With thousands of upcoming rappers rising throughout the soundcloud/underground hip-hop and rap scene, talent can be unseen everyday. Along with the arrival of Summrs, Autumn and Sofaygo in the 2018-2019 era of the underground, new names with influence to their previous generation pop up everyday. Some gain different levels of fame faster or slower than others, for example KidSantana went from a very unknown rapper only known by fans of the deep ‘plugg’ underground, to being a superstar working with Lil Tecca and other mainstream names, leaving him to be known more and more. The light shines on rappers like Tana, but what about the ones with a much smaller fanbase, still in the phase of their careers like Tana’s prior one. My personal favorite artists/rappers from this new generation (with small fanbases) include YoGwuapo, BenjiKold, and SpgrWes. With unique, fresh sounds, these artists allow the listener to enjoy new sounding music instead of the generic mainstream ones the majority listens to. 

First off YoGwuapo, coming out of Georgia, Atlanta, comes with a sound with hints of that classic plugg sound (Autumn!, Summrs!, Lucki), but adds new elements from many subgenres of rap, and even other genres. Notable recent tracks from Gwuapo include ‘Better Off as Friends’, ‘Pole’, and ‘On My Mind 2’. ‘Better Off as Friends’ produced by BenjiKold (producer + artist), gives a feeling of despair and sadness, while still keeping a upbeat tempo and flow. The lyrics provide a catchy tone, allowing the listener to sing along only after a single listen, and the vocal presets and effects provide a clear and signature to Gwuapo sound. ‘Pole’ produced by Wifi gives a completely different feeling to the listener, with an aggressive, intrusive sound. Along with Gwuapo’s tone, the powerful yet simple beat with a powerful 808 makes ‘Pole’ a YoGwuapo classic. ‘On My Mind 2’ is different from the other 2 tracks due to Gwuapo himself actually producing it. Gwuapo is not only a talented artist, but also a flourishing producer, getting placements with Rich Amiri and SiyahXO. In ‘On My Mind 2’, Gwuapo delivers an emotional piano melody paired with upbeat, powerful drums. The vocal effects relate to those on ‘Better Off as Friends’ giving this song a classic Gwuapo feel as well. “Don’t try to play the victim, you not innocent” (YoGwuapo - Another Sad A** Love Story) is a lyric of Gwuapo’s most recent track, and it shows how versatile his lyrics and style can be, it can be emotional and melancholy, or aggressive and powerful. 

BenjiKold, coming out of Austin, Texas was primarily a producer until around August 2020. He gained popularity from producing for popular Artists such as Summrs, Goonie, and KanKan. His producing was special, and the support for his beats was immense, but his music was not taken seriously until he dropped ‘Slowed’. The song is produced by Benji himself, but it wasn’t the beat that changed Benji’s career forever. His flow and vocal cadence alongside his melodies and intense vocal effects, allowed people to realize how incredible not only Benji’s beats were, but his music as well. Benji dropped a handful of tracks in quick succession after the release of ‘Chills’, my favorite, and the most notable being ‘Speed’ produced by Chenpol. Speed stood out immensely from Benji’s other tracks, due to it being of a whole different genre of rap. The song was a ‘rage’ song, using a beat similar to one of SoFaygo or Trippie Redd. Benji’s talent for rapping fast and creating an upbeat feeling with his flow is shown immensely in ‘Speed’. The structure of the song is rather simple, with no complex counter melodies or bridges/pre-hooks used. Instead, he uses the catchy hook and memorable verses to create a short and sweet experience that makes the listener feel like they are in a motorsport race going top speed. Benji has continued to drop numerous tracks staying in the classic ‘Pluggnb/Plugg’ subgenre and ‘Rage/Virtual’. My personal favorite track of Benji’s (besides ‘Speed’) would be ‘B AlOne!*’ produced by Telxry. The track is definitely seen as a ‘Pluggnb’ track, but it stands apart from basic piano beats with 1 or 2 leads along with a string. ‘B AlOne!*’ has an immersive, emotional guitar main melody, with leads that make the track addicting. 

SpgrWes, an Atlanta artist recently gaining traction, is also breaking boundaries with their sound. He delivers heavily auto-tuned vocals that are satisfying and distinct. Many artists strive to have a unique sound like Wes, but many fail and sound generic. Wes has mastered his own unique style, and it’s heard throughout every song he releases. Wes’ recent discography has been bringing him up quickly in the scene, with tracks such as Mhm, Tekken (ft. Slump6s), and Me. These 3 songs all shine in their own way, but all have one major similarity. They are all produced by 17 year old producer ‘ZaySkillz’. With powerful 808s, and extremely experimental drum and melody patterns, Zay’s beats pair perfectly with Wes’ unique sound.