According to Washington, DC’s Jaeychino, DMV street rap underwent a subtle vibe shift in 2022. Much of the scene’s output has retained a recognizably rambling, syncopated flow and kick-heavy production style over the past half-decade. But in the last two years, its rising stars have distanced themselves from the drill-adjacent “free car music,” embracing moody soundscapes and reflective lyricism. “That free car shit was just draining,” the 19-year-old told an interviewer earlier this year. His recent run of mixtapes—alongside efforts by regional peers like Nino Paid and KP Skywalka—provides a cathartic alternative, treating 16s like trauma release exercises. While there’s plenty of reminiscing on WATCH THE THRONE, Jaeychino’s latest release, his songcraft is also grounded in the present, juxtaposing painful recollections against a mundane stream of scenes from his everyday life. He makes time fold in on itself, scattering fragments of memory across stuttering, distorted production.
As usual, Jaeychino primarily collaborates with local talent, sourcing most of his beats from DC’s SJR and ian affiliate sxprano. Their collective influences are more diverse than ever. The instrumentals on “GOD INTERLUDE” and “WOODY” harken back to Icedancer-era Bladee, buffeting elegant cloud rap samples with glitchy, kaleidoscopic filters. On the former song, squeaky synth leads short-circuit as Jaeychino reflects on his tumultuous teenage years and the hope his recent success brings; there’s a sense of detachment in his delivery, as if he’s still not quite processed it all. He’s torn up over finding out that his own father stole from him, but the trauma is divulged as a quick aside, sandwiched between memories of scamming food delivery apps in high school and checking the view counts on song uploads. Where do you even start when there’s so much to confess and it’s all still so raw?
Jaeychino’s lyrics usually lean depressing, but WATCH THE THRONE’s moments of levity are its most compelling tracks. On “Iloveindy 2,” one of his many odes to his girlfriend, he’s riding high on a psychedelic beat by NYC-based duo Evilgiane and Braindeadd, driving aimlessly through their city when he’s struck by sudden feelings of love. The translucent clouds of sub bass and triumphant, brassy melodies would feel right at home in a Nintendo DS-era Pokémon soundtrack. “Bridgerton Sex Scene,” a track about hooking up while the titular Netflix show plays in the background, is so oddly specific you’d think Jaeychino hopped in the booth and recapped his entire morning. It’s like he’s the DMV’s Frank O’Hara, dashing off a lunch poem in his free time.
With their emphasis on flickering, bitcrushed textures, most of the beats add a cybernetic touch to Jaeychino’s diaristic raps. But the pair of straight-ahead sample drill songs, which loop source material by the Cranberries and Imogen Heap, are disappointingly safe outliers. Did the underground really need another “Just For Now” flip? His experiments in fusing street rap subgenres with influences from esoteric corners of SoundCloud are much more compelling, like the clubby flirtations with digicore and IDM on “Armed & Dangerous.” As he fits together pieces of a stressful adolescence, he’s forging a new, more experimental path within the DC area’s angsty post-free car sound. Jaeychino is still coming into his own, but the DMV underground’s throne is squarely in his view.
