Producer Infinity Knives’ adventurous, electronic-driven tracks have been the perfect sound bed for Brian Ennals’ sharp social commentary and self-effacing sense of humor, going back to their joint 2020 project, Rhino XXL. That mesh is displayed on the Maryland artist’s latest project, A City Drowned in God’s Black Tears. On album opener “The Iron Wall,” featuring FRANKI3, Ennals sets his terms, declaring “genocide’s as American as apple pie, baseball, and mass shootings.” The song, like the album, is an unabashed rebuke of Israel-U.S. relations and America’s overall warmongering.
On “Live at the Chinese Buffet,” Ennals observes, “Been tryna die young so long I got old.” And he rhymes, “Bobby Brown is my North Star, and rehab is my New Edition” on “Everyone I Love Is Depressed,” a song about exactly what the title suggests. “Soft Pack Shorty” is a tale of primal, dysfunctional love, where he admits, “If I ain’t have this baggage, I’d tell her ‘Marry me.’ ” Ennals raps with a deliberate pace that gives every word its just space, which feels like hip-hop’s original golden era in the best way.
To quote the legendary Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Buffalo, New York, MC Ché Noir is putting her lifetime in between the paper’s lines. Since she was 16, the now-31-year-old has cultivated a stellar catalog of introspective records exploring her life experiences. Ché is poised to be one of those MCs who has a bar for everything — from marriage to grief to the trials of the streets. And she’s doing it independently, allowing her to be as candid as she wants and release on her own terms. On Seeds in Babylon, a 10-track collaboration with German-born producer Superior, she excels with a straightforward delivery, eschewing vocal pyrotechnics for a cadence that allows for potent couplets often laden with double meaning. Her skills are most on display with “Destiny Rose,” a heartrending portrait of her pregnancy journey, including overcoming fertility issues, fear of impending motherhood, and her own trials. She rhymes, “Some personal flaws that I had to work on before you was born/But even that can’t assure a reward,” over Superior’s lush, evocative strings. Like the rest of Seeds in Babylon, it’s a beautiful, vulnerable reflection.
Those who have trouble dreaming while they sleep should consider a Fatboi Sharif record as a substitute. The Rahway, New Jersey, native paints his sonic stories in surrealist strokes that feel like abstract imagery on the surface, but hold deeper interpretations on subsequent listens. He’s told Rolling Stone that part of his creative process includes sleeping with his beats before he writes to them. It’s no surprise that he listened to fellow Jersey native Driveby’s noxious batch of production before he came up with Let Me Out. Sharif is one of the most distinct artists across any scene. Though you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, or a song by its title, designations like “Shapeshifting at the Audubon Theatre” or “Mosquito Stock Trade” should let a listener know that this is someone uninterested in convention. On “Swim Team Audible Function,” Sharif takes the listener on a ride to “Channel 10,” putting his words together with a sharp penmanship while rhyming with multiple layers of distorted vocals, making it sound like a lost transmission from another realm.
New York’s Washington Heights is on fire this time of the year, with Dyckman basketball games and other summer festivities. There’ll be a new entry into the uptown soundtrack with PIFF, from Lord Sko, a.k.a. “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper’s favorite blunt smoker,” as he rhymes on “Cigarette Butts.” The rapper dropped Museum, his first mixtape, at age 17, and since then, he’s been building his name with cipher-ready rhymes and impressive beat selection. All of his lyrical rearing culminates in his debut album, which has the backing of industry veteran Dante Ross. Sko rhymes with an easygoing delivery, and excels with his sense of humor. On “Camel Eyes,” he rhymes, “I feel like Orson Welles with a quart of lean,” and on “Girbaud Talk,” he reveals, “Used to people comin’ up to me askin’ if I have shrooms,” pausing a beat for comedic timing when he raps, “For the record, I might.” Throughout the project, he rhymes over a suite of smooth, jazzy beats, helping mark him as a name to know in the NYC rap landscape.
Loosies: More Great Indie-Rap
“Been There Too,” LaRussell, Mike & Keys, and MALACHI Soul-spilling rhymes over spacey synths.
“Could’ve Been Different,” McKinley Dixon feat. Shamir and Blu A pair of earnest storytellers connect. “Eye of The Tiger,” Brainorchestra and byJ. A jazzy exposé of Brainorchestra’s commanding mic presence. “RSNS,” Boldy James and V Don Veteran Detroit rapper delivers filthy lyricism over a gorgeous beat. A.G.
No Filler is an indie-rap column by Andre Gee running monthly on RollingStone.com. You can check out the No Filler playlist right here.
