K!d Hype - The Underground GOAT You Need On Your Playlist
Our favorite tracks:
Lost Soul
Peace of Mind
Just Because
Reasons to listen:
Deep and emotional writing
Incredible energy and passion
Diverse range of styles and sounds
Catchy and memorable but also intense and hard
Check out K!d Hype here
Throughout 2020 our team listened to several hundred artists and over one thousand projects, and out of all of them one rapper stood out - K!d Hype, a young rapper from Philly, was able to secure the #1 spot on our ‘Top Albums of 2020’ list and the highest rating out of any project we’ve ever reviewed (a 9.75/10, and the only weak spot was a feature verse). He did this with a combination of incredible writing, high quality production and mixing, a variety of flows ranging from sing-rap to blazing speed, and a unique voice and delivery style that stands out.
The first thing that stood out to us was K!d Hype’s writing - it’s raw and honest in a way that many rappers seek to achieve but very few can pull off. He’s able to depict all of his emotions and struggles clearly but also creatively, perfectly walking the line between easy to understand and complex/deep. Tracks like ‘Lost Soul’ and ‘Paradise(Confessions)’ cover the rough situations he’s been through and how he still deals with the pain and trauma that he’s dealt with, providing the listener a window into Hype’s mind and letting you really feel a connection with the artist. Another quality of K!d Hype’s music that sets him apart from most underground artists is his high production quality. His beats are all unique and interesting, which is a sharp contrast to the mistake many artists make of only picking one style of beat and never letting go. Ranging from a drumkit and strings combo (‘Peace Of Mind’) to a slick choir-featuring synth beat on ‘Nightmares’, every track has a unique production style. His mixing (and when it’s used, autotune) also blends perfectly with the backing instrumental, creating a smooth listening experience like you’d find from any mainstream artist. Not only does K!d Hype have the lyrics and the production, he is also an expert in fitting those words together with the beat. His diverse flows are able to suit any production and song vibe, with both singing and rapping ability. He can drop a chorus of smooth and relaxed singing, then a verse of high tempo, high intensity bars back to back, and that’s what makes him special. Rather than being limited to a fast-paced chopper style or a slow sing-rap melodic sound, K!d Hype can easily do both and switch between them without a problem. This keeps his music fresh and interesting, with tracks never getting boring - never too slow or too fast, K!d Hype’s diversity as an artist lets him hit all styles even within a single track, grabbing and holding your attention throughout each verse and chorus.
The final aspect of K!d Hype’s excellence as an artist ties in perfectly with his diversity in flows: he masterfully blends smooth and highly energetic autotuned sing-rap vocals with hard hitting and precise delivery without any effects. This contrast between his autotune delivery, where he shows off a wide vocal range along with an emphatic and passionate power behind his bars, and the pure/no autotune delivery with a forceful and often aggressive intensity, is a huge part of what makes his music so interesting and replayable. It’s difficult to put into words K!d Hype’s ability, but he is both creative/ experimental while being highly technical/ precise, both melodic and aggressive, both underground but of mainstream quality. He’s everything you need in a rapper and really represents what it means to be an artist - if you haven’t checked him out yet, we can’t recommend listening to his 2020 project ‘I Get Nightmares, Hope You Understand’ enough. Comparing him to any other artist isn’t an easy thing to do, but K!d Hype has the creativity and diversity of Kanye, the autotune delivery of Travis Scott, and the trademark Philly aggression and flow of Meek Mill. Being able to do all of these at the same time make him truly special, and if there’s one artist you ever check out from our page, make it K!d Hype.
Check out K!d Hype on Instagram @f0reva_hype100
