Rap Blog: ivvys and #stepTeam have better drums than your fave

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

Connecticut producer ivvys has an ear for stuttering earworms that’ll skip across your mind days later. These glitchy rhythms are the North Star for his mini-collective #stepTeam, a trio that includes Maajins from New Jersey and the DMV-based sxprano (best known for his work with ian and Jaeychino). Their joint output ranges from micro-beattapes to peculiarly mesmerizing rap songs, but the unifying thread is a penchant for contemporary samples, subsequently chopped, distended, and filtered into phantasmic soundscapes. Even reworking “cheat codes” (Earl Sweatshirt circa 2023, iconic Playboi Carti loosies, etc), these songs never feel boring, surprising on first listen and rewarding on repeat.

On ivvys’s latest “bikini,” co-produced by Synthetic and Dreamr, a flatulent 808 bellows at irregular intervals beneath a flock of hopscotching hi-hats. As rap songs go, it’s conceptually straightforward — “‘Bout two years ago I had nun,” ivvys announces at the start, repeating for emphasis; a handful of bars later and now, “Bitch ass n****as on my dick stealing sauce.” When the music sounds this good, who can blame them? And if suffering from success bothers ivvys, it doesn’t show in his verses, dismissing his competitors out of hand (“You don’t stack shit… why you in the mall now?” is especially cutting). #stepTeam has existed for all of six months with their feet slamming down the gas — I can’t wait to see how far they go in 2025.