I'm sure he does but he seems to always talk about how much he hates white people in every single track I hear him on.

Solid beat maker though as I said before in the past

Not officially maybe, but they’re all close associated acts. They’re all virtually referred to as slums

Well if you’re only familiar with 2 of the literal dozens of artists affiliated with their movement, then you might be judging them unfairly.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re changing the genre or anything like that, but there are so many great projects that they’ve produced.

And as far as their content, they’re pretty widely pro-black and pro-feminist, with a strong focus on mental health. And with the forms of albums like PinkSiifu’s “NEGRO,” Standing on the Corner’s “Red Burns,” Slauson Malone’s “A Quiet Farewell,” keiyaA’s “Forever, Ya Girl,” etc., idk how you could just broadly reject the collective as doing nothing interesting.

@beflygelt might have a better perspective on this tho.

need the bread, i'm here to stay
i ain't seeking validation

MF Grimm feat. Red The Rum Cake & DJ Skippy Mode – Crumbs

The artists themselves said that they hate just being lumped into slums through association. It puts them in boxes. It might be convenient for fans to do but I think we should respect what the artists say

Oh word, didn’t know that. Which artists? Cause that makes sense, but in my head, slums refers to all of them

Siifus been real outspoken about it in the past through tweets. Ade Hakeem one of the actual members of slums got on IG live a couple days ago and was talking about how wack it is that fans do that and said Sage (Navy Blue) and pretty much everyone else you listed is not slums and everyone just tries to group them together because of the aesthetic. A lot of these underground cats are associated all over the US so I do think it's unfair to just lump them together because it takes away from their artistry as individuals and puts them in a box like I said before. Plus at what point would we draw the line? Liv.e and Siifu have been cool with Cavalier and Iman Omari for years. Does that mean they're slums too? Nah they're Vibe Music Collective and even then Iman has his own s*** and Cav has his. Fly Anakin isn't part of slums just cause he did Flysiifus, you feel me?

I think the problem is more that some people think slums is a collective which includes everyone, and artists hate when ppl claim they're part of that group which they aren't...

The crucial distinction which I think hasn't rly been commented on by the artists themselves is that slums has become a label for this entire scene/movement springing from the group

And it's true many of these artists have their own subgroups, like more and more now Mutant Academy blends into that. But that's why we have to separate "groups" and the "scene" I think. A scene it most definitely is. To me it's just about the fact that all these people work with each other constantly

Flysiifu's still fye

Yup. Literally not a single underwhelming moment on that album. Incredible s***

I would def go as far as saying they're changing the genre I think the type of emotional honesty coupled with strongly political messages and avant-garde-leaning music pushed by MIKE, Slauson, Siifu early on and then given a much larger platform through Earl (who of course himself was already a big influence on this style) has definitely changed the face of underground hip-hop over the past 3 years.

I mean at this point such a large part of underground hip-hop is connected to these key players through less than 2 degrees that I think you can say it's kind of becoming a dominant voice. 2020 BLM protests have only increased the speed of that process. The underground is increasingly about being both political and emotionally vulnerable.

When I reflect, just 5 years ago or so underground rap was still mostly pandering to gangster cliches and largely wasn't very political at all, and vulnerability wouldn't have been an adjective which I'd come up with to describe hip-hop. Artists like Talib, Yasiin, Roots were still active but basically for dustheads only. There's obviously lots of exceptions to this (Billy Woods for example) and I don't mean to say this came out of nowhere because it definitely didn't, but I think this type of music was def a niche of what's already a niche, while now it's becoming a very visible part of the underground (also as a larger part of this renaissance).

You can also talk about how there's been big shifts in pop-leaning rap regarding vulnerability through Kanye, Cudi and Frank being probably the most influential (and their influence made ultra-commercial by the likes of Drake, Future, etc), but I still think it's an innovation for rappers to be vulnerable without having to sing

also tho pls put me on Cavalier and Omari, didn't know them or that Quelle Chris was in a collective with them. Plus Omari is part of THC and produced for Kendrick?? Including my fav ever Kendrick b-side

But also I don't actually find any collabs between Vibe and Liv.e or Siifu only one reference in a DJbooth interview about Siifu being inspired by Omari

I feel you on that his "white people" rhetoric can be a little much but I always looked at it in the vane of a Jpegmafia more so than Kamau Kambon. You have white rappers saying nigga this nigga that or saying they are a white nigga and embodying all the negative archetypes of what they perceive being black is. Then you have someone like Morpheus, Jpeg, or even Siifu who comes through and flips that mirror and people get uncomfortable.

daily.bandcamp.com/features/yung-morpheus-interview

This is good. Been saying this for a while now

And S/O to you on the Omari and Cavalier references! Almost forgot about Lemonade and Lemonade Redux

agreed, you should not put some of these guys or a lot of ppl together because it does ruin there chemistry/ there own style, but you kinda have to agree that some of them would sound nice together i am speaking on all artists not just the ones you mentioned

New Jah-Monte

kingcallis.bandcamp.com/album/seventy-fifth-amsterdam-side-b-lost-in-nyc

Lukah dropped a new album the other day too. On all platforms.

lukah.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-black-hand-touches-you

yoooooOOO!

Oh yeah forreal!!

So THIS is where those random Kilogram songs on IG are going:

Yes

Ayis Letras art too

What about Cliquot?

I think it’s on the Rappcats edition? Haven’t seen an mp3 for it anywhere, though.

Word, still need that. 187 one of the best tracks on the album tho