Listen: Cuzzos, “MOESHA”
26.
Monaleo: “Putting Ya Dine”
“Putting Ya Dine” is full of life, with Monaleo delivering brainiac wordplay via a Johnny Dang smile. She’s all about authenticity, so she annihilates the second verse by volleying seven ways of rhyming “for real.” She’s a frontrunner among her peers, young women whose bars reigned supreme this summer, but she gives respect as much as she demands it, so she shows love to both newcomer BunnaB and Houston royalty Bun B. The whole thing builds up to an irresistible, invigorating chorus that summons you to join the procession. –Tatiana Lee Rodriguez
Listen: Monaleo, “Putting Ya Dine”
25.
Dragnutz: “Believe it or not”
Send your most idiosyncratic beats to Dragnutz’s inbox—Charli xcx flips, stepTeam hijinks—and they’ll be spun into free car madness. Dragnutz is part of a recent wave of DMV rappers who draw as much inspiration from Goonew as the recurring characters in the Hyperpop Daily universe. “Believe it or not,” produced by SJR, the hottest producer in the area, pits Frou Frou’s ethereal textures against Dragnutz’s menace, while spammed SFX and frequency modulations throw everything off its axis. Harmony is overrated. –Serge Selenou
Listen: Dragnutz, “Believe it or not”
24.
BunnaB: “It’s Me”
Taking from every corner of 2000s Atlanta, BunnaB sounds like the girl sticking her tongue out at the mean girls at recess. On “It’s Me,” this incredibly catchy jingle that would have been everyone’s ringtone in ’08, she doesn’t just diss these girls but sounds disappointed in their life choices. Thankfully, that doesn’t turn into respectability politics—just a stomp-out of bullies and fake friends the Atlanta way. –Jayson Buford
Listen: BunnaB, “It’s Me”
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23.
Rooster: “Best Friend?”
“I got a best friend,” Rooster deadpans, over and over again, as if trying to conjure one in the mirror. As a musician, Rooster (aka Gud, the Stockholm producer of Sad Boys fame), specializes in a sort of psychic worldbuilding, constructing dusty rooms then stumbling through the scaffolding. Every time the question mark in “Best Friend?” is invoked it sounds increasingly urgent, like when meaning dissolves from repetition: I got a best friend. I got a best friend. He got a best friend. The twitching synth pads congeal like thick haze, and when he falls silent, the solitude is suffocating. –Samuel Hyland
