For someone whose abundance of autotune and twinkling beat selections tend to reach PC Music’s level of cuteness, it’s hard to imagine 15-year-old trap prodigy Duwap Kaine as the villainous type — especially since his longtime collaborator and aesthetic counterpart Lil Yachty aligned himself with the X-Men on his new Teenage Emotions LP.
It makes sense, then, that Kaine’s transition from unlikely hero to “Super Villain” is a gradual and ongoing one. Bursts of sonic malevolence have surfaced on recent cuts like “Gatecode” and “That Guy”. On the former, thorny trellises of synth choke out the otherwise lush atmosphere of Kaine’s Friends Till the End mixtape, while the latter wafts tufts of smoggy dissonance between the bars he trades with K$upreme. Even his listening habits have taken a turn for the darker: the library of liked tracks on Duwap’s Soundcloud page has experienced an influx of classic Chief Keef tracks over the past few weeks.
Melodically, “Super Villain” aligns perfectly with Kaine’s early material. Chimes and pads carbonate atop Kaine’s warbled singing, reaching stunning crests at the song’s chorus. It’s the percussion that reveals the evil lurking underneath. A flabby, distorted 808 pattern propels its hardcore-punk rhythm section, speeding at the signature clip of Working on Dying-affiliated producers like F1LTHY and OOGIE MANE. Here, Kaine appears as a supernatural figure torn between his inclinations towards justice and debauchery — he is a villain limited by his own apathy, and it’s the implication of greater, yet-to-be-shown power that makes his music so frighteningly catchy.