hip-hop 50

The Hip-Hop Icons That Don’t Get Their Due

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Hip-Hop Icons
Getty Image/Merle Cooper

With hip-hop celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, it’s been amazing to see a number of rap legends and leaders of the new school getting highlighted throughout the year. And while moments at the Grammys and BET Awards set the stage for a year-long celebration, there are still a number of icons in their own right who don’t get their due.

It’s been refreshing to see rappers like E-40 and Black Thought finally getting much-deserved credit for being certified all-timers in recent years, and while there are surely countless artists who could use more recognition, here are nine others who deserve their flowers; especially now in hip-hop’s 50th year.

Big L

Big L was an absolute killer on the mic, but his life was cut tragically short in 1999 at the age of 24. The Harlem rapper was on a major come up at the time of his death, primed to sign with Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records before things were cut short.

He was a member of famed NY crew DITC, a pioneer of the independent hip-hop movement with his artist-run label Flamboyant Entertainment, and even collaborated with 2Pac on the supreme cut, “Deadly Combination” (Rumor has it 2Pac recorded the song with Big L less than an hour before 2Pac was shot and killed himself.)

Big L’s mastery was never more evident than on “Ebonics,” where he managed to lay out the entire hip-hop vernacular in a manner that was both entertaining and totally comprehensive.

MC Lyte

Coming up in the late ’80s, MC Lyte was actually the first female solo rapper to drop an album with Lyte As A Rock in 1988. This widely publicized factoid somehow still isn’t publicized enough, a testament to exactly why the Brooklyn rapper belongs on this list. Hip-hop was and is still male-dominant and Lyte blazed a trail in dropping sick rhymes that were firmly from the female perspective — before a lot of the women who currently get most of the credit for doing so. With each of her eight albums, the rapper and activist shapeshifted with an edge, normalizing the female point-of-view in hip-hop while the genre took form and flourished.

Aceyalone

Coming up with LA-based crew Freestyle Fellowship, Aceyalone is a crucial figure in the rise of West Coast hip-hop’s independent scene. A central figure on Freestyle Fellowship’s classic albums like To Whom It May Concern and Innercity Griots, it was on his own that Ace-one became a storied MC.

A Book Of Human Language is a benchmark for the hip-hop concept album, with Acey flashing elite skills on tracks like “The Balance” and especially, “The Guidelines.” And it’s how there never seems to be a pause button when Aceyalone gets going into another dimension of lyricism that truly sets him apart.

Gift Of Gab

The Blackalicious MC is best known for the now pop culture ubiquity of “Alphabet Aerobics,” and there’s nary been a wordsmith as loquaciously creative as he. Paired with producer Chief Xcel, the vocal half of the Bay Area duo floated over soul-sampled beats with existential rhymes that were pound-for-pound more technical than just about anyone else in hip-hop. He helped lead the Quannum Collective from the early ’90s onward alongside artists like DJ Shadow and Lyrics Born. Sadly, he died in 2021 after a courageous battle with kidney failure, but he’s undoubtedly a hip-hop hero.

Phonte

With Little Brother, Phonte is a force behind perhaps the last true great group to come out of hip-hop’s Golden Age. Every bar he’s ever laid down on a Little Brother record shows that he’s one of the smartest MCs who can shift easily from rapping about heavy themes to not taking himself too seriously. With the Foreign Exchange, he put down refined R&B alongside producer Nicolay and his solo work is honest, grown-man rap that’s never afraid to be vulnerable in order to get real. Today, the North Carolina product is also the co-host of the Questlove Supreme podcast and has composed music for TV and film. Drake even called Phonte one of his primary influences, even though he never featured him on a track. For shame, sir!

Jean Grae

There’s a problem with female rappers getting their due praise to begin with, but Jean Grae’s work is undoubtedly iconic. The New York City MC shines on her sharp delivery, her ability to align with melodies, and her give no fucks sense of humor. Released in the 2000s, Attack of The Attacking Things and Jeanius are underground classics — the latter produced by 9th Wonder. Grae has also been a go-to featured voice across a number of tracks by Talib Kweli, The Herbaliser, and more. Her collaborative album, Everything’s Fine, with her partner Quelle Chris was Bandcamp’s No. 1 album of 2018.

Roots Manuva

One of the early products of the British rap scene, Roots Manuva seemingly straddled the line of grime, predating its rise with his own style. Born to Jamaican parents, Roots’ music often incorporates heavy dub and dancehall influences, but the production also skews towards electronic, making him well ahead of his time at the turn of the millennium. His sage-like voice is unmistakable and he’s appeared on albums by heavyweights such as Gorillaz and Massive Attack.

Ishmael Butler

You might know Ishmael Butler by one of his alter egos: Butterfly (with Digable Planets) or Palaceer Lazaro (with Shabazz Palaces). His place in hip-hop lore is marked by one of the most fascinating transformations ever. With Digable Planets, Butterfly was the boho-hipster MC/producer of the seminal hip-hop group. Then with Shabazz Palaces, Butler took a mystical turn towards afrofuturism with the prolific experimental hip-hop duo. A Seattle native, he’s also helped storied indie rock label Sub Pop Records develop the more left-of-center part of their roster.

Kool Keith

A hip-hop OG, Kool Keith came up with Ultramagnetic MCs in the mid-’80s. Whether true or not, an early rumor claimed that he had previously been in an insane asylum, and Keith seemed to relish that tale throughout his career. Across solo projects as Kool Keith or his alter egos Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom, Keith delivers downright batshit crazy flows. He jumps from rapping in space to wreaking havoc in a deranged psychiatric ward to romancing a lady in his “Monkey-green ragtop Seville.” In the vein of the great Shock G, Keith led the charge on weird rap and embraced the lunatic personas he created for himself to become a true original.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

How 50 Cent Went From Hip-Hop Superstar To Television Mogul

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50 Cent
Getty Image/Merle Cooper

For better or for worse, 50 Cent has always been a captivating entertainer and that’s emphasized on both ends. The Jamaica, Queens rapper was catapulted and then some into the masses with his undeniable classic debut album Get Rich Or Die Trying. The album presented 50 Cent as an indestructible and impenetrable figure like no other. These qualities helped make 50 Cent the monumental figure that we now know him as.

Nowadays, 50 Cent’s name is attached to his Power Universe, a crime drama television world that he co-created with showrunner Courtney Kemp with the launch of Power in 2014. That series concluded after six seasons in 2020, but that wasn’t the end of the Power experience. What started next was three spin-offs: Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force. The universe dove into alternate narratives in the past, future, and a whole different world from the original Power series. It ensured that the Power legacy would last longer than most TV series do nowadays (minus The Walking Dead, which also has a plethora of spin-offs).

So how did 50 Cent go from hip-hop superstar with an undeniable classic album to a television mogul with a TV series beloved by his community?

It all starts heading into the 2010s, the decade that 50 Cent’s music stardom didn’t translate to the dominant commercial performances that we’d seen with his first three albums: Get Rich Or Die Trying, The Massacre, and Curtis. Before I Self Destruct was released at the end of 2009 and debuted at No. 5 on the album charts with first-week sales of 160,000 copies. While that number can get you a No. 1 album in 2023, that was not the case in 2009. What came next was 50 Cent’s slow exit from being a musician-first entertainer. Another album was delivered in 2014 with Animal Ambition after his release from Interscope Records. His long-delayed Street King Immortal album, which was announced in 2011, is now a “maybe one day” release, much like Dr. Dre’s Detox.

While 50 Cent’s music career was in a bit of a slump, his business ventures flourished. Various investments and partnerships brought the rapper massive success thanks to steps in the publishing, beverage, video game, and apparel industries. In 2010, months after releasing Before I Self Destruct, 50 Cent revived his G-Unit Films company that he originally launched in 2003 and renamed it G-Unit Films and Television. 50 Cent delivered several projects through G-Unit Films and Television within the first few years after the revamp, including Power. In a 2020 interview with The Washington Post, Kemp described the series as a “mixture of a detective story, cops and robbers, and it’s a soap also, it’s a love triangle drama, it’s a family drama.”

Initially, it wasn’t easy to find a home for Power. 50 Cent and Kemp shopped the series to a few platforms but failed to find one that would buy into the story until they came across STARZ and former CEO Chris Albrecht and former head of programming Carmi Zlotnik. “I remember being captivated by the ideas that they were talking about,” Zlotnik said. “I thought the combination of the vision that they had for a show would make something I had never seen before.”

Power delivered drama that left its viewers at the edge of their seats. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger enthralled fans with what could happen after each episode and season between main characters James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora), and others, regardless of how delusional the events in the series were. The growth was apparent too. Power season one finale reeled in 1.08 million U.S. viewers, season two’s finale had 1.54 million U.S. viewers, and season three and four’s finales had 2.01 U.S. million and 2 million U.S. viewers, respectively. Power was popular all over the world by the end of season four. According to Variety, with an average of 9.3 million multiplatform viewers per episode that season and an average of 7.3 million over the life of the series at the conclusion of season four, the success of Power was enough to earn 50 Cent a new four-year deal with STARZ reportedly worth up to $150 million.

By the time that deal was done, 50 Cent had another TV series in development: BMF. The now-released Demetrious Flenory Jr. and Da’Vinchi-led show recounts the rise and eventual fall of the Black Mafia Family drug organization that rose to prominence in the 1980s in Detroit. BMF currently stands as a cousin of sorts to the Power Universe.

Consistency is a key ingredient in the recipe to success for any artist in any field and 50 Cent was well aware of that. His run of consistent hits, catchy hooks, and exciting verses has turned into a run of his television shows that lasts for nearly an entire calendar year. To get a better picture of how continuous and frequent this cinematic universe runs, let’s take a look at the 2021-2022 “season.” Raising Kanan season one ran from July 18 – September 26, BMF arrived for season one from September 26 – November 21, Ghost season two aired from November 21 – February 6, 2022, and lastly Force concluded the run with its inaugural season that started on February 6 – April 17. After a break for the summer, Raising Kanan returned for season two on August 14, kicking off a new round for the run of shows. Through this, 50 Cent’s animal ambition seamlessly made its way from headphones and speakers to small screens all over the world.

Its ability to satisfy every fan of the original Power series is another reason that the Power Universe is successful. For those who desired a continuation of the story, there’s Ghost. If a new focus on fan-favorite Tommy Egan was sought, Force provided that. Wanted to see how the Power world was created? Look no further than Raising Kanan. Furthermore, 50 Cent’s cinematic world provided an aesthetic and focus to satisfy many tastes whether it be ‘80s hip-hop culture (Raising Kanan and BMF), present-day urban luxury (Ghost), a world controlled by the mafia (Force). Lastly, hip-hop culture remained present in all of the aforementioned series as names in or connected to it made appearances in all the shows. They include 50 Cent himself, Mary. J Blige, Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Jeremih, Redman, Jalen Rose, Method Man, LeToya Luckett, Omar Epps, Snoop Dogg, Serayah, Mo’Nique, Eminem, Yung Miami, and others. The culture that 50 Cent first rose to prominence in remained important to him even when he switched lanes and he made sure to include the names from today and yesterday to, once again, capture as many of its elements as possible.

In a world where television series don’t have the lifespans that they used to, 50 Cent and his team of crime drama producers and writers realized that aiming for lateral dominance with multiple options as opposed to longevity with just one would be more impactful for their universe. Add in consistency and attention to detail and audience, and you have the foundational pieces to build an empire that is the Power Universe. Nearly a decade in, 50 Cent wears the TV mogul hat proudly thanks to the success and growth of his cinematic universe.

Hip-Hop, Slowly But Surely, Is Approaching The Verge Of A Queer Revolution

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Queer Hip-Hop
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For decades, hip-hop has often taken inspiration from queer sounds and aesthetics. In the ‘90s, Lil Kim was open about the fact the extravagant outfits and makeup she wore were inspired by drag performers and figures of the underground ballroom scene. She was a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, displaying a sense of allyship that was vital at the time. Despite the fact that Lil Kim had love for the queer and trans communities — a love that was reciprocated — homophobic ideology within hip-hop was rampant. Artists like NWA, DMX, and Ice-T were often praised for their conscious lyrics about racial disparities and economic inequality, however, many listeners reeled over their homophobic lyrics.

Early works by Eminem and the Beastie Boys often depicted violent acts against queer and trans people, which would later be the subject of GLAAD protests. Though the aforementioned artists have since recanted these lyrics and actions, or have otherwise have shown support for the LGBTQ+ community, many listeners and artists believe bigotry towards queer and trans people is still an issue within the genre. However, in recent years, with LGBTQ+ artists rising through the charts, and at the helm of production of inescapable hits, signs seem to point at a queer revolution within hip-hop.

For the past few years, queerness has had an undeniable presence in hip-hop. Though some women rappers have utilized ballroom lingo and queer aesthetics in their music and visuals, despite not openly identifying as LGBTQ+, many others have made it known from the jump that they are not inhibiting themselves for anybody.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when and how the recent LGBTQ+ revolution in hip-hop began. Perhaps it was when Lil Nas X earned the longest-running Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 in 2019 with “Old Town Road,” or maybe it was during the pandemic, when fans helped elevate artists like Doechii, Ice Spice, and Lacy through dances and storytelling on TikTok. Ice Spice alluded to her bisexuality in one of her earliest hits, “Bikini Bottom.” She doubled down on this during an interview with Genius, where she explained that fans “need to know – we’re here and we’re queer!”

The eccentric Doechii has also captivated listeners, not only with her witty one-liners and vibrant displays of the characters she invents with her music, but also simply by unapologetically being herself. Before signing to Top Dawg Entertainment, which has housed the likes of Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Doechii went viral with her autobiographical song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake,” on which, she proclaims, “I think I like girls, but I think I like men.” One of her first major label hits, “Persuasive,” likens the idea of smoking marijuana to giving into the affections of a woman.

In an interview with British GQ last year, Doechii cited the LGBTQ+ community in helping her find confidence in her sound, saying, “I always knew that I was queer, and I was bisexual. But I didn’t really feel comfortable talking about it, because nobody around me was gay. So it’s not like I was hiding it — but I also wasn’t fully embracing it. I just started indulging myself with more friends who were like me. And that’s when I could become more comfortable talking about it, because that’s my normal everyday conversation now with my gay friends.”

Around the same time Doechii began blowing up, her Top Dawg labelmate Isaiah Rashad was the subject of rumors surrounding his sexuality. In February 2022, sex tapes of Rashad engaging in activities with other men surfaced online. Rashad would not address these tapes until his performance at Coachella two months later. During the performance, he thanked fans, who sent messages of support following the leaks, saying, “I see all the messages and all that sh*t, all the positivity,” and noted that his fans kept him “alive these last couple months.” A month later, he came out as sexually fluid during an interview with Joe Budden.

Also that year, Lil Uzi Vert, who had previously identified as a man, started using they/them pronouns. Though they made this announcement simply by updating the pronouns in their Instagram bio, and have not officially labeled themselves as non-binary, Uzi revealed in an interview with 032c that this change came without any sort of hesitation.

“I did take my time to learn as much as I could about this before I was able to proceed,” said Uzi. “Taking the time to figure out who you are is a big part of what it means to be alive.”

They continued, explaining that the LGBTQ+ community has always been an essential component of the hip-hop game.

“I just think a good product [is] a good product,” Uzi said. “Think about fashion. Gay and trans designers are some of the biggest talents out there, and gangster-ass guys wear their stuff without a thought. What you make is what matters, not how you identify.”

And the quality of Uzi’s work has certainly been reflected in their sales and streams. Last month, their long-awaited Pink Tape album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first hip-hop album of 2023 to do so.

But also, in regards to “a good product,” several queer producers are working behind the scenes to give these hip-hop records a magical touch. Over the course of the past year, openly gay producer Kaytranada has cut tracks for rappers IDK and JID, and even collaborated with rapper Aminé on a full-length collaborative album. Bisexual singer and instrumentalist Steve Lacy has been a go-to collaborator for artists like Kendrick Lamar and J Cole for years.

Last year, Lacy earned the biggest hit of his career with “Bad Habit,” a chart-topping song which tells the painful story of a missed connection. Throughout the song, Lacy doesn’t mention anyone by name, or allude to specific pronouns, which makes the song all the more relatable. “[I]f only you’d known, things would be different,” said Shani Fuller-Tillman, RCA Records VP of Marketing in a 2022 interview with Variety. “There’s no one of any age, race or gender identity that hasn’t experienced this in life.”

While relatability is a key factor in the success of songs like “Bad Habit,” the tune also got a viral push through TikTok. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, TikTok has been crucial to a song’s success — whether it be from the song’s genesis to its official release, or as the platform documents the song’s second — or even third — life.

LGBTQ+ artists, especially, have felt the effects of TikTok on their music, especially Lil Nas X, who began teasing his single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” through TikTok months before its official March 2021 release. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and though Lil Nas X hasn’t released an album since September of 2021, he continues to tease new music through the platform — the snippets often met with fans in the comments, demanding he release the full song immediately.

In 2022, fellow gay rapper Saucy Santana went viral on TikTok with his opulent single, “Material Gworllllllll!,” though the song had been released three years prior. Its viral resurgence prompted Madonna — who has long been deemed a gay icon — to perform the song alongside Santana at New York City Pride that year, and later, release a remix of the song in the form of a mashup with her 1984 hit, “Material Girl.”

But what is the catalyst for hip-hop’s recent embrace of queer and trans artists and producers? Is it online virality? The post-COVID desire to dance and feel liberated? The genre-fluidity in which streaming is pushing hip-hop numbers into similar territory as pop?

Is it even fair that hip-hop gets all the flack for homophobia? At the time of writing, Miley Cyrus is the only openly queer artist in the top 10 of Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart. Meanwhile, Jason Aldean, whose recent small town-romanticizing music video for his song “Try That In A Small Town” has been accused of racist imagery, is within arms length of his first Billboard Hot 100 topper.

Rap and hip-hop are certainly not monolithic, but even as the pop-adjacent rappers and hip-hop artists, like those mentioned above, have been met with support from hip-hop fans — both queer and straight — even conscious rappers, like Rashad, have received an outpour of love from their day-one fans.

Across any artistic platform, there’s always room for improvement in terms of LGBTQ+ acceptance and representation; but it feels safe to say that hip-hop is on the right track.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Rising Rappers Setting The Tone For The Next 50 Years Of Hip-Hop

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10 rising rappers hip hop 50
Getty Image / Derrick Rossignol

While a lot of the ongoing celebrations of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop have focused on where hip-hop has been, it doesn’t make much sense to focus only on the past. No Hip-Hop 50 celebration should be considered complete without taking a look at where hip-hop is going.

As The Notorious B.I.G. once pointed out, no one could have seen where rap music and hip-hop culture would have ended up at the outset, but in the same vein, even he couldn’t have seen how things would turn out 30 years after he recorded “Juicy.”

That makes it a fun and unique challenge – it’s impossible to predict where hip-hop could be in another five years, let alone fifty. Still, if these young rising stars have anything to say about it, the genre should be in great hands.

Here are 10 rising rappers who have the potential to dictate what hip-hop could look like in the future.

Cash Cobain

Rap fans have often been ambivalent about embracing the avant garde. For every Young Thug who blows up, there are a dozen rappers with squeaky or slurred voices who never gain traction among hip-hop heads, who can be as fickle as they are loyal. But when they do decide that they love a new artist with an original ken, they can be as devoted as they once were skeptical.

Cash Cobain is one of those artists who has a chance to go either way. The self-declared “sample God” of New York drill, the Queens native has a flow that is slippery in ways we haven’t heard from trap rappers who have earned the same descriptor. His unabashed pillaging of millennial R&B hits certainly makes him more likely to earn fans than foes, and even if he never hits it big in the traditional sense, his style is guaranteed to influence someone who does.

Central Cee

As much as stateside rap heads have held the UK’s grime and drill artists at an arm’s length in the past, that reticence to embrace hip-hop’s extended family from across the pond has slowly eroded in recent years. Part of this may be due to the clever backdoor those cousins have utilized; drill production, which originated in London’s underground rave scene, is now a familiar fixture on the streets of New York.

Be that as it may, Central Cee doesn’t water down or hide his Shepherd’s Bush, London origins or influences. And while he hasn’t crossed over to US radio, those in the know have accepted him as the future of the British rap regime. It helps that he’s closely associated with a prior favorite in Dave, with whom he collaborated on an EP, Split Decision, earlier this year. It was well received, with its single “Sprinter” peaking at No. 1 on the UK charts. And just in case there was any doubt about his viability with a Yankee audience, he’s got that coveted Drake co-sign via his “On The Radar” featuring The Boy himself.

Chris Patrick

An indie rapper who doesn’t sound like an indie rapper, East Orange, New Jersey’s Chris Patrick has gained a small but extremely vocal following blending the sort of cerebral rhymes commonly associated with artists on the independent scene with thumping, anthemic beats that wouldn’t sound out-of-place in a crowded club or blasting out of car stereos on a sweltering summer day.

Patrick’s 2022 album X-Files is much like its namesake; it started out a cult favorite, but now, a wider audience is curious to see what all the fuss is about. Patrick’s next project will undoubtedly have a larger impact, proving that there are more directions that independent rappers can still go.

Flyana Boss

In Uproxx’s profile of the viral sensation rap duo, group member Bobbi LaNea asserted that they are “paying tribute to what hip-hop truly is.” Their clever use of nursery rhymes in their lyrics harkens back to Run-DMC’s use of the old “Peter Piper” tongue twister, and Flyana’s back-and-forth flow recalls the intricate routines employed by classic pioneers like the Furious Five and Beastie Boys.

Though Flyana Boss burst onto our timelines with the splashy social smash “Miss Me,” they are no one-hit wonders. They have a solid discography that proves that the well of ideas runs deep – but past that, their lasting legacy will be kicking open the door for future “weird Black girls” to express themselves through hip-hop in unconventional ways. Whether that’s wearing elf ears, name-checking Kanekalon, or just being willing to cause a commotion in the local convenience store, there’s value in what they’ve already done.

Kenny Mason

Rap and rock go hand-in-hand. From “Walk This Way” to Collision Course, the shared rebellious spirit of the two in-your-face genres has made magic throughout the past five decades. And sure, there have been some missteps – nu-metal, anyone? – but in recent years, the covalent bond between rap and rock has generated some truly compelling combinations courtesy of acts like Rico Nasty and Trippie Redd.

Kenny Mason’s music, on the surface, seems to stem from that tradition, but shot through with an undercurrent of indie sleaze – the sort of shoegaze-y, fuzzed-out rock that took over pop culture throughout the late aughts. Mason is equally comfortable collaborating with festival rap faves like Denzel Curry and JID as he is imbuing his output with the alt-rock vibes of My Bloody Valentine and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

LaRussell

There’s been a lot of talk lately about how crowded and repetitive festival lineups have gotten. With so many events in the space and only so many rappers around with the sorts of followings that justify their placement, it stands to reason that a lot of the same names have been popping up on many different rosters.

LaRussell, who hails from Vallejo (just like fellow indie rap pioneer E-40), could easily be a standout of one of those lineups. Instead, he’s more likely to pull up in your neighbor’s backyard to play a show for a few dozen folks at a time. His backyard tour concept is just one of the innovative spins he’s putting on the independent rap hustle. He’s kept up a steady stream of self-released projects and singles, punctuated by semi-regular appearances on your favorite radio freestyle shows. He’s perking up a lot of eyes and ears, proving that there are alternatives to same-old-same.

Lady London

If you’ve ever found yourself complaining about the prevalence of so-called “pussy rap” among today’s flourishing cadre of female rappers… Well, first of all, stick a sock in it. That complaint’s old, dusty, dried-up, and overdone, in addition to being terminally untrue. Today’s buffet of talents offers such a wide range of voices and styles that whining about a bare handful of modern rap artists – especially when they’re nothing compared to some of the genre’s pioneers – is a waste of your own time, in addition to being pretty annoying to everybody else.

But, it also makes it obvious that you haven’t been looking for alternatives like Lady London, who has recently received co-signs from the likes of Ciara, who tapped her for the remix of “Da Girls” with Lola Brooke. She’s exactly the sort of lyrics-focused MC that critics of female rappers say they want, and she’s only getting more popular by the day. She’s the proof that there are plenty of bars-first women in rap, and she’s kicking open the door for more to follow.

Luh Tyler

He’s been called the coolest teen in hip-hop, but Tyler’s success portends something larger. For years, hip-hop was all about cool; rappers exaggerated their fashion sensibilities, material possessions, and successes with the opposite sex first and foremost. Somewhere along the way, it became more important to have a good story; “keeping it real” was paramount, but only so long as “keeping it real” meant “keeping it gangsta” or baring some gut-wrenching trauma.

Luh Tyler is too busy talking to girls and telling you about his income for all that. And while that’s not exactly new, the way he does it, with laid-back panache and subtly clever lyricism, is refreshing. He doesn’t try to impress you, so he does. With that as his calling card, he’s helping swing the pendulum back the other way. Think of him as a Larry June for the zoomer set.

Ray Vaughn

For a decade, Top Dawg Entertainment felt like the premier hip-hop label thanks to its core artists, which included Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, and of course, Kendrick Lamar. But lately, that core has been less visible than ever as it feels a little bit like Jay and Q have lost interest in music and Kendrick has moved on from the label. Sure, the remaining members are still working on new music, but it’s been a long time coming, and the label could use some fresh blood to energize the buzz around itself.

Enter Long Beach’s Ray Vaughn, who brings a level of passion and hunger to the same sort of street-centric, philosophical music the original TDE roster was known for. But while they were enamored of lo-fi, moody production that highlighted the heady material, Vaughn emphasizes energetic street bangers – exactly the sort of sounds needed to revitalize and anchor TDE as it enters its new era with a fresh cast including Doechii, Zacari, and Reason.

TiaCorine

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9suUyHpN7Gzk8l7j3qSrIg

Yes, “FreakyT,” the breakout single from North Carolina rapper TiaCorine, is representative of the Winston-Salem native’s talents. But that’s not all she has to offer. Thanks to a colorful presentation – like a lot of today’s young talents, she counts anime as foundational to her artistic identity – she’s got an eye-catching style that makes her impossible to overlook. But past that, she’s got a wide variety of approaches, as demonstrated on her 2022 mixtape I Can’t Wait.

The diversity of style she embraces is very emblematic of her generation. From the video game-glitch-hop to pop rock to dreamy pop, she’s willing to try anything – and she sounds great doing it. There will soon be more artists like TiaCorine than not, as hip-hop kids continue to embrace the breadth of popular culture and weird internet movements, incorporating them into rap standards and transforming both sides of the equation.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Kid Capri Is One Of One

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Kid Capri
Paul Peteyshotya Jacobs

As an innovator, originator, and pioneer of the art of DJing in hip-hop, Kid Capri has been around long enough that he doesn’t need to prove anything. Throughout his several decades in the genre, Capri, who was raised in The Bronx, honed his DJ skills at a young age, eventually mastering other creative outlets like producing and rapping. His quick rise led to him gaining national recognition for being the live DJ on Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam for seven years. Capri embodies the elements of hip-hop because he lives and breathes the culture, becoming the blueprint for longevity and building a successful brand in entertainment.

As far as introducing techniques, Kid Capri was an early adopter of extending the record, bringing the record back, and teasing the records to crowds. Capri backs his contributions to DJing with more examples. “Playing the records from different parts than what would normally be played from, playing the record 15 times back-to-back like I did with ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,’” Capri says. “That’s how DJs started doing that on the radio. Playing records fast, putting it on, taking it off in the fourth bar. All these different things you see DJs do right now: Kid Capri.”

The proof of his icon status was seen at this year’s BET Awards, where he curated a celebration of the 50 Years of Hip-Hop through musical medleys across all generations and pulled it off in a way only he could’ve done. 2023 continues to be an active year for Kid Capri as he’s featured on Hip Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium on August 11 for the Bronx Bombers set with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Fat Joe. He’s also back in the studio working on his next album More Love as well as appearing on tracks by Daz Dillinger and Lil Eazy E (“Ridin”), Ron Browz (“Stay With Me”), 5ive Mics (“I’m a Rap Star Remix”), Dave East (“Come 2 Far”), and an unreleased Black Rob collab from Life Story 2, produced by Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie.

Kid Capri remains a household name because he’s always on the road, giving fans plenty of dates to catch him behind the 1s and 2s live. You can hear him on Kid Capri’s Block Party on Sirius XM Fly on the weekends, bringing throwbacks with new tracks that end with a special Block Party mix. His status has been built off being a Grammy winner, producing for Jay-Z, Heavy D, Madonna, 50 Cent, and more. He’s been the touring DJ for Diddy, Aaliyah, Salt-N-Pepa, and Timbaland. Kendrick Lamar once reached out to feature him on his Pulitzer Prize-winning album DAMN. All of this to say that Kid Capri’s career knows no bounds, a constant force within hip-hop’s 50 years who remains humble and thankful to still be here.

Let’s put a number on this now. How long have you been doing this?

Since I was eight years old. I’ve been known for 35 years.

I ask because on your album The Tape, you have this song called “Don’t Sweat Me” where you saw you’re the hardest working man in hip-hop. After all these years, you’re still living up to that.

Absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Why haven’t you slowed down? What keeps you motivated?

I genuinely love what I do. I know that me being a DJ in this business was always an uphill battle. They always look at DJs as the bottom of the totem pole, except when hip-hop first started. DJs were the front guy; records came in, and the rapper had to be the front guy. They pushed the DJs to the back. So that’s when I became my own one-man band and didn’t need anybody in front of me. I could do every myself and I just needed the world to see it. And fortunately enough by the grace of God, a TV show called Def Comedy Jam fell on my lap so I could show the world that and I just took it from there. That’s where all the DJs followed, they followed what I did, speaking on the mic the way I do and everything I do. And it just created a whole new thing. That’s just one of the things I did. But it all comes from me, staying focused on it and knowing exactly what I want, and also being a fan as well as the deliverer.

With The Love, you wrote, produced, and rapped on it. Why do you not want to be put in a box?

This is the reason why I don’t have “DJ” on my name. When you see “Kid Capri,” you see Kid Capri. You don’t see “DJ Kid Capri.” The reason why is it puts you in a box. It makes people think that’s all that you do. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you’re a person with many talents, why would you be put in a box? Look at 50 Cent, he’s not just a rapper. He’s a director, he’s a producer, he owns a clothing company. He’s got things going on. He’s not just one thing. When we get into this music business, we do what we do to bring everything else to what we do. If you are a person that wants to open a restaurant, do you not want to open a restaurant because you’re a DJ or bass player or a drummer or a singer? No! You shouldn’t be stuck in no box and nobody should tell you to stay in a box. The sky is not the limit it is just the first stop.

When we think of Kid Capri, we think of your contributions to mixtape culture. A lot of people credit you for making a profit off your mixtapes. When did you realize that you could make money off them?

Well, I was doing that when I was in the SNS Club with Starchild. We was doing some tapes, and people would come and buy them right there. When it became something different was when I decided to sit on the street corner and sell my tapes. First of all, the $20 me and Starchild was making, we would have to split. Now I’m by myself, that whole $20 is coming to me. People were walking up, ‘why would I buy a tape for $20?’ Listen to my tape in the beginning, you’re going to buy everything I have. Because that’s how I made it. I made it so people were there while I was making it. When you heard it in your car, you felt you was a part of it and it felt like you was at a party even though most of the tapes that was made was in my hallway. But you felt you was in a club somewhere. The things I would say and the music I would play that other people wasn’t knowing about. Just the way I did things, it became so infectious around the world that it just stuck.

My generation would say DJ Drama is the person we look up to as a pioneer in the mixtape game. What about the other pioneers in your class? What have they done to influence it?

I don’t know what everybody else is doing, you know what I’m saying? I just stick to what I’m doing. I will say this: DJ Drama has done tremendously great picking up the torch and moving in the direction he moved. Because when I stopped making the tapes, I didn’t stop because I fell off. I stopped because I was the Michael Jordan of making the tapes. I just stopped because they said I was making all this money for making these illegal street tapes. So I said, ‘You know what? I made a name already. Let me take my career and go a different way.’ I just left at the top of my game. The last tape was the Doo Wop diss. I was on fire and I just left. I started television, I started all the other things and took my career to a more serious direction. Ater that, Clue, Drama, and everybody else came in and took the torch and did what they did. But had I kept going, there would still be a Drama, Clue, and everybody but I still would’ve been one of them dudes at the top.

You’re known for allowing DJs to be viewed as artists. Can you elaborate on how you did that? You’ve talked about this before if you’re on stage killing it for two hours, you need to be paid the same way as an artist.

Why should the DJ get treated any different? Why isn’t the DJ on the front cover of a magazine? Now it is, but all these years I had to fight for it, I would have to say no to a lot of things that people was giving to me because they thought I needed it. No. I’m not doing this, I’m not doing that. I had to stay at a certain level to let people know how serious it is and how we got to be looked at. You’re not going to look at me as someone just playing records. I’ma bust whoever’s ass that got the big platinum record. I’ma make it hard for him on that stage in this arena. So you’re gonna give me the same type of respect. You’re gonna pay me the same kind of way. You might not pay me the same as the platinum dude, but you’re going to pay me respectfully the way I’m supposed to. I don’t want no more than what I’m worth. I want what I’m worth, no more no less. So if you can’t give me that, then you don’t respect what I’m doing. What’s any difference between me playing turntables and Stevie Wonder playing the piano?

Right.

What’s the difference? It’s a talent. It’s something I am doing. So you’re going to look at the DJs as less then because they’re playing records? It’s the way we play them. It’s what we do that make people feel the way they do. Why shouldn’t we be respected? Why on the flyer on some of these festivals, they are at the bottom of the flyer? Why? You won’t see me at no bottom of no flyer! I rather not take the show. I rather you keep your show before you not respect my position. Very known thing, I was supposed to do the TLC tour with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. But the promoters thought I was less than. They had TLC real big as they should be, they had Bone Thugs medium, and they had Kid Capri real small. So I said, ‘Ok, end the tour.’ And I deaded the whole tour because of a flyer. I had to take those types of stands in order for people to take it serious. If I gotta take from myself to say no for people to take it serious, then I’ll deprive myself just to make sure I make my statement.

You’ve been immortalized in many songs like Biggie’s “Juicy,” worked with Big L on “Put It On.” What do those shouts out mean to you?

Well, I’ll tell you this. I’ve been shouted on many, many songs. The one Biggie shouted me out on. The one Greg Nice shouted me out on. The one Parrish from EPMD shouted me out on, “Crossover.” All of those are hit records, but there’s a lot of records that I’ve been shouted out on that wasn’t hit records. To be shouted out on all those records and did all these records, produced for Heavy D’s “Nuttin’ But Love” and wrote half of it. I produced for Madonna. I did Jay-Z’s “It’s Like That.” All these different records I did, “Rowdy Rowdy” with 50 Cent. To get a call from Kendrick Lamar in 2017 to be on his album and narrate his album, that shows right there the growth of everything I’ve done. I ain’t have to say nothing else. When me and him were in the studio, I asked him ‘why didn’t you get Battlecat and Pooh? Two West Coast legends to be on the album?’ He’s like, ‘Nah, love those dudes. Those are my dudes but I know what you did for the music business. I know what you did for the DJ. I know what you did authentically and that’s what I want on my album.’ So this young dude knew the story. I didn’t have to tell him, he knew what it was. He put me on this album that put me in countries that I never been to before. He put my voice in countries I never been to before, so he brought me to a whole new generation of people that might not even heard of a Kid Capri or don’t know what Kid Capri is about, or haven’t had the Kid Capri experience. He brought me to those people. I wish we could’ve did a lot more like concerts and tours. He didn’t need me, of course. But if we would have been together, it would have been insane. Because I’m on the only hip-hop, Pulitzer Award-winning album, a milestone was made when we did that. So I’m grateful for that.

This is a loaded question: what made you fall in love with hip-hop?

The same reason everybody else do. You can’t help it. It is entertaining. I would not want to be born in the ’50s, ’40s, and the ’30s. I was born at the right time where I came right in the middle of the meat of everything. Everything dope. I’m in that. My dad’s a soul singer. My grandfather played trumpet for all the big guys. It’s always been there. So it was inevitable for me to do [music]. I grew up with it and I gave my whole life to it. When somebody is like really dedicated without even knowing they are dedicated, you can’t beat them. You can’t never outdo them. You can’t outwork them because they’re dedicated without even thought.

You’re always wanting to create opportunities for other people. Not a lot of people in this industry want to do that, to bring the next generation up.

Well because some people get stuck in an old-school way of thinking. They don’t want it to go nowhere, they don’t want the shine off of them. They think if the younger man comes in, he’s going to take away from you. No. There’s only one Kid Capri. You can have a million people try to be Kid Capri, but there’s only one Kid Capri. There’s only one Jay-Z. There’s only one Busta Rhymes. There’s only one Nas. There’s only one Eminem. That’s it. So, that’s you, forever. Nobody can take that away.

Memphis Storyteller AR The Mermaid Talks Anime, Yoga, And Her Debut EP, ‘Watt We Doingg’

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AR the Mermaid Interview
Joe Chong/Derrick Rossignol

From its inception, rap music has been about telling stories. 50 years ago, in those park jam freestyles, the participants rhymed about their lives and circumstances, either in gritty detail or in exaggerated, larger-than-life self-mythology. They rhymed to entertain and to inform – and occasionally, to battle, to sharpen their skills, or prove their dominance.

So much has changed in the 50 years since hip-hop’s codified introduction at that house party in the Bronx. But one thing remains constant; rap is a storytelling genre. You could be the wittiest rapper in the world, with enough breath control to recover the wreckage of a downed submersible and a photographic memory of every word in the thesaurus. But if you have no story, you’re nobody.

AR The Mermaid describes herself primarily as a storyteller. Hailing from Memphis, the launching pad for horrorcore trap and triplet flows, AR (her real name’s Ariel, hence the nickname) does her city history proud, but always approaches her music from the standpoint of relaying a narrative to get her point across. “That’s what we do in Memphis,” she says. “We tell stories.”

During a Zoom call to discuss the impending release of her debut EP for 300 Entertainment, Watt We Doingg, AR details her wide-ranging influences and unique look, as well as the impact of her first two singles, “Sneaky Link” and “Suki.” Those influences include not just the Memphis rap standards of Three 6 Mafia’s Gangsta Boo and La Chat, but also contemporary inspirations such as thrash rapper Rico Nasty and Houston indie rap icon Sauce Walka.

Those influences are readily apparent across the EP; AR utilizes a distinctive Southern drawl, but her flow is regionless. On first hearing “Sneaky Link,” I couldn’t shake a mental comparison to Gucci Mane – until, that is, she mentioned Sauce Walka during our interview. The parallel clicked into place like a pair of 2×2 Legos. Combine that with a signature, impish look inspired as much by anime as by anything in hip-hop, and there were plenty of compelling reasons to try to learn more about AR.

The elements that make an AR song an AR song, according to the rapper herself are: “My lingo, my flow, it’s going to be very much Memphis, regardless. I saw my voice raspy already, so it’s like it wasn’t no type of ‘put on a voice’ type of shit.” Meanwhile, that look, which includes microblading her eyebrows into little horns – like the ones you’d see on the devil emoji – comes from her favorite Pokémon, the ghost type Gengar.

This has led to some confusion among fans about what the rapper actually stands for – after all, not every rap fan is an anime fan, despite the increasing overlap between both in recent years. In past interviews, she’s expressed annoyance with the misunderstandings – which have been common to fellow punk-inspired artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Doja Cat – especially since her true interest might come as a surprise.

In addition to devouring comedy and horror movies and far-out anime such as the action-packed but fairly gruesome High-Rise Invasion and Tokyo Ghoul, AR is an avid practitioner of yoga. “I started yoga just for my mindset and just my attitude,” she explains. “Just controlling that. Also, for working out, that was my way to start getting into meditation. I love doing yoga because for one, that’s my morning routine anyway. That’s my way of waking myself up, getting active, getting my day started, and thinking about what I’m going to do for the day.”

She even has some advice for those of us who have a little trouble with our own practice. “First off, you start off with stretching,” she tells me. “That’s probably where you going wrong. You trying to go straight into poses, but you got to stretch first, or you’ll be sore.” She isn’t shy about sharing her love for the practice. On Instagram, you can find her relating her “Mermaid Mantras,” like this one: “Hustle don’t come with instructions.”

“It’s in you,” she elaborates of her philosophy on hustle. “It ain’t no shit that you just wake up today and, ‘Oh, I’m hustling.’ But it’s some shit that’s born within you. Every day you getting this cake, you going to think of a way to get this cake.”

When listeners check out “Sneaky Link” and “Suki” – and by extension, the rest of AR’s music when Watt We Doingg drops – one thing they’re liable to notice is that she doesn’t mind directing her bold come-ons as much to the ladies as the fellas. She’s as unapologetic about her sexuality as she is about anything else. And yes, “Suki” is named after fellow raunchy rapper Sukihana, who makes a feature appearance in the video for the song (“I cannot shoot the video without Suki in it,” she enthuses).

But the real goal of the EP is to set a vibe – because what she stands for, more than anything else, is having a good time and making sure listeners do, too. “It’s going to be a mixture, basically we doing little bit of everything,” she says of the sound on the EP. “ I use ‘What We Doing’ for everything. Oh, you ready to party? What we doing?”

AR The Mermaid is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

J Hus’ Villainous Reign On ‘Beautiful And Brutal Yard’ Is A Telling Tale In His Fascinating Rise

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J Hus 'Beautiful And Brutal Yard' artwork
Epic Records

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

The most fascinating thing about J Hus’ third album Beautiful And Brutal Yard is that the rapper rarely faces a loss. Sure, the British rapper has had to put his career on pause at times, most notably to serve a five-month sentence after the release of his 2018 debut album Common Sense for carrying a knife in public. For the most part, he’s a villain with no chinks in his armor, but one that has inflicted damage to varying levels against his enemies. He has neverending stories about finding himself in the middle of crossfire, self-induced or not, but through it all, he’s in control of the beautiful and brutal yard he lives in. The beauty is clear as J Hus charms as a slick-talking and charismatic man with all the talents and lines to whisk away the woman of his choice. On the flip side, the brutal moments come from the rapper’s villainous reign as an authority too fearless, too relentless, and too equipped to be removed from his throne.

The qualities mentioned above aren’t exclusive to the beauty or brute of J Hus and his world and that’s what adds to the fascination of Beautiful And Brutal Yard. They play equal roles to both sides of the coin. J Hus strives for a new level of fearlessness as he raps about his brute upbringing on “Come Look” over haunting production that sprays a dark overcast over him. In this same sense, the rapper’s daring approach to a woman he desires on “Safa Kara” is the epitome of fearless. Take your pick at lines like “Call me daddy, that’s an ego booster / Call me papa, come have me for supper,” as proof of it.

For the beauty of it all, he stares in deep admiration at an out-of-this-world woman on “Alien Girl” and aims to charm another one with risque solar system metaphors like “Take you somewhere no one can see / We go to Uranus” and “Put on a sex tune while I sex you in Neptune / This comes around only once in a blue moon.” The same charm is applied to “It’s Crazy” where he raps in sarcastic disbelief at his ability to effortlessly take down his perpetrators.

This duality is what makes Beautiful And Brutal Yard so enjoyable. With an album that fires off 19 songs across 63 minutes, enough has to be done to keep listeners interested and locked in, and J Hus accomplishes this pretty effortlessly. The early parts of the album supply infectious production and catchy hooks for records (“Who Told You” and “Militerian”) that will find as much trouble excelling in summer as day parties and tequila do. It’s within the same album that J Hus also taps in drill rap (“Cream”), introspective rap (“Playing Chess & “Come Look”), Rap&B (“My Baby”), and melodic rap (“Alien Girl”). In most cases, this would make for a disjointed album, but not for J Hus. He achieves cohesivity thanks to maintaining an authoritative tone that maintains his sinister even on its brightest days.

J Hus not only accepts the villain role on Beautiful And Brutal Yard, he fully embraces it in an attempt to take it to a newer and dark level. With that, the album leaves us with a clear image of the rapper: seated on his throne with a grimacing smile as he readjusts his crown and twirls his staff, daring anyone to take him down successfully. The album’s opening record “Intro (The Goat)” is a perfect example of this. Though it’s a short verse that launches the album, it’s one that succinctly captures J Hus’ villainous ways. “If I got my nose in your business, you know it’s a snub,” he fires off before concluding with, “My bredrin’s carryin’ ’cause I can’t afford to have it / But when it’s time for action, feel like I’m born to bang it.”

Stepping back from J Hus’ discography for a second, Beautiful And Brutal Yard is the latest offering from the British rap world that proves the genre is excelling across the pond without conforming to standards in the States. J Hus joins names like Dave, Stormzy, Central Cee, Headie One, and more who’ve made waves while staying true to themselves. It’s an observation worth noting as hip-hop, a genre that’s expanded in numerous ways since its start, crosses its 50th-anniversary mark this year. Even in this crowd, J Hus’ Beautiful And Brutal Yard stands out as a body of work that uses various sounds from the rapper’s cultural background, like afrobeats and afro-swing, as an ingredient to spice up and amplify his projects.

From a closer point of view, J Hus uses his third album to provide a vivid and detailed account of his roots and upbringing, giving equal attention to all that’s beautiful and brutal. This duality contributes to everything on the album: its sonic appeal, the thrill of J Hus’ narratives, and the rapper’s overall artistic vision. Furthermore, J Hus excels thanks to a bigger chip on his shoulder and the goal to go to all necessary lengths to prove himself, just as a villain would in their attempt to reign supreme in their beautiful and brutal yard.

Beautiful And Brutal Yard is out now via Black Butter Ltd. and Epic Records. Find out more information here.

Flyana Boss Are Proving That ‘Weird Black Girls’ Run Hip-Hop – Literally

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flyana boss interview
SJ Spreng/Derrick Rossignol

If you’re out in public and notice a pair of colorfully-clad Black girls just take off running while rapping about synonyms, Kanekalon, and cinnamon, don’t panic. That’s probably just Flyana Boss, the rising new rap duo currently taking over timelines with an endless supply of video clips promoting their ultra-viral June single, “You Wish.”

When I say “taking over,” I mean it. The group’s videos, in which they run toward the camera while rapping their cheeky lyrics, are bound to appear on nearly every social media platform’s endless scroll with enough swiping. And, given every platform has adopted some version of TikTok’s signature move, that’s a lot of engagement for the quirky duo. The places they’ve taken over include a grocery store, the Happiest Place on Earth, and even the headquarters of Google and TikTok.

Now, they’re facing down the bog standard accusations of being “industry plants” — they’ve been signed since 2019, but are only just now gaining traction despite what they call some “baby viral” moments. Obviously, it takes a while to catch on, and once you do, the haters are bound to come calling.

@flyanaboss

Replying to @jj_doodles8 okay now where?! 🏰💜💕🙃🙃🙃 #flyanaboss #evanblummadeit

♬ You Wish – Flyana Boss

But what struck me about the duo — which consists of two best friends, Folayan Kunerede of Dallas (she’s the one with bleached eyebrows usually wearing elf ears) and Bobbi LaNea (swimmin’ in deals like Michael Phelps) from Detroit — is just how keyed-in they appear to be with not only the youth zeitgeist, but also the true spirit of old-school hip-hop.

During a Zoom interview with Flyana Boss, I mention how their creative incorporation of nursery rhymes harkens back to a simpler time, echoing the back-and-forth rhymes of groups like Run-DMC or Beastie Boys. They note in return that it’s all intentional. With the 50th anniversary of hip-hop coming up, their sudden glow-up appears to be very much right on time.

Throughout our interview, it’s clear that their friendship is no gimmick or label-forged connection. These two genuinely enjoy each other, bouncing off each other’s energy for a fun, kinetic conversation that covers everything from viral fame to anime. For a pair of self-declared “weird Black girls” who insist they’re introverts, they prove as captivating in conversation as their viral videos.

@flyanaboss

#duet with @kevonstage THIS IS CRAZY!!! TYSM TO EVERYONE USING OUR SONG 😭😭😭 WE LOVE KEV😭😭😭😭🦋❤️‍🔥 #flyanaboss

♬ You Wish – Flyana Boss

How do people react when you just take off running in these public places?

Folayan: So we’re in the mode, so we don’t really pay attention.

Bobbi: We’re laser vision.

Folayan: But we notice that people usually move out of our way. That’s one. Smile or…

Bobbi: And every now and then it’s like, “Stop running.”

Has anyone recognized you before you started running and been like, “It’s those girls, it’s those girls?”

Bobbi: Yes, absolutely.

Folayan: So every time we run, we at least get three people come up to us either before or after, during, whatever, just to say, “Oh my God, I love you guys.”

Bobbi: Or “Y’all about to run? Are y’all about to run?” And we’re like, “Yeah.”

Folayan: You’ll be like, “You want to be in the video?”

The thing that really caught my attention when I started seeing you guys over and over again was the look. I think that people are attracted to the look of the group, particularly the elf ears. You look like you escaped from Anime Expo and you’re trying to get away as hard as you can. What inspires the look behind you guys’ elf ears, bleached eyebrows?

Folayan: Yeah, exactly. I love anime.

Bobbi: She’s an anime queen.

Folayan: We also just love the beauty supply.

Bobbi: Beauty supply stores, seeing new packs of hair, seeing new accessories. So it’s just whatever we’re feeling at that time.

Folayan: But we’ve always decorated ourselves throughout our whole entire lives.

Bobbi: And it’s an important expression for both of us.

Folayan: Especially being from African descent, decorating yourself, it’s been a part of our culture for centuries. We just add colors in it and stuff.

Bobbi: We just modernize.

I actually asked this cousin of mine who I love dearly with all my heart, what questions she would ask you guys. Because she thinks you guys are the best. She wants to know what kind of nerdy stuff you guys are into, and if you are, what fictional world would you want to run through for “You Wish?”

Bobbi: That’s a good question. She is really more traditionally nerdy than I am. I nerd out over Motown documentaries and stuff like that.

Folayan: But she’s a pop history nerd.

Bobbi: I nerd out on music stats and facts.

Folayan: And how people developed their careers. And she can tell you stories about Marilyn Monroe.

Bobbi: Everyone. So that’s what I nerd out. But she is like a traditional… You have traditional nerd things like anime.

Folayan: Or video games. So I think I would want to run through, there’s a video game called League of Legends. So I would want to run through the League of Legends Rift, the world.

Bobbi: I would want to run through Oz, but The Wiz Oz.

After watching both Arcane and The Wiz, both of those are a “no” for me. Flyana Boss is such a cool name. I’m always a big fan of rap names that are puns of real people’s names. Are you allowed to reveal which of you came up with Flyana Boss, and what were some of the rejected names?

Folayan: So Bobbi came up with Flyana Boss. She had a dream, and she woke up and there’s this poster of Diana Ross in her room. And so she was like, “Flyana Boss.” But the other contenders were Double Dare.

Bobbi: Double D, because we’re both from D cities.

Folayan: Halle Berry.

Bobbi: Just Halle Berry. Right out, no pun.

That just would have been confusing!

Bobbi: Do you remember? I think I wrote down Flower Power or something like that too. Wow. I had this notebook when I was by myself writing out these names and seeing how they looked.

Folayan: You probably still have it.

Bobbi: I probably have it somewhere. But I woke up from this slumber after we were brainstorming all day, and then I was like, “Diana Ross. Flyana Boss.” And it just came to me. And I texted her right away. I was like, “What do you think of Flyana Boss?”

Folayan: I was like, “Love it.” She actually said Cryana Boss or Flyana Boss, because we’re emotional beings. But we were like, “Let’s go on the positive side and let’s go Flyana Boss.”

So while “You Wish” is the one that’s getting a lot of attention, I did go back and scan through the discography proper. There’s this one called “Miss Me” that I thought was really, really fun. Can you tell me a little bit more about that one?

Bobbi: We wrote it during Covid.

Folayan: My brother produced it alongside with our executive producer, Marky Style. And it’s just a silly fun song. I love Shrek. So there’s a part in Shrek where they’re like, “They’ll grind his bones to make your bread.”

Bobbi: No, there’s so many good lines in there.

Folayan: So we were just like, “Let’s go fairytale. Let’s go just bad bitch fairytale.”

Bobbi: This is one of the songs, this is our voice memo days. So she pulled the beat up that her brother sent, got on her phone, and rapped, “Fee fi fo fum.” And then she sent it to me. I’m like, “This shit is hard. I need to write another verse right now.” So then that’s how that went.

Folayan: And so this was our first little bubbly moment on social media.

Bobbi: We call it baby viral. That’s when we went baby viral.

It reminded me a lot of the olden days of hip-hop. So you guys probably think I’m old, but I remember when I thought Run-DMC was back in the day. And they used to just rap nursery rhyme stuff. There’s this wholesome back-to-basics approach that you guys are almost supplying.

Folayan: There’s a Run-DMC song, it’s like, “Peter Piper picked a pepper, but Run rapped rhymes…” We love studying the old stuff that’s also very quirky and cool.

Bobbi: And we like paying tribute to what hip-hop truly is. Also, we like making puns too, in references to all these fairytales. We love that because it’s something familiar to the ear.

That’s what I like to hear. I like it when there’s an exchange between the generations rather than, “You kids need to grow up,” and “Well, you old people need to let us live.”

Bobbi: We don’t feel that way about any. We love the old school. We love what people are doing now. I’m sure when we’re old, we’re going to love what the kids are doing. We’re not judgy like that. It’s expression. It’s music. Wow, it’s such a great opportunity to be able to create music in itself. So, anybody who does that, my hat goes off to you.

Folayan: And the hip-hop world is so eclectic and beautiful and silly and fun.

Bobbi: It’s not just one thing.

Folayan: It’s not just serious all the time. It’s a whole world. So we’re happy we can be even a little bit part of it.

So what makes y’all “weird Black girls?”

Folayan: We just feel like we have a lot of quirks. We don’t necessarily fit the archetype that’s being painted in mainstream media of what Black girls are or who Black girls are.

Bobbi: Exactly. Blackness in general is not a monolith at all. We come in all different shapes and sizes just like any other group. But it does seem like sometimes, especially for Black women, it’s an even narrower viewpoint that you get. So we want to represent everything outside of that narrow box.

Folayan: And there’s so many of us everywhere, and I think that’s why it’s taking off right now because there’s so many of us.

Bobbi: Which is what we wanted. We always knew there was an audience out there for us, even though we don’t do stripper rap or gangster rap. We knew there was an audience out there. So every time we see people make a video —

Folayan: It’s so cool.

Bobbi: It’s so exciting because they look like us. They’re weird like us.

Criterion Channel Is Celebrating Hip-Hop 50 By Streaming Classic Films Like ‘Belly’ And ‘Wild Style’

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The Hip-Hop 50 celebrations continue. The Criterion Channel throws its hat into the ring, announcing that it’ll start streaming a “mixtape” of pivotal hip-hop films in August to highlight the culture’s rich film history and influence on cinema. Included in the collection will be documentaries like Style Wars and Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest, early features such as Wild Style and Krush Groove, and of course, what hip-hop film collection would be complete without Hype Williams’ hood classic feature debut, Belly?

It looks like the collection will be released onto the platform in roughly chronological order, mirroring hip-hop’s growth from a local youth movement with films like Beat Street and Krush Groove coming in August, while September will see entries from the late ’80s and early ’90s when hip-hop began to burst onto the national scene. Those will include Boyz n the Hood, Do the Right Thing, and Poetic Justice. Then, in November, you can watch the triumph of the platinum era, Belly, as well as its sequel Belly 2: Millionaire Boyz Club (which suggests that maybe Criterion couldn’t secure rights to quite as many of hip-hop’s most important feature films as perhaps it would’ve liked).

For a list of more hip-hop films — specifically documentaries — worth checking out, here’s a list we wrote a few years ago.

Celebrating 50 Years Of Hip-Hop: Top Iconic Verses From The 2010s To The 2020s

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Hip-Hop has been a driving force in music and culture for the past five decades, continuously evolving and pushing boundaries. As we celebrate 50 years of this influential genre, it’s essential to recognize the iconic verses and bars that have shaped hip-hop in recent years.  Numerous artists such as Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, […]

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