One thing that it feels like all rappers possess is this natural swagger that can be displayed in a variety of ways. Whether that’s their music, their fashion sense, or other outlets, most musicians have their own individualistic ways of showing off their personalities. These things can be somewhat similar depending on what region you’re looking at, but the West Coast is one place where everyone just seems to be buttery smooth in everything they do.
The perfect examples are Paid Blunted and Bravo the Bagchaser, two emcees that have popped up on my radar in the past. I have admittedly been sleeping, but once their latest collaboration “?” came through my email, I was stoked to finally tap in. The Runnitupkel-produced instrumental is about what you’d expect from a California slapper, and that is high praise from a huge Cali rap fan like myself. In turn, Blunted kicks things off with his nonchalant, easygoing flow that is equal parts melodic and poise.
The way he tiptoes over the beat is compelling, and it is the perfect set of bars to introduce Bravo into the mix. When this happens, he comes in with a bit more of a to-the-point type of cadence, leaving some of the vocal inflections behind so he can express his thoughts and feelings without the unnecessary extra flair.
Even the Smitty-directed music video is awesome, despite its simplicity. That’s how I know these are two prominent voices in the West Coast movement because they leave the superfluous embellishments behind and trust their raw talents to carry them which works wonders. I still have much catching up to do regarding both emcees’ discographies, but “?” has me excited to dive right in as soon as I can.