What in the fuck is this kid even saying? I know it’s cool to be too cool to rap, but this dude is too cool to talk & that’s a bridge too far. I had to immediately run this back several times, mostly to make sure I wasn’t having a stroke. Sure enough, on headphones, studio monitors or laptop speakers, this performance is largely incomprehensible to my Yakubian brain.
That’s a deliberate choice, of course. During the Original Opiate/SSRI era of “mumble rap,” those poor dumb kids were actually incapcitated for most of their careers. They couldn’t help themselves. Artists like Earl Sweatshirt and Pink Siifu are more like an obsessive graf writer, camouflaging their lettering beneath MC Escher degrees of wildstyle embellishments. Where rappers like SKECH185, Fatboi Sharif or Phiik & Lungs charge out to the far horizons of language arts maximalism, the wave Niontay is surfing goes for a hushed, Spartan blues.
Don’t get me wrong: I’ve checked out almost everything, from all of these cats, over their past five years establishing themselves. I think I like MIKE the most, overall. As music I often love it, but as rap, well, most of that shit might as well be instrumental. And them instrumentals ain’t always hitting, either.
That’s not a problem with “Da City of a Hunnid Plays.” This track is something lovely, and Niontay’s production has always exceeded his pen game. He’s young, though, so perhaps he’s got an Alchemist phase looming in his future. It’s still early days for all these dudes, and I look forward to being surprised. For now, I’m mostly just underwhelmed.
Ultimately, this whole jaded wave isn’t about fashion cycles, or generation gaps, or deconstructing rap. This is all about teenagers growing up on hip hop & legal weed that’s 45% THC. Me, I can’t seem to get high enough to hear this track as anything but a cool beat and a nice video. This new wave of mumble art rap isn’t the future, it’s a footnote. If Niontay aims to escape that gravity well, he’s gonna have to speak up. Two Dickies.
