Rap Blog: Maajins wants you to stay hopeful on “ocho”

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

Rapper Maajins first crossed my radar in April 2023 with “matchmyracks,” a Jersey club fever dream dunked in shimmering synths that only becomes more impressive when you realize the teenager still isn’t old enough to vote. At first blush, he might come across as just another underground artist springing forth from the SoundCloud miasma with a warped refraction of various hip-hop subgenres, but his songs maintain a surprising depth of musicality: His February album, ivy., quickly became a staple in my winter rotation.

He returned in late September with a new project called enjoy the ride., featuring slinky standouts like burbling May single “OT” and the new “ocho,” both produced by rexv2. On the latter, Maajins is blowing off homework, offering up casual words of inspiration: “You gon be good n****, lock in.” When the verses kick in, a wave of synths washes over everything, elevating a seemingly straightforward rap song into something more spacious and lush. Maajins slips effortlessly from gruffly rapped hooks to crooning bars with affecting softness as delicate and dazzling as the northern lights. “You was here from the start? N**** no you wasn’t,” he shakes his head near the end of the track. “First copy of FL from my cousin, cook beats on the phone n****, I was struggling / This for my n****s in pain.” The last 30 seconds of the song are unexpectedly flush with swelling violins and pulsing synths, poignant teenage feelings lovingly rendered without words.