We had a very clear picture of it from the beginning. Or, at least, the ones that we’re sure about it were the ones that live in this world with an open mind, always willing to accept new concepts, leaving accumulated prejudices from the past behind. And, from the first moment, there was a kind of certainty that nobody could get out of their minds: hip-hop would be the poetry from the 21st century. And that’s how it is.
FIVE ARTISTS THAT ARE REDEFINING HIP-HOP IN 2019
Hip-hop is an eternally mutating genre that isn’t created nor destroyed, but it transforms itself to adapt to the present time. For this reason, we have to ask ourselves in each moment who are the new artists that are creating the hip-hop of the future… Here we talk about those who are doing so in 2019.
In fact, we have to take into account that poetry is precisely an art form that has been able to reinvent itself over decades and centuries. Always adapting itself not only to the aesthetic of each moment but also to the intellectual and emotional worries. It’s not unreasonable to think then that hip-hop has already gone through several internal revolutions (what does the festive Newyorker hip-hop from the ‘80s have to do with Eminem’s vision packed for the masses? Nothing!)… And it will go through thousands more.
For now, however, we have to focus on the year 2019, when trap is blurring the lines between hip-hop and this genre, in a classic action/reaction move, trying to solidify itself as its own style to mark its territory. Framed in such an ambiguous but at the same time stimulating paradigm, we find some of the new artists that are killing it the most in hip-hop… Here are the class of 2019.
BLUEFACE. If there were a price for the artist that has left their hip-hop fans the most indecisive this year of 2019, it would most likely go to Blueface. The Los Angeles rapper seems to have been born to become a walking meme for social media to make fun of, as his clichéd style and lyrics can come off as slightly embarrassing. But if Drake wants to collaborate with him, he must have a good reason for this.
MEGAN THEE STALLION. She is not here to become the new Nicki Minaj, however much their exuberant physiques look alike as well as how much their levels of empowerment are right in front of your face. She’s also not here to become the new Travis Scott, however much she’s seen as the new hope of hip-hop coming from Houston. Megan Thee Stallion is here to become Megan Thee Stallion. And that’s serious business.
ERIK URANO. When all of the new rappers from our country are looking towards popular trap beats as their hook to attract a greater audience, Erik Urano prefers to take a different route. This might be because he’s not really a new rapper because he’s been with us for a while now. And this might be because he’s interested in grime, which he was able to sublimate almost a year ago in his Balaclava mixtape. This was the interlude to what’s about to come. It was the interlude of the future.
FLOHIO. Slowthai might be the British rapper of the moment… But we’re thinking of the British rapper of the future, and as it turns out, it’s not a male rapper, but a female one. And her name is Flohio. In the last few months, she has launched an EP that is set to become a milestone in her career and she has shown versatility by collaborating with the brutal techno masters that are Modeselektor, If this isn’t the promise of the future, it will be hard to determine what will be.
OCTAVIAN. He’s only 21 years old, but in that time he has lived through his father’s recent death, a move to a different country (from his native France to the United Kingdom, specifically to London’s urban hostility), several years in a private school and other years couch surfing from a friend’s sofa to another one, with no fixed address. Octavian’s only 21 years old, but everything he’s lived through in this lifetime feeds him to create a unique and bigger than life hip-hop.
