Geek Rappers

As fans of music, television, comedy, and general 'geekiness' I feel that all of our palettes are broad enough that I can put this out there for all to love. I have assembled a few artists that if you don't know, then you should.

Donald Glover (member of derrick comedy and cast member of the show community) has a rapping alias known as Childish Gambino. If I could oversimplify his style and flow is to simply say that he makes songs using indie beats (adele and sleigh bells to name 2 off of the top of my head) to make amazing songs. Check out his new single off of his latest EP called Freaks and Geeks.


[its not the official music video b/c I wasn't able to embed the video file :-(]

The next one on my list who fits into this new category is Nyle. I have been a fan of this guy for a few years ever since I heard his remake of Lil Wayne's Let the Beat Build. Born in Philadelphia and schooled at NYU this guy is paying his dues on the underground for notoriety and respect and he has the chops to back it up. He has a couple of mixtapes available for free at his website and I suggest that if you like any of the following songs you should definitely download his mix tapes.


(As an incredible side note; the above video was shot entirely in 1 take by 1 camera man and the audio was recorded live. Amazing.)




The last rapper/hip-hopper I'll mention is a man by the name of Reggie Watts. To simply put it; awesome! He is literally a 1 man band with only a weird voice-distorter-machine-thingy and his own vocal chords and this guy is starting to get some real notice as of late. He has been a fairly regular act on Conan since he has switched to TBS but if you haven't seen him before check out this performance from the Conan O'Brien show and his uber famous single "Fuck Shit Stack" below.






Conclusion

I believe that the above artists are at the forefront of the next generation of hip-hop, R&B, rap and as well as comedy. Childish Gambino has some of the freshest beats I have heard in a while and the fact that the beats are all sampled from Indie bands is pretty amazing; plus his lyrics are incredibly fun/filthy which is a lovely reminder of B.I.G. Nyle is a smart young man trying to find his own voice in hip-hop and at the same time, I believe, he is helping others in the rap arena realize that they don't have to impersonate another mainstream voice in order to sound dope as all hell. Plus his lyrics are incredibly refreshing in a rap community mired in the dissolution that bigger cars and more chris brown-esque acts is what hip-hop needs. Reggie Watts is simply incredible and so fun to watch perform and the fact that he hasn't been scooped up by a Kanye West or even Andre 3000 to help make original and amazing beats is beyond me.

Peace & Love,
- sf