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Experimentation is everywhere in hip-hop right now, from the music to the technique to the very structure of pop culture itself, and nowhere is this more obvious than when taking a look at some of the top-tier content emerging from the underground channels this summer.
Where in the past a lot of indie players didn’t dare to get extraordinarily experimental when stepping into the booth, we’re seeing a different kind of generation coming out of the woodwork in 2024 and expanding the horizons for hip-hop and contemporary pop as a whole; case in point, the latest dispatches from one Feez da Popstar.
Feez da Popstar has been bumping incredible beats for a while now, and he isn’t wasting any time this June in keeping the momentum rolling with a new single in “M T F (More Than Friends),” which I would easily rank as one of the best tracks to land in his discography so far. Rather than resting on what he’s already established for himself inside of the studio, this single sees Feez da Popstar push the envelope further on the instrumental end, avoiding the minimalism of his peers, and cutting into more metaphorical lyricism than some might have predicted him capable of.
The construction of “M T F (More Than Friends)” comes right out of the surreal pop movement, specifically concerning the influence it takes from funk revivalists. There’s nowhere to run with these grooves coming between my man and the substance of the bassline, but he isn’t sweating the lack of space at all – contrarily, he appears to be thriving in this kind of setting. There’s a strong R&B presence in the harmonies, but not to the extent where the hook starts to sound a little saccharine with the hard rapping coming into the spotlight. There’s no arguing that Feez da Popstar has as easy a delivery as we could ask here, and the contrast between the tone of his execution and that of his actual lyrics is exciting, at least from where I sit. He’s got charisma, and he isn’t restricting that to one aspect of this premium cut from his latest studio session.
I didn’t know much about Feez da Popstar ahead of hearing his slew of successful releases, but the more I listen the more I start to value the hype his career has been getting from the press in recent years. He’s got a fine stylishness here, and if this were the last time he entered a studio, I think it wouldn’t be great for his scene. There’s a lot to be said about collaboration, but when you’ve got the abilities this player has to offer, there’s no need to put anything else in front of him. Experimental or not, the tension in his work is worth exploiting, and scarcely is there a moment in which that isn’t a theme of this single. Feez da Popstar isn’t frontin’ in “M T F (More Than Friends),” and from what I can tell this is just a snippet of what’s still to come.
Samuel Pratt