Rap Blog: Lisha G is way too groovy

Rap Blog is a weekly showcase of a standout rap song.

If this whole music thing doesn’t work out, Lisha G could moonlight as an unusually charming TSA agent: who wouldn’t want to empty their pockets when she’s like “gimme whatcha got?” But when you hit replay, which will probably happen 0.3 seconds after “Whatcha Got” ends, it’s hard to imagine the South Carolina rapper doing anything else.

Lisha G’s plainspoken cadences saunter effortlessly over chintzy synths: “Do I love him, do I not? This ain’t B-roll, this ain’t props.” She smokes (a lot), she needs some more money (also a lot), and if that man doesn’t give her what she wants, he will be getting dropped.

It’s the third single from Lisha’s forthcoming album with Philadelphia producer Trini Viv, Groovy Steppin Sh*t. Last month’s “Nun Like Dis” set Lisha’s stage whisper bars against a scowling subwoofer thumper; January’s ethereal “Get Silly” sewed her flossy couplets to a gossamer beat that morphs and undulates underfoot.

On “Whatcha Got,” Trini Viv’s staggered snares and interspersed handclaps punch up the stop-start Southern bounce of Lisha G’s flows. “Kept it real, kept it solid off top / You can’t tell me what I am, can’t tell me what I’m not.” Her rhymes can be simple, but it’s the rhythms that twist and turn, veering off at unpredictable junctures — it’s easy to understand why she’s worked with everyone from RXKNephew and Glokk40Spaz to Anycia and Popstar Benny. “Whatcha Got” might not be the song of the summer (get it Sexyy), but it’s starting to feel like Lisha G’s year.