Last time I wrote, it was about Atlanta trap’s revitalization through dark plugg and the cyclical influence of the city’s hip-hop eras, as heard on Glokk40Spaz‘s latest project Baby Whoa 2. Thankfully, Atlanta seems to be breaking free from the Migos flow and tired Thug clones passed off as a vibe. Instead, new rappers like Zukenee are establishing their own unique look and hunting for a hit in the vein of the city’s classics.
Zukenee has had a big year in 2025, just dropping his second project of the year Knight Shift, on top of the earlier Slaytanic. He had a fanbase built in from darker, more traditional tapes like Birth of St. Slay, but Slaytanic seems to be where he found the formula to take his dark fantasy to trap’s mainstream. Don’t let me overstate his popularity though; his most viewed video only has 170K views, but what’s surprising is the professional polish he applies anyway, making the success so well deserved. More palatable than most dark plugg tapes, Zukenee enunciates clearly and writes in a very simple, organized structure that leaves plenty of room for funny lines and thesis bars.
While Big Sean comparisons are rarely a good thing, but his type of pronounced delivery makes for a fresh, clean sound in this subgenre. If Atlanta’s new wave has had one roadblock to success, it’s their inaccessibility; Big Sean and Zukenee aren’t nearly as threatening as someone like 2sDxrt3all, and their delivery is conducive to writing hits. His delivery is anthemic; for some Ludacris “Move bitch, get out the way!”, look no further than “WYD“, featuring a chanted hook that you can imagine a whole dancefloor shouting back.
Maybe Slaytanic seemed like a soft launch to selling out at the time, but Knight Shift is yet another evolution that’s chock full of unique takes on the club anthem. For how normal his delivery is, Zukenee is still right at home alongside Atlanta oddballs like Sahbabii or Young Nudy, only he lets the production do the heavy lifting on the fun side. These are “bow chicka wow wow… boioioing” beats, all tied together with a dark fantasy aesthetic. The beat on “Pop Shi”, for example, almost sounds like an accordion sample, evoking Zukenee as the streets’ jester putting on a show at court.
Zukenee takes a stab at production himself with the track “Nametag”, which fits in perfectly alongside these other funky, percussive, alien beats. The lead single “Kino Der Toten” features a marchable piano two step that perfectly fits the evil militia sound he was going for (while playing on some Gen Z nostalgia).
The creative direction might be corny in less dedicated hands, but the fact he wraps every video, beat, and bar in Medieval references is clearly paying off with the album’s viral reception. Lil Gnar already bit it (allegedly), and you can expect an uptick in dark fantasy across all media. It’s unflinchingly fun character work that could get him over the mainstream hump if he sticks with the gimmick (if not strictly fantasy, at least something demonic like in the past).
If there’s one hope for Zukenee going forward, it would be to take this momentum and pick up some smart collabs. He’s working with fellow Atlanta upstart Sk8star, whose melodic approach is a great compliment to his delivery; but he shouldn’t let himself stay rotting in the dungeons of regional success. Call me crazy, but a spot with established Atlanta stars like Quavo or Gunna will do just as much while playing into his world. And that’s exactly what Zukenee has done on each project in his young, promising career – build worlds in rap that most in the trap had only fantasized about.