Trying to make it in the music industry is a giant pain in the- oversaturated market! 

As time goes on, more and more people are bound to take a stab at being the next big kahuna in the industry. No genre represents this overpopulation issue more nowadays than the wonderful world of rap.

It seems like everyday now you see some random rapper on your Instagram, Tiktok, or Snapchat feed trying to promote their new songs, claiming to be the next best thing since sliced bread. Most of the time, this rarely seems to do anything. In fact, many comments on these posts absolutely tear the rapper apart, picking at any negatives they can think of.

However, in a sea of mediocre melodies, many musicians are out there making remarkable music. These rappers can fly over most people’s radars, especially since the market is so jam-packed. However, some students around the school have found these diamonds in the ruff, and want to share them with the world. We interviewed 3 of these students to see which rappers could be next up on your playlists.

1. POLO PERKS <3 <3 <3

Picked by Gabriel Masterman

Our first interview was with a man named Gabriel Masterman. Gabe is very much into music, so much so that he himself actually makes some of his own, under the Soundcloud alias Raccoo:

“From a scale of 1-10, how often would you say you listen to rap music?”

“Oh, a 9-10 for sure. I listen to music pretty much any chance I get. In class, around the block, at home when I’m making music, everywhere I go I got some music playing, and it’s always rap.”

Because Gabe makes his own beats under a niche alias, he knows quite a few underground rap artists to choose from. It took him a second, but he finally decided on one.

“What’s one rapper you listen to that you think has the potential to blow up?”

“Hm…. Damn bro that’s tough. I’d have to go with… Polo Perks, from Surf Gang.”

“Why Polo Perks over other rappers, especially other rappers in this  Surf Gang group?”

“He’s got a voice like no other guy out there… he has a stacked roster of producers that he works with that all provide a unique sound to the songs. Overall man he just knows how to bring something new to the table when other underground rappers would rather just copy someone else.”

Upon listening to a few of Polo Perks songs, Gabriel was definitely right about the unique sound. His deep voice casually flows over any of the beats he is offered, whether is be an drill-like instrumental with a melancholy 8-bit melody like the song Not Another Teen Movie (Tommytohotty), or a gritty trap beat over a pop song, vocals and all on tracks like snowpatrol (GonerProd).

With only 79k monthly listeners, Polo Perks could take a while to reach the mainstream, but his unique sound could reach a large audience any day now, says Gabriel: “I feel like some dude just needs to put one of his songs on a Tiktok and that [song] could blow up. Praying he gets the recognition he deserves, for real.”

2. Semetary

Picked by Landon Lacey

Our second interview is with student Landon Lacey. Landon loves all types of music, whether it’s pop, rock, or you guessed it, rap.

“I’d probably say a 7-8 on the scale. I listen to music a lot, and it’s mostly rap, but I listen to other genres as well.”

Landon doesn’t listen to a ton of rappers that could be considered “underground”. Mainly, he bumps more mainstream artists, such as Playboi Carti. However, Landon did have one choice up his sleeve:

“Uhhhh… Oh, Semetary! Yeah, definitely him, he is super cool.”

“What could people get out of Semetary that they can’t get out of other rappers?”

“Semetary has a sound that really isn’t out there right now in the mainstream. His music feels like a slasher movie had a baby with every Chief Keef song. He sounds super menacing over every song… He definitely isn’t for everybody, but I feel like if you enjoy Chief Keef some some of the new rappers coming out like Lucki and Destroy Lonely, you might like him.”

At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of Semetary myself. I thought his older works sounded very amateur and cheesy. However, after listening to some of his recent albums, such as Butcher House and Screaming Forest, I think I see the appeal! His harsh monotone delivery over the blown-out beats full of DJ vocal tags that make you feel like you’re listening to a 2012 mixtape is SUPER chilling, but in a good way! It’s incredibly unique, and I don’t see anybody else doing his style like he does.

With almost 200k monthly listeners on Spotify, and a devoted Soundcloud following, Semetary might be the closest one on the list to blowing up. He even has 3 songs with over a million plays on Spotify!

“Just ONE more album, and I think he could make it. I hope he does, because he’s super… unlike anything on the market. URGE anybody seeing this interview to go listen to him. RIGHT NOW!”

3. Izaya Tiji

Picked by Nathaniel Diggs

Finally, our last interview  was with a man named Nathaniel Diggs. Although not an avid music listener, Digg’s  tastes appear to dabble mostly in the rap genre:

“Well, on a scale of 1 to 10, I’m maybe a 5-6. I’m not a huge music listener overall … but I don’t really listen to much other than rap.”

Nate mainly appears to listen more to underground trap artists than anything else, which is perfect for us! It seemed like he knew straight away who to pick:

“One rapper that could blow up? I gotta say man, Izaya Tiji could be next up. Maybe not SOON soon, but like…. Soon, y’know?”

“Why this rapper over other ones? What does Izaya provide that others don’t?”

“Man, I just think that out of a lot of artists riding this [Rage Beat] wave, he has more potential. I like how sometimes he’ll be really upbeat and rapping his head off, and other songs he takes a very laid back, kind of like… melodic approach.”

After listening to a few tracks myself, I couldn’t agree more! One moment, Izaya goes deep into a synth-heavy beat akin to the recently trending artist Yeat, and then other times, he’ll be riding over a slow, melodic, trance-like instrumental, rapping about his past and his come-up.

With only around 143k monthly listeners on Spotify, Izaya may have a long way to go before he makes his true come-up. Diggs, however, is optimistic: “He’s just ONE banger [song] away from blowing up… Just you wait!”