We present you six rap artists who have a slightly different sound.
Hip hop is one of the most prolific music genres of our time. Nobody gets more new music delivered every Friday than rap fans. In addition to the general popularity enjoyed by the style, the low entry threshold for new artists is one of the reasons for the high number of new publications. Over the years, a certain mainstream sound developed, which today is mainly oriented towards pioneers from the southern United States, such as Travis Scott from Houston and Future from Atlanta.
808 drums and bass, trap flow and autotune often seem like no alternative, especially to newer hip-hop listeners. However, if you venture a look below the surface of the largest Spotify playlists, you will inevitably come across rap artists who sound very different. In this article we want to focus our attention on such artists. These are summarized under the admittedly somewhat incomprehensible genre term of “alternative hip-hop”. Long story short, here are six musicians pushing hip-hop boundaries.
Action Bronson
Samples from all over the world, lines with a culinary connection and rhymes that he knocks out his listeners in quick succession – this is how the recipe for success of the trained chef Arian Asllani, better known as Action Bronson, get to the point. He appears above all as an excellent storyteller on the scene. With his lyrics he creates his own world. The secret ingredient: an extra pinch of rough but intelligent humor. “Arm out the window, leave ’em crippled / Dawg, it’s been six years, I’m trying to get in contact with Pitbull / We’ve got some business to get into,” he raps on “Subzero” from the current album COCODRILLO TURBO (2022), to give just one example. His direct flow and no-frills delivery underline the humorous vibe of his music.
By his own admission, the 39-year-old chooses the majority of his samples himself. He then only instructs his producers, including his longtime friend The Alchemist, to make suitable beats out of it. These then mostly have jazz and soul bonds, which, however, are processed differently than at the height of East Coast rap. Bronson and his producers let the samples speak for themselves and only occasionally add new elements. Except for a few feature appearances, nothing new came from Baklava in 2023. We are excited to see what is simmering on his stove and will watch until then Music video for “Latin Grammys‘, a clip by Action Bronson that is as silly as it is brilliant.
JPEGMAFIA
Just like Action Bronson, in JPEGMAFIAs Works the sampling a high priority. But it will be difficult to find more similarities in the music of the two. Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, or “Peggy”, as his fans call the 33-year-old, produces abstract, chaotic beats for which he breaks down his samples into their individual parts and increases their pitch and tempo. In his production, the vocals take a back seat. JPEGMAFIA creates very raw sound images and thus distinguishes itself from the smooth, polished mainstream sound. The best example of this is his latest record, SCARING THE HOES, which he collaborates with Danny Brown (which actually deserved a spot on this list as well). On “Garbage Pale Kids‘ Peggy sampled one Japanese advertisement for packaged meat from the 1980s.
He’s out to tease. Both with its sound and with its lyrics. On the one hand, these are politically motivated: He raps – sometimes very explicitly – about police violence and racism and about his violent resistance. On the other hand, they’re oozing with internet culture and gaming references that not everyone immediately understands without googling. “They don’t even come outside, don’t ever see man’s late night like Conan / They off of that 2chan high, incels just can’t let it go like Frozen,” he raps on “Steppa Pig” from the current record SCARING THE HOES. You have to be very “terminally online” to make sense of these lines.
billy woods
Alternative rap and New York seem to have a magical connection. Billy Woods wasn’t born there, but moved to the Big Apple with his parents in the 80s. He started making music there in the late 90s. The unique selling point of the 44-year-old: his flow, which in places almost turns into the spoken word. Paired with his often abstract – sometimes cryptic – texts, which have a mysterious poetic quality, billy woods parts seem like the sermons of a man who has otherworldly knowledge. And indeed, the biography of the Armand Hammer rapper is full of experiences that, while not out of the ordinary, are at least extraordinary for a Western artist.
He spent a large part of his childhood in Zimbabwe. His father was involved in the country’s war of independence, later he was involved in the government. billy woods processed these experiences on his record AETHIOPES (2022). The album’s best track, “ASYLUM,” is the most impressive illustration of Woods’ talent. He describes a politically unstable country and a family in disarray. What is particularly interesting is how he presents these facts. Impressionistically, he picks out individual moments and describes them in great detail. The connection is made between the lines. DJ Preservation processed a for the beat sample by Ethiopian singer Alemayehu Eshete Andarge.
sonnyjim
Not only Americans can do alternative rap. Sonnyjim from London combines the laid-back style of his American role models (which include MF DOOM in particular) with UK elements, which can be found in his vocal performance in particular. There are countless underground European rappers who have embraced the boom-bap formula and have never risen above the status of better copy. Sonnyjim, on the other hand, understands that Madlib type beats and ChatGPT-esque marijuana lyrics aren’t enough. You have to internalize the culture in order to be able to represent it to the outside world. He proved that Sonnyjim meets this criterion by 2022 at the latest with his track “Barz Simpson”. Featuring features from Jay Electronia and none other than MF DOOM himself, “Barz Simpson” is a rhyming firework display of pop culture references reminiscent of Sonnyjim’s “Masked Supervillain” role model.
“I’m all over my Anna Kournikova / I had to call her over, Casanova / Pop the cork on the four poster / Score a goal like Zola and take home the Gorgonzola” he raps in his unmistakable accent. The chain of rhymes continues: “Gorbachev chop the yola, roll the Utopia / Black bottle Remy at the Grosvenor / I’m the composer, poser / Arrogant Adrien Broner, Sinatra, Sosa”. Sonnyjim isn’t trying to cosplay the New Yorker from the 90s, but rather takes up his own biography in his texts. Linked to the “New Old School” sound, Sonnyjim is slowly but surely blossoming into a recognized alternative rapper.
Sampa the Great
Hip hop meets classic African sounds at Sampa the Great. Unlike other crossover artists, however, hip-hop is not the main component for her, with a few extras thrown in. With Sampa it’s the other way around: for her art she primarily reaches into the musical toolbox of her homeland, Zambia and Botswana. In her texts, the 29-year-old deals with spirituality and (black) female empowerment and often shows herself to be in touch with nature. A contrast to Western rap, where the big city and the lifestyle associated with it seem unavoidable. Between the lines resonates a critique of hyper-capitalist modern society. “Rhythm of life jam nation / You realize all the time we wasting / You realize all the pain we facing / Please pour a cup, Feminine libation / My gosh we racing / Please sympathize all the lives we raising / Please realize all the time… .”, she opens her hit single “Energy” from 2018.
“The birds and the bees ain’t got nothing on me,” says the pre-hook. A nod to her earlier mixtape BIRDS AND THE BEE9, which features guest vocals from her sister. In 2019 she released her first studio album THE RETURN, followed in 2022 by AS ABOVE, SO BELOW, which she recorded in her native Zambia. The latter featured contributions from Denzel Curry and Joey Bada$$, among others.
Team Dynamite
Team Dynamite is a rap group from New Zealand. In 2014, Tony Tz, Lucky Lance and Haz Beatz hit “Very On“ from the album SHEPHERDS DELIGHT hit the international skate rap playlists. The beat is so laid back that if it were any more laid back, it would tip over. The rap parts are refreshingly different. The New Zealand slang, the intonations, the flows – all of it on Team Dynamite, but especially on “Very On”, feels like a distant cousin of the hip-hop sounds we’re familiar with. The other tracks on the record lag behind the big hit in terms of streaming numbers, but they can definitely keep up in terms of quality.
After the crew took some time off, they came back in 2021 with the album RESPECT THE PROCESS. The record has more soul influences than SHEPHERDS DELIGHT, so it sounds more mature but doesn’t lose any of its vibe. “Who?‘, the album’s best track, is a dark boom bap banger. Here, too, the New Zealanders appropriate universal hip-hop elements and add a dash of Aotearoa (Māori for New Zealand).