Atlanta rap is weird? FUCK YOU, YOU’RE WEIRD. No, but wait, Atlanta rap is weird, and over the years, the weirdness has bubbled up in the best, most unexpected places. Thug and Makonnen have been leading the hype for most of 2014, with help from Rome Fortune, Migos, OG Maco, et al., but in the last six months, the vibrant DIY collective behind Awful Records has been dropping some of the strongest rap in Atlanta and beyond, with releases like Father’s Young Hot Ebony and Ethereal’s Cactus Jack.
THE HOUSE THAT GAHM BUILT might not be the label’s most representative release, but it’s certainly its weirdest. And we here at TMT fuck with the weird. In contrast to the label’s typically (but certainly not always) pristine synth-driven productions, GAHM’s EP features barely-there rhythms shrouded in hiss, backward-swept loops beneath muffled vocals submerged in church reverb, and an off-kilter melodic sensibility whose bleak characteristics complement the minimal and ominous harmonic developments. OK, OK, OK, this isn’t the type of release that’ll lure hip-hop heads into Awful’s unique soundworld, but hopefully it’ll lead to more releases that keep us on our toes.
• GAHM: https://twitter.com/GAHM01
• Awful: http://awfulrecords.com
More about: GAHM
