For over a decade, Cakes da Killa has pioneered New York’s queer rap areas, pairing hip-house beats that grind and grate with bars bursting with verve. One of many driving forces behind his music is his humorousness, from a tongue-in-cheek remake of a Frank Ocean lyric to interludes referencing Bushwick homosexual bar Temper Ring to lyrics that pull inspiration from jokes in anime. On his second full size, 2022’s Svengali, the tone of his music shifted: The songs stretched out and turned inward as he explored longing, heartache, and rejection.
His newest, Black Sheep, furthers that album’s smoldering, expansive sonic course, incorporating extra jazz horns and keys and slinky melodies carried by vocalists like Daybreak Richard and Wuhryn Dumas. The undertaking was written throughout a interval of isolation for Cakes da Killa, when he felt “like an outsider amongst outsiders.” These 11 songs nonetheless twist and shimmer, progressing from dance to boom-bap, however he now raps from a spot of take away.
There are fewer ties to put right here, fewer area of interest references. Whereas his earlier work felt engrossing due to the urgency and specificity bursting from every phrase, the thrills in Black Sheep come from Cakes da Killa’s technical talent. Very like a gifted sculptor can manipulate marble to look translucent or soft, the rapper reshapes the English language as he speaks it.
On “Crushin In Da Membership, he raps, “You would play dumb once you enjoying on the subsequent bitch / Test this / Diamonds on my ears match the necklace / Mouth too wild, ain’t no participant gon’ right it.” His phrases unfurl throughout a twinkling piano line, exactly delivered however flowing like satin. On “Make Me Ovah,” he simmers,“There ain’t by no means been a have to beg your pardon / With this child doll face, I nonetheless get carded / Preserve a stern strut stroll, is so unbothered / Regular attending to the bag with out no downside.”
The sense of nonchalance he embodies, even whereas delivering boast after boast, makes it clear that he’s rapping from a spot of authority and confidence—rapping for himself, at the start. – GRADE: A
You possibly can try Black Sheep on Bandcamp and elsewhere.
Extra from Spin:
- Anarchy and Rebirth With Cunt Mafia’s Contessa Stuto
- Q&A: Cakes da Killa Is a Part-Time Pink Moscato Connoisseur and a Full-Time Rapper
- Review: Cakes da Killa’s Hedonism Brings Lust and Rage to the Dance Floor
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