Words by Gabriel Spadaccini
After the amount of hype built up for Views, it’s not surprising that Drake’s new album is getting all the attention this week. But there is another project, released the same April 29th, that deserves some notice as well.
For an all too-brief moment in time Miami-based rapper Pouya’s Underground Underdog was the release right behind Drizzy’s Views on the charts. Listeners initially intrigued by the orgy of middle fingers on the album artwork would be immediately dropped into a soundscape that is eerie, violent, and peppered with an addictive and competent flow. Barely a minute into the project and we’re hit by the line, “I can show you how to rip that condom off your dick and smack your momma in the lip” over hard-hitting 90s-tinged hip-hop beats. Two things are clear. First, this is the type of music that sounds a hundred times better blasted out of car speakers. Second, Pouya is, at least lyrically, a straight savage.
Another standout is ‘MFG’, which features a killer verse from San-Francisco-based rapper Ramirez. Creatively, the track samples the closing line from a former Pouya cut, ‘Get Buck’ from back in 2013, with the down-pitched chorus spinning round and round to top off and a similarly eerie melody, bass, and kicks. At the end of the track, Pouya even gets even more vicious, calling out both XXL and Complex Survival Tactics-style.
Even more interesting is the identity of Underground Underdog’s sole producer, the San Jose-born Getter (real name Tanner Petulla). The OWSLA-signed producer has made a name for himself by putting out an unmistakable brand of face-meltingly intense dubstep, while also releasing some of the most satisfyingly trippy music videos the world has ever seen. As an artist who just a few years ago seemed the undeniable heir to the dubstep throne, the fact that Getter’s music has branched so successfully into everything from trap to drum & bass to electro house is impressive. Now he’s turned his sights on rap, and it’s clear from Pouya’s debut that it won’t be his last production credits in the genre.
You can stream Pouya’s independent debut album below.
