hip-hop

Having a foot in two different worlds isn’t an easy balancing act, but it’s one that DMV rapper-producer redveil pulls off gracefully. With new project learn 2 swim that came out April 20, he establishes himself as a torchbearer for hip-hop’s progressive, vulnerable future whose triumphant, soulful beats tie back to the great records of the ‘90s and early ‘00s.

“Feeling like you’re not 100 percent into any group can feel uncomfortable, but you can really spin it into a beautiful thing and reach more people than you would have being in one or the other,” he says.

Songs like “new info” and “p.g. baby” crackle with warm samples and pointed, purposeful rapping. Meanwhile “shoulder” and “working on it” recall redveil’s underground roots, featuring heady, baritone raps exploring themes of grief and personal acceptance. “Diving board” is the record’s thesis statement, a triumphant coming-of-age anthem that plays off of redveil’s recurring use of water as a motif to explore life’s fluidity.

“I create worlds filled with sunshine and water,” Marcus says of the sonic landscapes he aims to craft with his music and it’s clear his auter abilities have grown tremendously since breaking out with 2019’s Bittersweet Cry and 2020’s Niagara. Each time redveil goes away, he emerges with a new skill, and on learn 2 swim that’s a heightened knack for hooks and richer song structuring.

redveil has high-profile opening gigs with Denzel Curry and Freddie Gibbs this year and wrote much of learn 2 swim with the goal of thrilling live audiences. With this new record, he’s made something people can really luxuriate in and feel affirmed by, like a day spent beachside with loved ones.

Shaeem Santino Wright (born 12 July 1996) known as Lord Apex, is a British MC who grew up in White City, London, United Kingdom. His music crosses multiple styles of rap, including UK hip-hop, alternative hip hop, and lo-fi hip hop.

Apex's stage name was inspired by hip-hop producer Madlib's alter ego, Quasimoto aka Lord Quas.

Apex frequently states that he doesn't like to be put into any one genre with his music. Journalists, and Apex himself, often reference lo-fi, 90s US hip hop acts like J Dilla and MF Doom as influences. He often also talks about his love for anime and vintage clothing, both of which have inspired the visuals for his music and his general aesthetic.

Since releasing his first track in 2014, Apex has seen over 7 million views on his YouTube channel, with 50,000 subscribers as of February 2021. Apex also appeared on the popular German music YouTube channel COLORS, where he performed his track Vintage Garms.

He has also featured in promotions, and released his own radio segment, for the US hip hop affiliated workwear brand Carhartt.

In 2020 he released a studio album with New York-based producer V-Don called Supply and Demand. Reviewers noted Apex's "swaggering and ominous" vocal delivery and "off-kilter flow" throughout the Supply and Demand project. The album featured several other prominent American rappers, such as Murs of Rhymesayers Entertainment and CJ Fly of the Pro Era collective. Another feature on the record was from New York's Westside Gunn, formerly of Shady Records, on the deluxe version track London Fog.

As well as his collaboration with Carhartt, he was also part of a promotional campaign for musical equipment maker Novation Digital Music Systems, featuring a live performance of his track Miyagi Blueprint using their Launchpad X.

In 2020 Lord Apex was nominated for a UK Music Video Award in the Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Video Newcomer category, for his video with Kam-Bu entitled Different. In January 2021, he featured on Complex's 21 UK Rappers to Watch in 2021 list, in which they said he is "perfectly positioned to rise to the top."

Ben Cheng Tsun Yin (Chinese: 程浚彥; born 17 July 1994), better known by his stage name Tyson Yoshi, is a Hong Kong independent singer, songwriter, and MV director. He made his debut in 2018 with his single To My Queen.

Career
Tyson Yoshi attended Sedbergh School in the United Kingdom and later studied interior architecture at the University of Brighton. In 2018, he started producing music in Taiwan and debuted with the single, To My Queen. In July 2019, he became famous with Christy, a song written to his girlfriend. Christy went on to accumulate more than one million views on YouTube, the first of his songs to do so.

The name "Tyson Yoshi" derives from his first name's initialism, "T.Y". "Tyson" was one of his middle-school nicknames, and "Yoshi" is from Yoshinoya, a food chain found widely across Hong Kong.

Tyson Yoshi started as an independent singer in 2018. His first album, 1st, was released in 2019. He is one of Hong Kong's best-known hip hop artists and rappers, with over two million streams on Spotify in more than 100 countries in 2019. In 2021, his popularity surged again after his performance in Music is Live with Terence Lam, Keung To and Jer Lau. As of 2022, Christy has garnered more than 20 million views on YouTube.

With their roots in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Melbourne-based band The New Monos combine inspiration from their South American heritage and diverse musical experience with the flavor of contemporary Buenos Aires, mixing Reggae, Folklore, Cumbia, Rock, Rumba, Hip-hop and Latin beats, all expressed with the passion of the Tango.