right wing for more fame and clout. Start with 2010's Marcberg and 2012's Reloaded --- for my money Reloaded is one of the five best rap albums of the 2010's --- and then check out his new album, The Skeleton Key, which comes out this Friday (it is produced by The Alchemist). ROC MARCI, I LOVE YOU!

@jayson

STAFF

Dec 11, 2024

Top Recs from @windy

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Basically you post about stuff you like and then tyler comes and virtually daps you up

And then you smile at your phone all day long

@windy

Jan 9, 2024

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pinback

I remember a few weeks back there was some discourse about how good the band Failure is, and I want to use this opportunity to echo a growing appreciation I’ve been seeing for the 00s indie rock band Pinback. i really mess with their album Blue Screen Life (2001), super fun, melodic, bouncy guitar music with post hardcore guitars, sugary vocal harmonies and buzzy synthesizers. While I think you’d obviously be into them if you’re into like Jimmy Eat World or Death Cab, I also would recommend for fans of The Postal Service, Frou Frou, Blonde Redhead, even like Unknown Mortal Orchestra or Stereolab. this some melancholic indie pop/post-emo with electronic elements and creative songwriting yall. If you a Pinback head, sound off in the comments - what is your favorite pinback riff…

@windy

Jan 21, 2024

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Cibo matto - Stereotype A

I loved this band for a while but I started listening to this album after someone from work played Moonchild for me (unreal song). Awesome Shibuya-kei/electronic vibes throughout, but also filled with super nerdy musical references (metal, lounge, 90s hip hop). Yeaaaaah its Kind of like if the Frost Children listened to Stan Getz and Dan the automator instead of Skrillex and Fall Out Boy. And if they were from Japan instead of like probably Minnesota or Connecticut or whatever. Sean Lennon was in the band at this point that's pretty cool. Miho hatori is so goated too I just learned the she was the original voice of Noodle in the Gorillaz. Also this cover is fire, looks like Michel gondry adaptation of I'm blue daboodeedabodie! Fav tracks: spoon, clouds, moonchild For fans of: Cornelius, stereolab, early Bjork, everything but the girl

@windy

Jan 7, 2024