B L A C K I E - "None Above"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1406688160&x-yt-cl=72201704&v=uHaZiV8Ns6c Last month, Houston-based avant-garde rapper and musician B L A C K I E announced a new studio full-length titled IMAGINE YOURSELF IN A FREE AND NATURAL WORLD. No release date yet, but this lead single "None Above" has me properly excited. The track is a crashing, kaleidoscopic wall of sound, with wailing from B L A C K I E forced to the background and just barely audible. It's beautifully brutal. Or brutally beautiful? Whatever; it's awesome! Check it out!

B L A C K I E- "WARCHILD"

Considering this article I just saw in Spin, I'm pretty confident that the internet age has ushered in a healthy hip hop underground that isn't going anywhere. There have been plenty of independent artists making noise this year, and even though I'm not in love with every one of them, I'm extremely happy they're gaining more ground.

One of my favorite underground hip hop releases of this year--as if y'all didn't already know--is Death Grips' Exmilitary. Check our review here. Since I'm into that project, a viewer of mine suggested that I check out the artist featured in the YouTube video above.

The dude's stage name is B L A C K I E, which may also be stylized as "B L A C K I E ALL CAPS WITH SPACES." The dude is actually touring the West Coast with Death Grips this month, and it's an appropriate fit. Like 'Grips, B L A C K I E's music is extremely loud and abrasive. It's loaded with electronic elements, screamed lyrics, and socially conscious lyrical themes. The song's idea basically boils down to this one line"

"I don't care about America, nigga. It kills its youth."

This track and others are featured on B L A C K I E's new mixtape, True Spirit and Not Giving a Fuck. Download it here.