Top 9 Tuesdays: The New Wave of 90s Babies Rap

Joey Bada$$ and Crew.

Something strange is definitely circulating in the crowd when your Trillwave starts to taste like Golden Era. But when we recently sat down with SpaceGhostPurrp (interview coming soon), young dude  characterized his crew, their musical upbringing and their approach with these words: “We all about that 90s sh*t.” With newly emerging rappers born in the early part of the Jesus Jones/Nine Inch Nails decade making these kinds of declarations (and far as that goes, Nickelodeon bringing back their old hit-series’ under the “90s Are All That” umbrella, and The Guardian telling us the grunge look is back) it feels like pop culture has just about hit its next turning point. Retromania – as music scholar Simon Reynolds calls it – seems to be moving on to its next stage, leaving the 80s behind, embracing the 90s. Below, we’ve assembled 9 young rap artists who are currently spearheading a revolution (de-volution? re-revolution?) in the sound of hip-hop, taking it back to the days of boom bap, G-funk and screw, respectively, and molding their 90s-baby influences into a new wave of creative output.

17 year-old Flatbush prodigy Joey Bada$$ might be the most universally embraced among the class of 90s-revivalists, as it’s hard not to fall in love with his nostalgically ambitious rhyme-patterns, the dusty, so-NY beats and his wise-beyond-his-years attitude. When was the last time you heard someone start a rap with a line like “Just got word from my mans on the island”? Nas circa 1994, maybe? Make sure you download Joey’s newly released 1999 mixtape, on which the young mic bruiser showcases the full scope of his talent for flowing over beats from the likes of Lord Finesse, J Dilla and MF DOOM.

A member of Joey’s collective of likeminded boom bap-enthusiasts, dubbed almost paradoxically The Progressive Era (note their performance at SOB's this Thursday, June 28), Capital Steez is clearly also one to focus on the mastery of his craft. Raw lyricism is not a term taken lightly by these cats. If you need any more convincing of the 90s spirit on this track, we’re sure the Penny Hardaway reference does it, no? And in case you can’t put your finger on it – that beat stems from Atmosphere’s “Sound Is Vibration.”

When we’re talking about 90s hip-hop, we’re not talking exclusively NYC-boom bap neither. SpaceGhostPurrp combines the sound of the south’s 90s underground (Memphis, Houston, New Orleans, Miami) with what he calls that “phonky” left-coasted flavor, as well as his own unique brand of gloomy gravedigger aesthetics. “The whole ‘trill’ thing, that’s not a movement to me, that’s a way of life.” Bun B wouldn’t tell you any different.

Klvn Keynyata and Amber London are both members of SGP’s Raider Klan. On the fashion-tip, the crew’s love for Raiders-attire might be more on the turn-of-the-decade side of things, but musically speaking, these two are all about their early 90s G-funk business. Amber’s geographical background (she is from Houston) also grounds her firmly in the chopped-n-screwed aesthetic.

While Lil’ Ugly Mane is also part of the extended Raider Klan-family, his sound palette goes even further than their usual south-to-west touchstones, throwing some jazz rap elements into the mix. The cover for his Mista Thug Isolation mixtape might look like it was sold out out of a trunk in Memphis circa 1995, but its sounds could only come from a guy who was raised in the 90s and put out a tape in 2012.

Wiki, who apparently also goes by Wiki 1993 – the addendum signifying perhaps his year of birth or his favorite year in hip-hop (or both) – unmistakably lays down his agenda on “Wikispeaks”: “I’m just tryin’ to spit.” This kid is about bars. Nothing more, nothing less. The unsteady, rapid-fire delivery should be able to please some of you R.A. the Rugged Man listeners out there.

We don’t really know that much about Supnater, but we’re always happy to hear a Portishead-sample and watch videos through vintage fisheye-filters. You’ll come across some beats from Nas, DOOM and Dilla if you browse through his soundcloud.

On first glance/spin, Moshadee would draw comparisons predominantly to Drake, but throw some vintage filters (these Creative Control guys are good with that, no?) and some BMX-cruising into the equation and we might have a little The Pharcyde-twist there. Round these parts, we also always think Big Daddy Kane whenever the term “smooth operator” gets thrown around. OK, so that was 1989, but close enough.