#6 - xaviersobased - "Need Me"
So much of the most electrifying new rap music feels like it lives in a liminal realm between teenage bedrooms and Discord channels. It’s easy to forget about all the real-world events that give lore and shape to these artists’ mythologies, like Nettspend’s “shine n peace” throwdown at Market Hotel, the clip of LAZER DIM 700 bobbing his head goofily at a listening party in Bed-Stuy, Drain Gang’s post-pandemic coronation luring every non-binary Brooklynite to Knockdown Center.
There’s a lot to like about the xav and reklus1ve-produced “Need Me”: the angel-yawn synths and dream-of-consciousness flow; the blurry slurry of lyrics about Asics and Yeezys and his collective 1c inexplicably being broadcasted on a TV. But what really gives it a distinct essence are the intro and outro, which splice in clips from an interview Xavier did with DJ Rennessy where they recall a show at the Bushwick venue The End (formerly Heaven) in late 2022. “That's legendary, bro,” DJ Rennessy brags in the song. “I'm telling you right now: We gon' pass, like, five-ten years from now, bro, and people gon' look at that show, I'm telling you.”
It was indeed a sweet night. All my usual misgivings about the venue (tight; hot; spatially vexing) evaporated. The lineup captured three of the most exciting new strains of the genre—evilgiane and eera’s cosmic ambience with Surf Gang, xaviersobased’s warped jerk, the addictive fever of Certified Trapper’s Milwaukee rap. Add DJ Rennessy and Drain Gang associate Woesum too. The young crowd was thronged with cups and joints, collaborators and friends, people who’d likely only known each other on Twitter before and traveled hours to get there. The highlight was Xavier, swaggering in the middle of a hulking mob, shirtless, hurling out a grabbag of bangers from his back catalog. The dancefloor became a juddering wormhole.
Listening to “Need Me” now with all that in mind feels like floating in the afterlife, a panorama of memories flashing in my brain. And putting myself in Xavier’s shoes, it’s like an eagle-eye glide above the scene he helped spark and the musicians in his wake. It doesn’t feel arrogant partly because Xavier still hasn’t gotten his flowers, with others riffing on his style and surging above him. It was clearly one of those pivotal nights, where every drip of sweat that hit me on the crammed dancefloor felt like a little bead of creative energy.
The list:
#13 - bleood - “ooo” / yuke - “ian goin”
#12 - anarchy - “superbowl” prod dj ess
#9 - Cash Cobain - “Rump Punch”