The Official ACL Blog for like Eight People!
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One Liner: Back to the classic and uninteresting style of R&B
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is R&B and some rap
Home: Louisville
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 23 Weekend Two Only Sunday at 12:45 pm.
BMI Stage.
Thoughts: Brutal time slot. Literally up against the Jazz Collective and no one else at the first slot of the day. Getting blasted by the heat to play some sultry R&B grooves sounds miserable, but I guess she is out there making money as a touring musician and I'm just sitting here like a lump.
She apparently grew up hiding her queer identity in a very religious home in Louisville, KY. But the interview I am reading is weird about it, like, sounding like she had to hide her identity but then describing how most of her family is "super open-minded" and how supportive her mom, grandma, and Uncle Paul were. I guess this means her dad was an asshole. She got started singing to make people smile. She says people at school would come to her to ask her to sing for them to cheer them up. That is sweet. But while in high school, she started posting little freestyles onto Instagram after school, and somehow Timbaland saw one. He apparently DM'ed her to say "Yo, your pin game is crazy. We gotta work." I have no clue what that means, but she told him she was in, and he flew her out three days later. Since then, she's gotten to open for Jack Harlow, open on the H.E.R. tour, and perform at the Soul Train Awards.
Her first single was in 2020, so I expect that the pandemic really jacked up her rollout. The put out an EP in 2021 (Love Letterz) that became a full album (Love Letterz 2) in 2022. Since then, a handful of singles, but nothing else, which seems weird. I guess that is why she is down at the bottom of the poster, despite being discovered by Timbaland. Top track is "Countless Times" with 11.8 million streams.
I don't know the term for that beat/rhythm there in the background, but it feels like a frequently used groove for traditional R&B. The drums and bass laying down a slinky groove while the singer warbles and whispers and squeals over the top. Never my style of tune, but she has a nice voice.
Second most streamed is "KMS" which is not standing for what I expected (kill my self) but is instead about killing me slowly. 2.8 million streams for the studio version.
More of a rap beat to that one, but the lyrics aren't getting me much of anywhere. Feels pretty well-trod space and without a special beat or an especially cool voice saying something new.
Not my jam. If it's yours, I hope you enjoy the heat stroke that will come with the show.
Poster Position: TOP Quarter - Line 4 Both Weekends. Friday at 7:15
Miller Lite Stage
Thoughts: I forget how it ended up in my new music queue, but his big hit has been bouncing around in there for months. Sort of rap, sort of R&B, but "MUTT" has a funk and bounce that feels old school in a good way. 450.9 million streams.
That bass line has a Thundercat sound to it. Dig it.
He began his career as a child actor on Broadway - The Lion King as Young Simba, The Color Purple - and then gained wide recognition for starring in the Nickelodeon teen sitcom Victorious (2010–2013). He was in the movie August Rush and sang La Bamba, and was the singing voice for one of the Backyardigans. Never saw any of that. But, like many Disney/Nick child stars, he aimed for some music stardom next and he ended up co-writing and c-producing tracks for major stars like Ariana Grande, Drake, Rick Ross, SZA, and Toni Braxton. His song for SZA, "Snooze" won Best R&B Song at the Grammys. So in 2024, he released MUTT, the album, and its lead single became a hit that pushed him to receive six Grammy nods in 2025, and he won Best R&B album and Best Traditional R&B Performance.
The problem for me, is that after "MUTT," this just ends up being regular ass R&B. Which, we have definitely established, is not my thing. He obviously has a great voice, with that track record described above, but the cheesy swing tunes farting along underneath those vocals, or quasi-rap sounds that he trills over, none of this does anything for me. I can't say he is bad, of course, but it is more just that I don't care at all. His second-biggest streamer is "YES IT IS" with 82.6 million streams.
Yeah, sure. If this is your jam, then you ought to be happy because there have been several R&B things I have heard on this poster recently. I hope you enjoy!
One Liner: Generic pop now veering into Limp Bizkit Wikipedia Genre: pop, hip hop, rap rock, alternative Home: L.A. (but from Fort Wayne, Ind., I feel like you need to know this) Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 21 Day: Sunday at 5:30 Weekend One Only.
BMI Stage
Thoughts: Oh boy. Her most popular song right now features Fred Durst. That was not what I was expecting to happen in 2026. Has kind of a Limp Bizkit sound too, with a little rap/beat thing plus grinding riffage. Just going to give you that one now because this is an artist I need to just write about and move on from so that I can enjoy the rest of my day. 3 million streams.
I mean, that sucks. And I have a deeply guilty pleasure love for two of those Limp Bizkit albums and a happy memory of times driving around Dallas when I lived there and feeling extremely tough to yell along with songs a lot like that. But Fred should not be keeping this same schtick going 30 years after he originally annoyed people with it. Her biggest streamer overall is not her song, it is a song by something called G Flip. And it is called "GAY 4 ME," so I am getting a theme here from her.
The first line of her Wikipedia Early Life just says that she grew up the only child of divorced parents. So? Is that so weird? But, by 2014, she had created a YouTube personality that was awarded "Most Influential Up & Comer" at the Indiana Social Media Summit six months after graduating high school. NO WAY! Why didn't you say so!!! I make fun, but she was getting over a million views a day on her channel, so I'm over here writing this post for 24 people to read. SMBAU. She started doing motivational presentations and support for kids whose parents were unsupportive, and then started making raps to reduce her stress.
Four albums - 2018's Spaces, 2020's Midwest Kids Can Make It Big, 2022's Death of a Fantasy, and 2026's Lauren. Top streamer comes from that 2020 album, this is "But I Like It" with 8.8 million streams.
This is what much of her catalog sounds like - less like the rap rock Fred Durst cosplay, and more like generic pop where she is trying to vamp and sing in cursive. I don't love it, and it doesn't help that her scary visage is reminding me of a family member who stresses me out. I am for sure not going to see this. If Fred Durst comes out and they cover "Rollin" together I will be very sad.
One Liner: Up and coming rapper who won the Tiny Desk contest this year
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but rap, hip hop, R&B
Home: Dallas
Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 19
Weekend One Only Saturday at 2pm
BeatBox Stage
Thoughts: This is a Dallas-based rap collective, and they are pretty solid. The rapper who seems to front it is named Cameron McCloud, and he is apparently a preschool teacher on the side. I can't imagine the concept of thinking of the sweet, little old ladies who were my preschool teachers at Good Shepherd leaving their day feeding us graham crackers and stacking blocks to go write a sick rhyme about their gay identity or their depression.
A year ago, he challenged himself to release a new verse daily on Instagram, so that he would push his writing forward no matter what. He says that helped him to let go of his perfectionist mentality and just go with things rather than obsess. Also, his mom died of a heart attack while he was completing his last EP, which is terrible.
Aside from that sad shit, this is pretty fun. The name comes from his mental health journey and being placed on medication a decade ago for bipolar depressions and paranoid schizophrenia. he soon realized that creating music was a better cure than the drugs, so he went for it with these jams.
His early singles from 2015 and 2017 are not as good or as fun. Feels like he is feeling out the plan on those - more R&B focused to me. But by the 2021 album BAMN and 2023's Center of the Maze you can see the focus is onto the rap and wild fun. His 2025 album, Work of A.R.T. is where he seems to finally get noticed though, as it has his top streamer - "No Brainer" - with 652k streams.
Got some Andre 3000 flavor in that as the beat just barrels forward with funky joy. I know that those drums aren't actually groundbreaking of whatever, but that beat is funky and tight. Dig it. His newest single is called "WTF (Where the Files)" that appears to be about the Epstein files.
The other top streamer is a 2025 single called "THE ARTSHOW" with 652k streams. Just like his other single! How did he do that?!?!
As you might imagine from that video, he made a submission to Tiny Desk, and actually won! His show just got published about 3 weeks ago!
Those outfits are fire and his hair matches... The text below that video says that he applied four years in a row for the contest, and then finally won this year! it also says that the decision to crown Cure for Paranoia was unanimous. That is really pretty cool. And now we have the chance to see him go off in person!
One Liner: Very bad rap over EDM-ish beats Wikipedia Genre: cloud rap, UK underground rap Home: NYC Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 6 Day: Saturday at 7:30 Both Weekends.
BeatBox Stage.
Thoughts: This guy kinda blows. His Wikipedia makes me believe that he maybe is some sort of important figure in his area - "He has been credited with popularising the UK underground rap scene" - but it sounds like lazy rap to me. Like, he's just kind of talking in a boring tone over a beat.
Vincenzo Nischal Camille Bhatia was born in Ilford, East London and moved to the town of Basildon in Essex when he was around 5. He is of Indian Punjabi and Algerian descent. He began making music in FL Studio when he was nine years old, on a pirated version of FL Studio from his father's hard drive. he first used the name 9090gate, and then later flipped to fakemink and started piling on the singles. His 2025 single "Easter Pink" went viral and Pitchfork described it as "Bloghouse meets cloud rap." I have no clue what that means. "This music is like if bootclap was snorthalf." "If you love widgewhap, then this is like that in hufflekink." Anyway, in July 2025, Drake brought him out as a special guest at a London show, and then he got a lot of attention from other stars.
Lots of singles, then 2023's London's Saviour, an absolute dump of singles with a few short EPs in the midst, and then the 2026 album Terrified. His two biggest streamers aren't actually his songs, he just appears on a track by EsDeeKid and one by Buckshot. The biggest of his own is a single called "Easter Pink" with 40.9 million streams.
At least it's short? Like a hybrid between EDM and rap - maybe that is what bloghouse means, some ilk of EDM. His top track from the new disc is "Night, Blooming Jasmine ." with 10.8 million streams.
I really can't take him seriously, blurting out that he's killing this shit, but in the voice of some sort of injured muppet that is stuck under a boulder. "They try to cut my hair, I'm Sampson" says the Speak and Spell with a screwdriver impaled through the speaker. I will not go see this guy do this in person.
Wikipedia Genre: trap, pop rap, rage (that last one made me laugh)
Home: Fontana, CA
Poster Position: Third Quarter - Line 13 Weekend One Only Friday at 7:30
The Internet says that she was going to open for North West, but that tour got abruptly cancelled. When I couldn't find her on the Schedule, I thought that mean that she too had been cancelled, but my issue was that I never in my wildest dreams thought I should look at the top of the bill, against the Chainsmokers and Leon Thomas. WTF?
Thoughts: Seems like a bad thing when Wikipedia says you are best known for being featured on a 2026 Drake song from one of those lame three discs he released all at once to try to get attention back after Kendrick crushed his soul. I am guessing the title of that song - "Ran to Atlanta" - is a nod to Kendrick's verse about Drake being a colonizer and running to Atlanta when he needs some street cred. But her verse on this song is entirely forgettable, so it feels like a bummer that this is supposedly what she is best known for.
Her early bio is interesting - pre-teen Santana taught herself how to play My Chemical Romance and Pierce the Veil songs on guitar, later became a fashion influencer online, and then moved to Japan to study fashion before dropping out to pursue music full-time. I wanted to unpack the fact that one of her genres is "rage." "This style was defined by the use of bass heavy 808s, screamed autotune vocals and aggressive production." The name came from a Trippie Redd and Payboi Carti track called "Miss the Rage" that was about them missing mosh pits during the pandemic. After a few songs, I fear that "rage" is the type of rap that I do not like.
Four albums - 2022's Neptune (no songs with more than a million streams), 2023's Melange (two songs in the million stream zone), 2024's Molly Santana (a few bigger streamers), and 2025's Molly and Her Week of Wonders. Top streamer after the Drake tune is from the self-titled album and is called "So Right." 17.6 million streams and all the auto-tune you might desire.
Super lame beat, and she sort of sounds like Swae Lee? And she seems to have trouble finding the beat some times. "Ozone" is one of those raps where the rapper just doesn't even try to stay on the beat. I truly can't stand that.
Her only other song that cracks the 10 million threshold is "Windows Up" from the 2024 EP called Masonic Musik. 11.1 million streams.
That beat gets much better once the lyrics start, but I just am never on board with all of the auto-tune mumbling. I am really trying to understand the words, and I truly have no clue what is being said on these verses.
I am good to miss out on this experience. With the absolute dearth of rap on this poster this year, I was hopeful that this one might have been a winner, but not for me.
One Liner: Local rappers joining forces Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, hip hop and rap, maybe a little R&B-type singing too Home: Austin! Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 25 Day: Sunday Weekend One Only.
Beatbox Stage at 1:45.
Thoughts: I've heard this name before, because the individuals in the group have been here separately on their own. Deezie Brown in 2021 and Jake Lloyd in 2022.
Deezie happened to see Jake doing a sound-check one time. Impressed, Deezie reached out. Jake was surprised. He had admired Deezie’s work online as well, but they had never spoken. They soon realized that they functioned well together and both loved Outkast. They loved the way that the guys in Outkast never fell into a traditional pattern - sometimes one guy would doing the singing, the other the rapping, but then it could all flip, even within the same song. So they have tried to emulate that somewhat. They also love sports and weave references to sport in their rhymes all the time. Part of why their new album is called Major League.
Before that album, they had (sort of?) two albums - 2021's Geto Gala and 2021's Geto Gala (Chopped and Slowed). I kinda like the DJ Screw version. Their top song by streams is from the regular version, "Sumn' to Say" has 18k streams.
Not sure which if them is which in the raps, but the one who starts out sounds just like Drake to me. Fine, but that track doesn't really just grab my attention. On the new 2024 disc - most of the songs have no recorded stream count. The top one is "Homerun Derby" with 5k.
I just really can't get very excited about any of this as I have listened through it. Not terrible, but also not very exciting.
One Liner: Wanna-be Beastie Boys sound like fun Wikipedia Genre: Punk rap, rap rock, nerdcore, experimental hip-hop, electronica Home: Pennsylvania Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 10 Day: Saturday Both Weekends.
Beatbox Stage at 3:30.
Thoughts: Huh. They are really failing the world with that group name. When you see that name, what do you expect? Some sort of indie bedroom pop? Joey plucking gentle riffs on his guitar while Brae sings wistful lyrics about lost love. NOPE. This is a hip hop duo from Pennsylvania making angry rap action. I hear some Beastie Boys and some Pharcyde and some House of Pain in here.
Strangely enough, that isn't even a real name. Joseph Bertolino (Joey Valence) and Braedan Lugue (Brae). The two met as freshmen at Penn State and after becoming friends started making music together. Their first single dropped in 2021, but their big hit landed in 2022 as a single. "PUNK TACTICS" has 152.6 million streams.
Apparently filmed entirely on a Nintendo DSi. Ridiculous and silly, and yet its pretty damn enjoyable. They released a 2023 album named after that track. This is going to be a fun show, I think. The Internet says that they do a really high energy show with backflips and moshpits. Perfect for the kiddies who haven't been getting enough fun rap stuff on the poster.
Funny thing, after deciding that I liked this and was excited about it, I played it for wife and child #3 yesterday in the car. You know how when you play music for someone else, after you have claimed it is good, and then you start really listening closely to it? You really shouldn't do that with these two goobers. It's fun music that would be a good time at a festival, but it's not something that will ever be critically acclaimed or something to impress your middle-aged wife with.
The top track off of their 2024 album is called "OK" with 15.9 million streams.
Man, if you thought the video shot on the Nintendo was bad... But again, you get some more Beasties-lite action. Yeah, I'd absolutely go and bop along to this mess. It's bound to be a good time.
Her jenky statement she gave on social media says: "Unfortunately, I will not be performing at Austin City Limits this year. When I made the commitment I didn’t know exactly when Vie [her next album] would be released. I’ve been working on finalizing the album, making videos, taking the time to put together an album campaign that I am really excited about, and it’s become clear to me that I cannot give you guys the show you deserve within this time frame. Thank you to the ACL team for their support and I hope to see you all again soon when the time is right. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity.”
That is some bullhonkey. I had no clue that it was going to take time to release a new album, and so now I can't come perform for an hour and a half? I'm sure no other artist who has ever been to ACL was also releasing a new album in the month prior to the show! That is super freaking annoying, even if it actually is good news for me because now the Killers will be here instead.
One Liner: Top shelf raunchy pop with raps that sound like Nicki Minaj
Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop, pop, R&B, pop rap Home: L.A. Poster Position: HEADLINER! Both Weekends.
Sunday at 8:30 on the AmEx Stage.
Thoughts: If you would have asked me when she was last here, I would have said 2 years. Ends up it was 2021. However, even though I previously wrote about her, I could not tell you a single song that she does or tell you if she has been in the news cycle at all in the years since then. I am pretty much just going to use the last post I wrote about her, with some thoughts about new music at the end.
I feel like this is going to be a post where someone tells me to stay in my lane. I've never understood the appeal of what little I have heard from Doja Cat. I recall seeing some sort of Twitter dust up about her years ago and going to check out a few tracks, and feeling underwhelmed. More recently, when my teenage daughter saw this lineup, she was excited about seeing Doja on there, so I have a feeling this is going to be a show I don't need to attend. But, I just wrote all of that before diving into her music at all. Let's go on a voyage of musical discovery, shall we?
Real name is Amalaratna Dlamini. According to Wikipedia, she caught viral fame in 2018 as an internet meme when "Mooo!" became a thing about her claiming to be a cow. Freaking weird, man. She was born in L.A. in 1995, to a Jewish mother and South African father. He was apparently a Broadway performer who ended up on tour and abandoned his family before moving back to Africa. Doja has accused him of being a deadbeat and that she has never met him. At one point, she joined a professional poplocking troupe in high school. Which is a very funny thing to say. She ended up dropping out of high school to pursue music. She started surfing the internet all day, finding beats to add vocals to and uploading things to Soundcloud.
"Kiss Me More" is her top single, with a whopping 2.170 BILLION steams (up from 530 million streams in 2021). It features SZA, FYI. One interesting thing about the current state of music is that I have definitely never heard this song before. Released in 2021 and apparently very popular. It feels like a massively popular song from 1995 would have been inescapable, even if I didn't listen to that particular genre's radio station. Like, I wasn't searching out Mariah Carey back in the day, but I sure as hell heard a bunch of her songs a million times. But, this single is a pretty good little pop song.
Catchy, danceable groove. And the lyrics kinda made me grin. Also won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo Performance. Nothing ground-breaking or new to any of it, but perfectly pleasant dance pop. But the lyrics are also a little nasty - and a few songs later, I'm realizing that she got a penchant for some nasty lyrics. "Dick" (I know, the title should have fully explained this) would make a great companion piece with "WAP" in the Fox News Moral Freakout Broadcast. A lot of these tunes sing explicitly about her P and the action it receives.
Oh, wait, I recognize one of these - "Say So" has a dumb number of streams too - 1.307 billion (up from 806 million in 2021) - and is a fun little disco party that feels tailor made to do some serious roller skating to. Oh! I thought that Nicki Minaj was on that track - Doja's raps sound just like she is copying Nicki. Interesting. The groove and funk of that track is very fun. Again, sounds like something that Dua Lipa started before.
Interesting (to me at least) aside here - I saw something on Twitter not long ago - one of those question prompts where someone throws out a prompt and then waits for everyone to respond with their answer. Said something to the effect of "what was a lie the older generation told us." And someone I follow answered with "that disco sucks." Which stuck in my head for two reasons. One, because I think that's true. Disco is flipping fun and catchy and groovy and funky. Two, because I saw a response that stuck in my head saying that it was racism that caused people to start claiming that disco sucked, as white folks tried to destroy the popular black music of the time. Fascinating. But glad it is on the comeback swing right now, because more fun is a good thing to me.
Four albums - I think the first one is the one that put me off of her in the first place. 2018's Amala starts with an ode to cunnilingus and never really moves on from that sort of crass subject matter. The big track is "Candy," with 631.2 million streams (2021 count was 207.4).
I always find it interesting when a hit song doesn't get a video made to go along with it. Seems like, once this one blew up, they would have come along afterwards and made a visual for people to see. Pretty good track - the bass is great and the sugary innuendo is legit.
She's been controversial for a long time, but in 2020 she was "cancelled" (temporarily, it would appear) for some bad acting. "While videos and photos of Doja Cat saying the N-word, stripping, and hanging out in an alleged alt-right Tinychat room went viral, internet sleuths unearthed more insensitive videos, tweets, and even music." If you want to run through all of the controversies about her, you can read them all here. I think she's just an insensitive idiot or looking for attention. Actually, that doesn't even have all of her controversies, as I see that she's also said dumb shit about COVID. I think she is just VERY online, and raised in that arena where that sort of thing was normalized. Who knows.
Honestly, I kinda like the 2021 album. 2021's Planet Her has some fun tunes. Dammit. "Get In To It (Yuh)," even though the name of the song is horrible, actually made me look up from my work and check out the song name, because its a snappy good time. And "Kiss Me More" got stuck in my head. "You Right," featuring The Weeknd, is actually good. Dadgum. I had expected to be able to crap all over this stuff, but its actually good pop music.
2023's Scarlet starts out with a tune that I have for sure heard as well - pretty sure my kids have played "Paint the Town Red" around the house or in the car. This album definitely feels more like a rap move, and less like a pop thing like those earlier albums. And she keeps it nasty - I'll give you one guess about the subject of "Wet Vagina." There is still other stuff here too - "Often" makes me think of Eryka Badu. The top track, but a lot, is that "Paint the Town Red" one. 1.4 Billion streams.
Nothing much to it, but it is obviously touching a nerve with the youths to have garnered that many streams. TikTok, man. I guess it is pretty catchy.
My original thought was that there is no way I'd go see this, but honestly, its better than I expected. And on top of that, nothing else is happening on Sunday night, so I might as well go watch the rapper go to town. This is better than I expected.
One Liner: Interesting new rapper with Grammy under her belt without a single proper album Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop Home: Tampa Poster Position: Headliner Day: Saturday Both Weekends.
American Express Stage at 6:30 (dang, not even headliner space!)
Thoughts: Oh, I had heard a rap song that sampled "Somebody That I Used to Know," but I had no clue it was this person. I got into an argument with my daughters after we were discussing the winners of the Grammys this year, as when I said "who the heck is dowechy" and they were annoyed that I thought it was silly for a mixtape by an unknown to win over albums by Future, Vince Staples, or Schoolboy Q. Now, in the light of day, I can see that the offerings were less than stellar in the final five - J. Cole РMight Delete Later; Common & Pete Rock РThe Auditorium Vol. 1; Eminem РThe Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Gr̢ce); Future & Metro Boomin РWe Don't Trust You. Still just came out of left field for me.
Anyway, Jaylah Ji'mya Hickmon went viral on TikTok in 2021 leading to a contract with Top Dawg (mentioned before regarding Alemeda, another lady making music for TDE at the end of Kendrick's time there). She was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, the daughter of rapper Snatcha Da Boss. Which is an amazing rapper name. She started making music in high school, releasing her debut song on Soundcloud as Iamdoechii. The story behind the name is slightly confusing. She apparently was bullied so badly in junior high that she considered suicide, but then realized: "I'm gonna be the one dead, and look at my taste! Nobody wants that. I don't want that. That's not the life I want to live." So she "birthed Doechii." This whole article never once says where that collection of letters came from though. Annoying.
That being said, I am enjoying her sound. No real albums yet, despite having several mixtapes and EPs available on Spotify. 2019's Coven Music Session, Vol. 1, 2020's Oh The Places You'll Go, 2021's Bra-less, and 2024's Alligator Bites Never Heal. She's also on a handful of tracks by other folks - a Weeknd track, a BLACKPINK member named JENNIE, Tyler The Creator, Katy Perry, and Banks. The early stuff is honestly not nearly as good as the new mixtape - I'm listening to 2021's Bra-less right now and she's just raw and less nuanced. Her flow on the new mixtape is legit. Her early hit was "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake," with 60 million streams, but it very much sounds like the first portion is just copying Nicki Minaj.
That is a deeply strange song, with the shift into an R&B song right after she is rapping about getting caught by her mom while masturbating.
There have been people arguing that she is some sort of industry plant - Kanye for one - but I have read several articles arguing both sides. If this is an unfamiliar term for you, it is a derogatory term for tearing down an artist, claiming that they got their success because the industry created them and worked to make them popular, instead of earning it themselves. "It refers to an artist who is presented to the public as being a self-made, organic success, but who actually has significant backing from a major record label or industry insiders. The implication is that the artist’s popularity and grassroots support are not entirely genuine, but rather manufactured or heavily assisted by the industry." Think Milli Vanilli or The Monkees from back in the day, but now people accuse artists like Lorde or Dua Lipa of being industry created because they were immediately popular without paying their dues or whatever. To me, I think I agree with the "no" camp - yes, she quickly rose to fame in 2024 with Top Dawg's backing, but she had been working at it and creating music for years before then. She signed in 2021 and won a Grammy with a 2024 track, after first releasing music in 2016. That feels like a normal arc to me.
The top track from the new mixtape is that "Anxiety" one, even though the sample sort of bothers me. I love that Gotye song. 356.2 million streams.
My wife and I were just talking about anxiety yesterday while driving to dinner. It is such a weird thing, for someone who does not have much anxiety at all, to understand and empathize with those who do. Like, when she flies on an airplane, her chest is physically tight with anxiety about the experience. And while outside stressors can definitely affect me, I just don't have anything like that. So this song is really not my jam. I don't want her sampling that song, and I don't want her to sing so much about anxiety.
Interestingly, that song was not actually part of the original release of this mixtape - it was only added as a bonus track to the Deluxe Edition. The track was originally released on YouTube in 2019, but then started to gain traction on social media in 2025. She re-recorded the track, stuck it on her 2024 release, and made a new video for it. Smart marketing!
BUT, other tracks on this mixtape are tight. The big track other than "Anxiety" is "DENIAL IS A RIVER" with 337.6 million streams.
That breathing exercise at the end makes me think of Doug E. Fresh's "The Show." Y'all hear that? Hearing a lot of callbacks to other artists. Not just the sampling of Gotye, but also stuff like the WOOHAAH from Bustah Rhymes ("CATFISH" is a grimy track that sounds cool), or "who's that creepin' through my rearview" which sounds like Goodie Mob, or the Ahahahaha! from The Fugees, or "move, bitch, get out the way" from Ludacris. Kind of fun, but also a cheap way to get some recognition and shine on your project by making people think of hugely successful songs while listening to yours.
I'm honestly on board. She won me over. I'd like to formally apologize to my daughters for talking smack about Dowechy after her well-deserved Grammy win. Don't know if I will see her play, but I like the hustle.
One Liner: Has a rap track named "blahdahdahdahdah."
Wikipedia Genre: drill
Home: An open-air drug market in Philly
Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 21 Weekend Two Only Friday.
BMI Stage at 5:00.
Thoughts: I know that this will be a boomer ass take, but can this guy please at least attempt to rap along with the beat? Just for one bar? Instead, you get a guy saying things while a glitchy beat just happens to be meandering around behind him. Sometimes when I am making these posts, I forget to stop the Spotify playback of an artist as I start the YouTube video, and so I end up with two tracks playing over each other until I can stop the Spotify. That is what this dork sounds like. This is probably what it sounds like when I am trying to tell my daughters something as they are watching TikTok videos with rap songs behind them, a rap track in the front of their brain and then some Peanuts-ass teacher saying random words that they want to ward off with their mental hands.
Speaking of TikTok, that is how this dude gained fame, here in 2025. His single "Doot Doot" grabbed the public and now we are stuck with him. 27.2 million streams.
I can imagine something great with that ominous, tough, spare beat. But it ain't whatever that stuff is about. Here is the story of the track's popularity: "A snippet of Skrilla's song "Doot Doot" was uploaded to TikTok by an anonymous account in September 2024. It was partially popularized by Taylor "TK" Kinney, a basketball player for the RWE team of the Overtime Elite league who recited the song's lyric "six, seven" in many of his interviews over several months, and through TikTok videos referencing basketball player LaMelo Ball's height. By February 2025, it had been used in more than 126 thousand videos on TikTok." Well, shoot. If a player from the RWE team is on board, then who wouldn't be?
Jemille Edwards is from Kensington, a Philadelphia neighborhood. Wikipedia claims it is "known chiefly for its open air drug trade." What the hell, man. It feels like if a square in Texas now knows about this illegal business, maybe the local law enforcement should do something about this issue? He is signed to Priority Records, which is fascinating to me because that is/was the home of badasses like NWA and Ice Cube and Eazy E and Master P and Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z and Ice T. Now this dude is smearing words around like a toddler with a dookie, but on the same label. He claims to have started selling drugs at 12, while playing AAU basketball, but also spent two years under house arrest while in high school on heroin-related charges. He has also stated that he makes all of his music under the influence of drugs. YOU DON'T SAY?!?!?
Six albums/mixtapes - 2022's Kutthroat, 2022's THRILLA, 2023's Santos, 2023's Gemini Season, 2024's Underworld, and 2024's Zombie Love Kensington Paradise. For some reason, Spotify won't let me play the older stuff. Doesn't necessarily bother me. "Doot Doot" is a bonus track on a deluxe version of that last album. The second-biggest streamer is "GOD DAMN" from Underworld. 5.2 million streams.
Another kinda cool beat - makes me think of those early A$AP Rocky beats - ruined by this dude just farting words out for a minute and then waving some more guns around. Maybe this is your jam and you can't to go try to dance along to this as it stutters and stops and jerks its way to a show. Not for me though!
Wikipedia Genre: hip hop, R&B Home:Tallahassee Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 2 Day: Sunday Both Weekends.
American Express Stage at 6:30.
Thoughts: Fascinating. I don't know squat about T-Pain. Like at all. He's more of a punch line to me, just anytime someone has their Auto-Tune cranked to a million, then it's a T-Pain thing. Which is sort of too bad, because he seems like a nice dude who is kind of funny. Like, check out his Tiny Desk show!
Wonderful voice - why does he always shaft it up with the effects??? But I could not name you a single song. I remember his parts on other people's songs, like Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat!" but just not any of his own. And now that I actually listen to him for a while, it dawns on me that he's actually not really a rapper. He's just an auto-tuned R&B singer.
Faheem Rashad Najm is originally from Tallahassee, Florida. He first popped off in 2005 with his debut album Rappa Ternt Sanga. Since then, he has released five more albums, but his main source of fame and success has been as a feature on others' songs. FloRida's "Low" has been certified diamond. Grammy Awards for Kanye's "Good Life" and Jamie Foxx's "Blame It." Wikipedia says that for a time in 2007, he was featured on four of the top ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Impressive. His stage name is short for Tallahassee Pain, and he apparently chose that because of his hard upbringing in that town. He was raised in a Muslim household, but apparently didn't care much about religion. For a short while he was in the group Nappy Headz, but by the time of his first album he was back to being solo.
His top two songs are both from 2007's Epiphany - "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" (780.5 million) and "Bartender" (479.5 million). Here is that top track, featuring Yung Joc.
Really weird. I 100% don't know that tune. For being a huge hit, it just passed me by. His face looks as Auto-tuned as his voice. Nothing special to me, but as I have established in the past, I am not an R&B guy.
He has been married to his wife since 2003, and they have three kids, named: Lyriq, Muziq, and Kaydnz Kodah. Why do the first two get names derived from Daddy's occupation and the third gets whatever the hell that was? He is a big gamer, and I've seen some of his most popular stuff from Twitch streams on YouTube, and they are pretty funny.
And his hot ones episode is cracking me up too.
He truly seems like a sweet and likeable guy. Please don't tell me that he has been cancelled or whatever.
Not his second-most streamed, but I want to give you this other one because the name rules. "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)" features Mike Jones and has 208.7 million streams.
Kinda funny, but just really not a good song. "get her over to my crib and do the night thing." Haha, Mike Jones and his dumb phone number thing. That is a weak verse. After plowing through a lot of the most popular songs and those old top albums, I just realize that this is not really my thing! Just hearing purely Auto-Tune squawking, it really gets painful. I spent a chunk of today listening, and I need to pull the plug and move on.
However, I have to recommend the experience of his covers album. He has two albums of covers that are so fun! 2023's On Top of The Covers includes "War Pigs" "Tennessee Whiskey" and "Don't Stop Believin'" while 2023's live version adds even more goodness like "Shout," "This is How We Do It," and "American Woman." Haha - "War Pig" freaking jams and while it's not as hard here as I want it to be (compared to the original), it's still a good time. He almost sounds like Ozzy! Also, related, dude can freaking SING! Check out "Don't Stop Believin'" and bask in the lack of Autotune.
His final album is something with Young Cash called Bluez Brothaz, from 2024. Honestly? "The Introduction" was kinda awesome and sucked me in. And then "Biggest Booty" hit with another overload of the damn Auto-Tune. And even though I rag on it, I can pretty much guarantee you that this show will be freaking fun. I doubt I'll do it, but the dance party vibes will be very real.
One Liner: Ex-baseball player stud, previously called Mike Stud, doing mediocre Post Malone cosplay
Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop, frat rap, country, pop
Home: Rhode Island (although I doubt that now)
Poster Position: Late Addition Both Weekends Sunday at 6:25.
Honda Stage.
Thoughts: I am annoyed to no end by this name and punctuation. It is not as bad as Panic! At The Disco, but is up there with Portugal. The Man. I was hoping this was that rapper, who was Open Mike Eagle and then I thought was just going by Mike, but apparently not. This is a completely confusing dude who looks in his Spotify photo like he is going to sing Florida Georgia Line songs with some contrived accent, and then kicks in with more of a G Eazy rapper vibe. "BRIDE AT A BAR" has a little of that vibrato/whiney Post Malone sound.
Wikipedia says that MIKE (musician) is Michael Jordan Bonema, a black rapper from New York City, who was previously part of the group sLUms. That is not this guy. Apparently this is the MIKE. who used to go by Mike Stud, which is just an awful name. Wikipedia says he is Michael Francis Seander, who was 2006's Gatorade Player of the Year for Rhode Island, which landed him an athletic scholarship to Duke University. He played baseball there with Marcus Stroman, who later appeared on one of his terrible raps. After Tommy John surgery and missing an entire season to recover from that surgery, he started making some music to pass the time and releasing it for his teammates as a joke. He ended up transferring to Georgetown University, where he received a graduate degree in sports management. In 2016, the Esquire Network made a TV show called This is Mike Stud that followed him while on tour. I refuse, on principle, to watch that dreck. You cannot make me do it.
He has a TON of music. Loads of loose singles, and then albums/mixtapes listed in 2013, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 (with freaking 23 tracks), 2022, and 2024 (with 35 freaking songs). So much. "someone make it stop" sounds like he is copying both Drake and Posty at different parts of the track. I'd also guess he self produces these tracks as there's nothing interesting here. The top track is significantly larger than the rest - I'm guessing it is a hit on TikTok. "These Days" has 327.8 million streams.
Mike Stud, featuring Marcus Stroman! Appears that he is just starring in the video, but who knows, maybe he is saying some of those terrible bars as well. Mike sort of looks like Rob McElhaney at times. I am guessing that the little piece about "chill drink smoke fuck" is the nugget that has been used on TikTok a million times by the children and caused this guy some modicum of fame. I'll admit that I like the beat to it. Definitely better than anything on his most recent two albums. Here is one of those, his next-most-streamed - "life got crazy" - with 88.9 million streams and from the 2021 disc the highs.
It also annoys me that he is stealing the tune from Youngbloodz's rap track "85" because I love that song and I don't want to hear this guy stealing their bit. Oh, there he is with Posty. Of course. Look, good for him - glad he turned his high school mastery of sports into the ability to party with huge stars and get turnt up on stage. I just don't plan to ever listen to any of thise again.
But, I guess this was the only guy who was brave enough to go up against Chappell Roan at her new Sunday night set time. San Holo got his set moved up to 6pm, Dominic Fike just entirely dropped out of the Festival, and this dude got added in to go up against her. Pretty amazing ability in Roan to just NUKE an entire hour of the Festival. Never seen anything like it before.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is funk and soul and a little hip hop
Home: unknown, maybe Chicago?
Poster Position: Late Addition. Weekend Two Only. Friday at 1:40.
BMI Stage.
Thoughts: ooooh baby, I like me some funky stuff. This sounds like they keep grabbing other vocalists to come in and add something over the top of what they have going, but I still dig it. A website called "onestowatch.com" claims this: "A collective with the “funky spirit of Parliament, yet room to experiment like the Gorillaz,” Vanilla is Black has come to dismantle apathy, elicit groove, and redefine the industry by honoring what it used to be and catapulting it ions beyond." I assume they mean eons? I doubt they are trying to catapult past some molecules...
Three guys - Chuck Inglish, Kevin Roosevelt, and Kenneth Wright. Kevin and Chuck apparently ran into each other at a taco spot, both telling the other that they were looking to try to put together a band, and this thing was born. I wish they named the taco spot. Apparently Chuck Inglish is a rapper with solo projects and also was part of the Cool Kids (a duo with Sir Michael Rocks). He is from Michigan but moved to Chicago at some point. Wait, Kevin Roosevelt is Keb Mo's name. Is this Keb' Mo'? I am guessing not since none of the articles mention that. Would be weird tho. Also, the reason for the band name? Because vanilla is actually black. Woooooaaaaaahhhhhh.
Just one album, 2024's U.Aint.Neva.Lied, with nine songs of funky shizz. The top song features 6lack (and I've mentioned this before, but I still can't say that in my mind as anything but SLACK. Which I know is 100% wrong every time, and then I say it that way in my head again). "Baby Boy" with 162k streams.
Feel that funk all up in your soul, baby. I like it. Second most streamed is "Mezcal," and it actually has a real video. 78k streams.
Smooth and funky and groovy for sure. That bass line is sick. And who needs SLACK in there? The main guy does a bang up job of singing that one - almost a Weeknd sound. I'd for sure go catch this, if it wasn't the first show on Sunday of Second Weekend!
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative hip hop, jazz rap, R&B, neo soul, horrorcore Home: L.A. Poster Position: HEADLINER! Day: Sunday at 8:45 on the AmEx (uh, only an 1:15 set from a Headliner? That is weak) Both Weekends.
Thoughts: He was last here in 2021, replacing someone who bailed out at the last minute. One moment, please... oh yeah, he came in when DaBaby got cancelled. And speaking of cancelled, he previously cancelled his appearances for Lollapalooza and Outside Lands, so I was really hoping that we would get that same treat and they would just have to replace him with someone actually awesome. No such luck. But also luckily for me, no new music since then, so not too terribly much to add to my review! Thanks ACL for giving us a repeat artist with nothing new to say and a way-too-short set time as a headliner!
Real name is even Tyler! Tyler Gregory Okomma. He came to fame through the Odd Future collective (among many others, Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean were part of this), but then also started releasing solo stuff in 2009. He took his name from a MySpace page he created to post his work. He taught himself to play piano at age 14, which is pretty wild.
I never got on board with Odd Future, and likewise have never cared much for this guy. I feel like I have repeatedly tried his stuff on, because others act like he is the greatest thing around, and it never clicks with me.
Like, as an example, his most recent album CALL ME WHEN YOU GET LOST. Right after it came out, I was in the Chick Fil A drivethru with my kids and middle kid asked if we could listen to the new Tyler, the Creator. After mentally debating pulling up an album I'd never heard before that might have some bad stuff going on it, I went for it. The first few songs kinda bang! And then the album shifts into 48 other styles and it loses me entirely. The hit so far is one of the wack ones that's half R&B. "WUSYANAME"
It's kind of funny, telling her she looks malnourished and all, but it very much sounds like some mid-90's Boyz 2 Men track. Don't love it. But, like "CORSO" brings the thunder both in the beat and the rhymes. "LEMONHEAD" too. But the goofy "Sweet/I Thought You Wanted to Dance" throws off the whole thing, especially when followed by the weird diatribe by his mom. Of course, Pitchfork gave this album an 8.4 and Best New Music. One weird thing about the disc is that most of the songs are super short, except for two bloated tracks that are 8:35 and 9:48 long. Blech. Parts of it are enjoyable, but as a total unit, this isn't for me.
I previously reviewed the album before then, 2019's IGOR. This one has some cool things sonically, like the way album opener "IGOR'S THEME" kinda sounds like Outkast finding a synth and making something freaky, but then forgetting to actually rap over it. But then when he goes with the rest of the album, it's a little too much singing, and not enough good rapping, reminds me of Childish Gambino tracks. The top track is "Earfquake," which has a whopping 1 Billion streams!
I have no clue why people would want to hear that track a billion times. The rap in the middle isn't Tyler, I don't think (comments on YouTube say it is "carti," but he gets no credit in the titles on Spotify, so I dunno) and that rap is terrible. The singing is sort of pretty I suppose but it isn't amazing. Weird stuff. I don't much like the album overall.
I also reviewed 2015's Cherry Bomb (apparently skipping over 2017's Flower Boy). Like I said, I've been trying to wrap my head around this dude for years. The critics love it, so I feel weird never understanding why. But my review of that album was that it is really uneven. Some of his stuff is interesting and fun, but a lot of this album is too convoluted and becomes hard to listen to a second time. I have yet to really get into any of the guys who came out of the Odd Future group. Here is the second-most listened-to one from the album (likely because it includes Kanye and Wayne), called "Smuckers." 139.6 million streams.
I listened to the disc a few times back then, and concluded that I just don't want to hear it again. Pretty poor recommendation right there.
I tried his first album - Goblin - from 2011 - and it starts out with a terrible track that lasts 6:48 for some reason. Just Tyler talking to the devil over a boring beat. Wikipedia says that people called him "horrorcore" after this debut, and that he denied being horrorcore, but I have no clue what that genre is about. What I do know is that I dislike most of these songs. They are stressful. The hit from here is "Yonkers" with 238.1 million streams (although the duet with Frank Ocean called "She" now has more streams).
His delivery kind of reminds me of Eminem. And watching him make himself puke on camera and then hang himself also reminds me of that guy's shock value schtick. That being said, that is a pretty damn good rap.
That leaves 2013's Wolf and 2017's Flower Boy as the two I haven't written about yet. But "I Ain't Got Time" from 2017's Flower Boy samples DeeLite's "Groove is in the Heart," and that is dope. That album is pretty okay. I tried Wolf and don't care for it. Like Goblin, it's stressful. Also, waaaay too long at 1:10. Nuts.
My guess is that I'll be watching Sturgill from a mile away and then will hear a track or two of this as I walk out.
And just in case you feel like disliking the guy, here is a version of his Wikipedia entry's Controversy section in its entirety:
Okonma has been criticized for his use of homophobic slurs, in particular, his frequent use of the epithet "faggot" in his lyrics and on Twitter.[86][87] He has denied accusations of homophobia, stating, "I'm not homophobic. I just say faggot and use gay as an adjective to describe stupid shit,"[88][89] and, "I'm not homophobic. I just think faggot hits and hurts people."[90] However, he later said in an interview with MTV about the slurs, "Well, I have gay fans and they don't really take it offensive, so I don't know. If it offends you, it offends you. If you call me a nigger, I really don't care, but that's just me, personally. Some people might take it the other way; I personally don't give a shit."[91][92] Notably, Okonma was among the first to openly support fellow Odd Future member Frank Ocean after Ocean publicly revealed a past relationship with another young man.[93] Lyrics on the album Flower Boy led to speculation that Okonma himself was coming out as gay. The tracks in question were "Foreword", "Garden Shed", and "I Ain't Got Time!"[94][95] Okonma further fuelled the discussion when he seemingly revealed in an August 2017 interview that he had a boyfriend when he was 15 years old,[96] though he later tweeted that it was a figure of speech.[97][third-party source needed]
Okonma has also been criticized for his graphic depictions of violence against women and lyrics that observers have called misogynistic.[98][99] Brent DiCrescenzo of Time Out Chicago writes that rape is a "predominant theme" of Okonma's 2011 album Goblin[100] and Hermione Hoby of The Guardian writes that Okonma's "rape and murder fantasies (are) graphic enough to send the vomit rising along with the bile."[101] The Fader tallied 68 uses of the term "bitch" over Goblin's 73 minutes.[102] The music critic Allison Stewart wrote that "critics (read: mostly white guys) have largely given [Okonma] a pass" for the album's many "homophobic and misogynistic slurs and rape and murder fantasies".[103] An open letter questioning the lack of media condemnation of Okonma's lyrics,[104][105] written by Sara Quin of the Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara shortly after the release of Goblin, spurred additional debate and provoked comments ranging from supportive of Quin's message to labeling her as racist.[103]
The commentator Emma Jane describes the harassment of two Australian activists critical of Okonma's lyrics, spurred by Okonma naming them on Twitter. Fans of the rapper targeted the women with rape and death threats in response to reports that they sought to have Okonma barred from the country, in what Jane cites as exemplary of "the way high profile figures are able to incite – either intentionally or otherwise – large fan bases to engage in mob attacks on named women".[106]
A series of three commercials for Mountain Dew directed by Okonma created controversy in May 2013, accused of using "racial stereotypes" and "making light of violence against women". In the spots an energy drink-loving goat character called "Felicia the Goat" is consecutively being "scapegoated" in a diner, in prison, and on the road. During the 60-second ad in prison, a battered white woman on crutches examines a police line-up consisting of several African-American men and one goat, while the goat antagonizes the woman. Syracuse professor and social critic Boyce Watkins stated that the ad was "arguably the most racist commercial in history." PepsiCo pulled the ad and apologized. Okonma released a statement claiming that the ad was not meant to "spark a controversy about race" and that "it was simply an, again, admittedly absurd story that was never meant to be taken seriously."[107][108]
On March 15, 2014, Okonma was arrested in Austin, Texas for inciting a riot after telling fans to push their way past security guards at his South by Southwest performance. Due to this incident, Tyler faced up to one year in prison and a $4000 fine.[109] Tyler's lawyer, Perry Minton, argued that the riot charge was overblown and perpetuated misconceptions of his client, who has no previous arrests. These charges were later dropped.[110]
On August 26, 2015, Okonma revealed that he had been banned from visiting the United Kingdom for three to five years, which forced him to cancel a string of tour dates supporting the Cherry Bomb album, including the Reading and Leeds Festivals. The reason for the ban comes from lyrics dating back to 2009. His manager Christian Clancy said they were informed of the ban via a letter from then-Home Secretary Theresa May.[48] May cited lyrics from the mixtape Bastard as the reason for the ban, although Okonma had toured multiple times in the UK since its release.[49][50] Okonma later said that he felt he had been treated like a terrorist and implied that the ban was racially motivated, stating that "they did not like the fact that their children were idolizing a black man."[51] According to the BBC, it is believed the ban was lifted in February 2019,[111] concurring with a scheduled performance in London to promote his fifth studio album, Igor. However, this show was forcibly cancelled by police due to safety concerns: the venue was claimed to be "overcrowded" and "too rowdy."[111]
One Liner: Very generic pop rap with a clever bar here and there
Wikipedia Genre: hip hop, R&B, soul, pop-rap, trap
Home: London
Poster Position: 9 Both Weekends. Sunday at 7:45.
IHG Stage.
Thoughts: Another weirdo spelling thing. First impression during the first song is like some Fergalicious lite rap thing, or maybe that Iggy Azalea gal. I absolutely find it really weird that she is this late in the day and I have literally never heard this name uttered in my lifetime. She is heavy on the song names being cutesy - "Obitchuary," "THANK GODDESS," etc.
I love it. Her actual name is Amy Renee Heidemann Noonan. An Amy born in the 80's is amazing - I thought that name was reserved exclusively for 70's babies like Melissa, Shelley, and Angela. I guess they were slow on the passe name uptake in Seward, Nebraska. She was originally part of a duo called Karmin, with her new-husband Nick Noonan, which was decidedly more straight-pop. Their biggest track, "Brokenhearted" rips off a Katy Perry-sounding track and has Amy Renee's voice powerfully belting over the top with a little rapping in there. Wikipedia says that this album was released to poor reviews from critics, but was a commercial success anyway.
She apparently picked the name "by combining 'Qveen' a nickname given to her in college alongside 'Herby' the mascot of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, later realizing that 'Herby' means 'Warrior'." I just barfed in my mouth a tiny bit. Also, had no clue that the Cornhusker's mascot is named Herby. That is brutal. The only Herbie I recognize is the car. She also has a makeup line called Qveen Studios.
Her release schedule started out with a progression of EPs, all very unoriginally named as EP1, EP2, etc. up through EP9, before she finally released a 2021 album called A Woman. On those early EPs, she had four bigger tracks - "Sade in the 90s" on 2018's EP3 (24.9 million streams), "Mint" on 2019's EP6 (17 million), "Vitamins" on EP7 (25.2 million), and finally "Sugar Daddy," her biggest song, with 78 million streams, from #8.
Hear the Fergie action there? I'm sure this was big on TikTok with people using the lyrics to show off Gucci and Prada or whatever. Her tongue is a weird color when she licks that lollipop. Not a good song. "MAGIC" has some Eminem to it, with weird little voices and her cadence in there. "G SPOT" sounds kinda like Tierra Whack.
Since that 2021 album, she has kept up the pace, throwing out albums like candy. 2021's Halloqveen, 2022's MAD QVEEN, 2023's THE MUSE, 2023's HOUSEWIFE, and 2024's THE ALCHEMIST. None of those have done huge streaming numbers, so let's check the top track from the newest album. "LAVISH" has 598k streams.
Meh. The underlying tune is super generic-sounding, like she found a beat that was already loaded on her keyboard. The lyrics are likewise super generic - feels like she just tried to think of the current trend words and phrases she could string together to try to get TikTok to notice. After listening for a morning, I think that is my main beef here - some of the songs sound kind of fun, but if you really listen to them there is nothing there at all.
One Liner: One of the main BROCKHAMPTON guys aiming for more singing and less rapping
Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop, pop, R&B, alternative rock
Home: L.A. (via Corpus Christi and San Marcos)
Poster Position: 7 Both Weekends. Sunday at 5:45.
IHG Stage.
Thoughts: Man, when BROCKHAMPTON came through the fest a few years ago I was ALL IN on that thing. Saw them both weekends, did the Stubb's show in the middle, devoured that one main album. Loved it. So, this can sound a lot like that stuff, in that Abstract was a founding member and one of the main voices in that mix. Unfortunately, that means you get a lot of the bits that held Brockhampton back for me - the emo-ish singing stuff never clicked for me the way that the straight rap pieces did.
He was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, but was not close to his mother at all. He mentions this sometimes in his lyrics, but he ran away from home as he started to understand his sexuality, ending up in Georgia with his sister at age 15. When he was 13, he posted to an internet forum called KanyeToThe, a fan site dedicated to Kanye West, asking if people out there wanted to make a band. From that, he formed a collective known as AliveSinceForever, which later birthed Brockhampton in San Marcos. The group soon moved to L.A. and started throwing out those Saturation albums (as well as doing all of their wild videos and producing and everything else - they were pretty cool there for a minute). But by 2022, the group announced an indefinite hiatus and went their separate ways.
On his solo thing, he has been releasing singles on his own since 2015, and his albums were landing in the midst of the Brockhampton thing. He has three - 2016's American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story, 2019's Arizona Baby, and 2023's Blanket. His most popular track, by a ton, is from that 2019 album and sounds very much like the Brockhampton style with a little rap, a little singing, and a strangely pretty beat. "Peach" has 203.7 million streams.
I guess it even features the Brockhampton guys in there, now that I see the video. Hard to see the difference, just that he claimed it for himself. I am sure that is a hard line to draw in a big collective like that, where you decide which idea you want to give to the group and which one you want to keep for yourself. On the same album, "Georgia" sounds like he is channeling ANDRE3000. His most recent single features Lil Nas X, called "Tennessee," but it hasn't exploded like you'd expect from a LNX thing. His second biggest track is from the debut album - "Empty" has 100.4 million streams.
That video was like a whole damn movie. From the comments, it sounds like he really connects with a lot of people by being openly homosexual in a genre that usually craps all over homosexuality. He is dating a Brockhampton stylist and seems to still be tied in with some of the group. His list of influences is typically wide-ranging for someone who sounds like this - Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Lana Del Rey, Outkast, and Odd Future/Tyler, the Creator. All of that checks out.
For me, I'd rather get the straight rap vibe songs that he has, and leave out the sing-song stuff. But that has been true for me on so many other artists who may be considered similar. Never got into Frank Ocean. Never loved Tyler or Childish Gambino. I'm a little bummed because I was excited to see a slice of Brockhampton back on it. Oh well.
