Rap Blog is a weekly showcase of a standout rap song.
Teenage upstart Myaap isn’t the only female rapper popping out of Milwaukee’s lowend scene (shoutout Lonni Monae), but among Wisconsinite rappers of any gender, she might be having the most fun. Even the uninitiated are likely familiar with her music, thanks to her knack for going viral on TikTok: breezy jams and loose dance moves, what’s not to love?
Out today, her new EP YOP! is an upbeat collaboration with Canadian producer Nedarb (Black Kray, Lil Peep) that cycles through a deceptive range of sounds despite its flash-in-the-pan runtime. There are still plenty of handclaps on 1 and 3, that key hallmark of lowend music, but the beats here crib from New Orleans bounce (“Fuk It Up”) and Bay Area hyphy (“Turnt Up”) too. The net result is a brief, bubbly blast of wonderfully low-stakes rap music that puts Milwaukee-style sample flips like “It’s Up” in conversation with regional dance scenes from around the country.
I’m partial to the pounding-yet-dainty “Can’t Stop Me” and the deliciously snotty “Turnt Up” (“while you kissing on that n***a he was eating the cooch!”), but the trunk-rattling “MLK” goes dumb. Nedarb’s beat is smartly minimalist, leaving plenty of cavernous space for Myaap to rap her ass off. Once the handclaps kick in, her flow rushes by like the brakes on her Benz are broken, throwaway flexes, and snippy taunts blurring together like scenery on the highway. “Imma baddie havin’ motion call that pushin’ P;” “I know that it’s my time, I’m really up next;” “I rock exclusive shit your cheap ass rockin’ Gap.” And if, for some unbelievable reason, you aren’t convinced that she’s “the one not the two,” she’s got a little advice for you, too. “Said I fell off? Better check the stats.”
