By Odeisel

The world ain’t safe for cool kids anymore. Nerds are gaining the upper hand and taking the world by storm. Now you have people nerding themselves up on purpose in a seeming arm’s race to see who can look more like the next victim of high school rabbit ears. Ever check out Dwayne Wade or Russell Westbrook after a game at the press conference? Thick ass glasses and crazy ass Gordon Gartrelle shirts designed to elicit “wtf” looks. Music is goign that way too. You thought Moby was a dork? Some of the new cats make him look cooler than Richard Roundtree.

Now certain rappers are trying to stand out in opposition to the hypermasculine archetype. The rap everyman, championed by rappers like Phonte and Kanye has been pushed further left by a new generation that position themselves as antiheroes. Rapper XV has done his darndest to puh the “hip-to-be-square” aesthetic, pushing himself as the leader of the “Squarians.” You guys know I don’t dig that hippy shit, so I was good with listening to what he had to say. Thsi week we were bombarded with new music and  after bleeding my ears with music from no name trap rappers and weak lyricism, I said what the hell, and listened to XV’s latest, Popular Culture. Boy was I surprised.

Word is Just Blaze has taken the kid under his wing due to their mutual love for everything between kicks and comics, but this is all XV and his homies. The lyricism and sentiment was solid and the kid handled multiple bpms and different flows throughout the album. He was conscious and aware of the perils of the music landscape and his social observation was fairly keen, as was his command of pop culture. Color me schooled. Hope you are too. XV: Popular Culture. Enjoy

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