Every year, CEO Trayle releases a new edition of his “Happy Halloween” series. The most important is probably that one, in 2020. The one featuring his signature track “OK Cool.” And also the one that runs counter to that breakup song, with a nihilistic, drill-inspired atmosphere, fueled by the rapper’s traumas and by this composite sound that sounds like no one but him.
MEXIKODRO – Still Goin The EP
MexikoDro, the producer who, together with his Beat Plugz colleagues, created plugg, returns to his roots. Stepping up to the mic, he successfully revisits the motivational trap music of its early days. Except that after all these years, that same motivation has changed in nature: the veteran’s aspiration now is to live a sober, ordinary life, harboring no illusions about anything.
JOHN GLACIER – Like A Ribbon
This occasional model that is John Glacier has all the hallmarks of a Londoner. Her wide-ranging circle, her music infused with post-punk and electronic influences, her monotone, low-key poetry, and her doubts and uncertainties ultimately have very little to do with rap. Nevertheless, on this compilation album, her formula often proves as haunting as it is seemingly disembodied.
SWAVAY – BILLY2
In 2024, the EP “Billy” was R&B for the girls. So in 2025, its successor “Billy2” brings us trap music for the boys. Nothing particularly sensational in the end from this release by Metro Boomin’s protégé and James Blake’s rapper friend. But it is an improvement nonetheless. There’s some “real trap shit” there, as SwaVay himself puts it, with a few well-aimed lines that hit just right.
TYLER, THE CREATOR – Don’t Tap The Glass
This is Tyler, the Creator’s dance album. His return to basics, as signaled by a cover that evokes 1980s hip-hop. But as this grotesque, parodic image also suggests, everything very quickly takes on a particular tone – acidic, acrimonious, and atrabilious – with a rapper like him. The sound is funky, but the sharp-tongued provocateur from Odd Future is still very much present.
CLIPPING – Dead Channel Sky
Clipping still loves its concepts. This time, the trio leaves horrorcore behind to explore the cyberpunk universe and the threats looming over our hyperconnected world. True to its taste for experimentation, the Los Angeles band ventures into the realm of 1990s electronic music. All of this brings to mind the science-fiction-infused indie rap of that same era. And for that very reason, we like it.
NO ID & SABA – From The Private Collection Of Saba And No ID
Saba and No ID come from different generations, but they share their hometown of Chicago and a polished, refined approach to rap. Their collaboration results in a blend of jazz, soul, and introspective hip-hop. Enriched by numerous guest appearances and meticulous production, it is an eclectic work, where each track explores a different facet of the rapper, often brilliantly.
MAC CRITTER – Back Door Music
Mac Critter, the Memphis rapper, has been signed to the New 1017. However, he has since left the label, and he doesn’t really resemble a disciple of Gucci Mane. His trap music is more serious and more haunted than the master’s. His dragging, pained rap is more threatening than humorous. He is modern, and very much in tune with the times. And sometimes, too, he is striking.
ABGR LIL CORY – Act Broke Get Rich
Still unknown a year earlier, ABGR Lil Cory – the rapper from Hattiesburg, Mississippi – releases his debut album, following the success of the single “Old School.” And with this exhilarating release, with its naïve and infectious melodies about money, jewelry, and his hard grind in the kitchen, it brings an entire era rushing back to us: the blessed days of Gucci Mane’s late-2000s run.
G PERICO & DJ DRAMA – L.A. Gangster
DJ Drama is a fantastic curator. On his “Gangsta Grillz” mixtapes, he invites rappers to be fully themselves, right down to cliché and formula, in order to better extract the very essence of their art. And he succeeds once again, even at this late stage in his career, when he teams up for a second time with G Perico and elevates the South Central rapper’s highly referential West Coast style.