Did Young Posse just release the best Korean rap record of the year?
On the one hand, it is easy to listen to Young Posse’s music and think it’s not that deep, it’s all a bit of light hearted fun (that’s fine, Young Posse bring back an element of fun sorely missing in other kpop groups nowadays and I love them for their goofy concepts).
But scratch a little deeper into their discography and you’ll find they have a sound that is incredibly well nuanced and crafted by a team with a deep, deep, understanding of hip-hop, with appreciation for everything from its roots to its modern micro genres. In their prior releases, you had the West Coast flavour of “Ate That”, the Tupac style old-school of “Roty”, the nod to Seo Taiji with XXL, and the rage beats of ‘Scars’ (which sounded like something straight from a Trippie Red or Lil Uzi Vert record).
That’s not to say everything has been gold. There’s some very forgettable b-sides on a lot of their past releases, but there was that potential bubbling away, and it now sees fruition on their new EP (which feels more like a proper first album and not just a “single EP”).
Growing Pain pt:1 FREE is a mind blowing record that plots a course through the history of Hip-Hop with a masterstroke. It’s 7 absolute bangers - all killer no filler - a must listen to album for any fan of girl groups or hip-hop.
If you like old-school rap, the title track, Freestyle, is a slice of Beastie Boys madness, and is a worthy addition the holy trinity of Macaroni Cheese, XXL and Ate That. The track MON3Y 8ANK drips with old-school flavour too.
If you like Rage Beats the track YSSR and my favourite from the album ‘Same Shit, Another One’, have you covered.
For something even more aggressive, the song Soju sees them rapping over drill beats.
The song ADHD verges on digicore, starting off with this glitchy, maxed out beat that descends into trap beats and delivery that would be at home on playboy carti’s Die Lit, but then suddenly switches up into an EDM chorus. It’s the sort of madness I might expect from a group like 100 gecs, and certainly lives up to the track’s title.
And to round the EP out, rather than going for the predictable ballad, the sentimental lyrics of School’s Out is underpinned by UK Garage beats, reminding me of something like Pinkpantheress’s Just for Me.
All in all, it is an incredibly diverse record, with a perfect track list that flaunts its knowledge of hip-hop with the utmost skill. Give it a listen!
