Friday Afternoon Rap Roundup: Vayda

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New Release Highlight of the Week:

Vayda, VAYTRIX (buy it / stream it)

The tragic loss earlier this week of immensely talented Brownsville emcee Ka (R.I.P.) got me thinking about the term underground. As a rap journo/critic, it's a very convenient modifier to deploy when categorizing an artist, at least in contrast with major label signees and streaming stars. Still, the word has its inherent flaws–too sweeping, too broadly inclusive, perhaps to the point of vagueness given the vastness and depth of hip-hop now. The outpouring of love from seemingly all corners for Ka was heartening, to be sure, but amid the eulogies and memories it felt altogether odd to call someone so influential and impactful in life unheralded, under-the-radar, unhyped, under-appreciated, underground in death.

However, the more I dwelled on it, the more I considered the fundamental positives of that qualifier. Underground implies a certain boldness, the audacity of risk-taking, the creative act of expression uncoupled from mainstream compromise and mass consumer demand. Those are some of the common threads that unite hip-hop artists who don't make touching the general marketplace their goal and aren't beholden to the armchair wisdom of music industry execs. In this way, positioning a departed veteran like Ka alongside a rising star like Vayda not only makes sense, it rightfully elevates them both.

Tapped in with drill, plugg, and Jersey club, among other nascent or simmering sounds, the Georgia native behind VAYTRIX employs a dancefloor cadence in her work as a rapper and producer. Her evident skills in both lanes are worth noting, as several of these tracks including "misdemeanor" and the johan lenox co-piloted "afrojay" holistically bear her mark. Her unfussy lyrical gifts on full display, she plays around with bilingual bars on "si si" and glides over the low end boom of "where tf beyonce at." Asserting her independence and self-worth opposite Zeelooperz on "Tahiti" and Tony Shhnow on Popstar Benny-helmed closer "amaretto," Vayda's powerful yet subdued presence pushes her impressive guests to do better. On R&B-coded highlight "morpheus," she evokes something pure and beautiful from MAVI, transporting him away from the mournfulness of his most recent project and into a brighter, if still purposeful, place.

Here are some other new albums, EPs, and mixtapes from independent hip-hop/rap artists and labels worth your time this weekend:

Hemlock Ernst & Icky Reels, Studying Absence (buy it / stream it)

Benny The Butcher & 38 Spesh, STABBED & SHOT 2 (buy it / stream it)

Lexa Gates, Elite Vessel (buy it / stream it)

Duncecap & Steel Tipped Dove, The Need To Know (buy it / stream it)

Kendall Spencer & August Fanon, The Trauma Center P1 (buy it / stream it)

DJ Rude One, Upper Space (buy it / stream it)

Chris Crack, Online Shoplifting (buy it / stream it)

Hugo Monster, Checks In The Mail (buy it / stream it)

Jamal Gasol & Flu, Jamal Takes Manhattan (buy it / stream it)

Bishop The Overseer, Nation Of Immigrants (buy it / stream it)