Queen City Crates volume 1 & volume 2
Continuing to cover some hip-hop acts local to Cincinnati here as I pick up more CD’s. While the last article was focused on somewhat forgotten 90’s and 00’s artists, I will stick here to currently active rappers so that they – and the city – might get the rep they deserve, while glossing over more popular internet names like Pink Siifu and Turich Benjy.
You might notice how scattered the overall sound and subgenres of these artists are, from the older No Limit and midwest G Funk influence, to cloud rap, to a little bit of everything today. I can only hope that Cincinnati can nail down on one signature sound eventually. On the other hand, a historic sign of a healthy hip-hop city is a strong scene for both conscious and party music alike. Look no further than the diversity of scenes in New York, Detroit, and LA. So depending how you frame it, we got that going for us at least.
¡Jay Hill!
Ignore the local connection – Jay Hill is one of my absolute favorite discoveries in recent years. I first heard about him last summer when he opened for Blu and put on the most electric performance imaginable for a crowd of maybe 50 hipsters who don’t even care about hip-hop. Since then, I’ve seen him open for Kool Keith and R.A.P. Ferreira as well, and in all of these cases, he’s stolen the show. He combines a possessed stage presence, flawless flows that are far more engaging than “speed rap” (I maybe hear some Busdriver?), and even some amazing freestyling. He even had a whole set over beats he had never heard before and was going off the dome.
I was happy to find he’s released ep’s through Ceschi’s Fake Four label, and is also part of the groups Patterns of Chaos and No.Clue. He’s outwardly political and into some nerdy shit, so give his shit a quick listen and it’ll be hard not to fall in love. The whole “rap music!” shtick can be silly, but what makes him great and an ideal indie artist is that he simply doesn’t care.
Listen to ¡Jay Hill!
YTB Trench
On the far opposite end of the hip-hop spectrum is YTB Trench, one of the city’s biggest recent exports. Simply being signed to YSL (where he has appeared on the Slime Language 2 compilation and dropped his own album Versatalien in 2021) is an exciting prospect for a local trap artist. Versatalien takes that familiar approach of melodic trap beats and earnest lyrics, but he’s still able to make it sound hard. What’s even better is despite being so active in the Atlanta trap scene, he continues to rep Cincy and coined the nickname Trenchinnati. It’s no Dayraq though. Hopefully he follows up with another quality release, but I’m sure YSL is in an odd place these days.
Listen to YTB Trench
Sons of Silverton
I won’t harp on Sons of Silverton too much since I already covered both MC’s in the last article under their former groups FiveDeez and Watusi Tribe, but they are certainly mainstays of the Cincinnati hip-hop scene these days. While they don’t seem to release new music too often, they stay super busy performing, often headlining bar shows, and are sure to get the energy up. They got an old school mentality, flow their asses off, and seem widely respected by all these other artists.
Listen to Sons of Silverton
Roadrunner TB
While YTB Trench might be on the national stage with his YSL affiliation, Roadrunner TB is far and away the most successful in the city today. While you’re just as likely to see him in hood tour videos as in an actual music video, he drops frequently and often pairs with Roadrunner Savy 33. While he’s perfectly capable of more personal, melodic trap like Trench, he sounds best over upbeat, janky Milwaukee production with his whiny flow. TB can be pretty funny too, with his fixation on the blender and approach to standard trap topics. He seems like he just sticks to his music and really grinds with it, so you gotta support and respect him.
Listen to Roadrunner TB
Brandon Isaac
Along with Jay Hill, Brandon Isaac is one of the artists that opened my eyes to the local scene a bit more. He’s a bit of a wholesome cornball, or an old soul you might say, with his constant musings on spirituality and state of the community – one which he is deeply involved in through education. The whole persona is super genuine and you can tell he grew up loving shit like Common. Another guy you just want to root for given how kind he seems and that he’s a real student of the game.
He makes up the duo The North Star with producer Free Mind, who laces him with light, often drumless soul samples. Unsurprisingly, they pay tribute to Black Star. It can get a bit repetitive across their whole discography, but it’s feel-good music nonetheless. It seems like their most recent release Introspection got some traction on Bandcamp, so hopefully they can ride that wave because there’s certainly a niche for them to grow into.