When we first encountered Lord Pusswhip, we said, 'Well, he's a little sure of himself, isn't he?' Then we listened to the track he produced with the uber-gender-fluid Lauren Auder, and thought to ourselves, well actually that's quite right.
The 21-year-old Icelandic rapper, producer, and beat-maker has been making music since he was 18, producing for names in the grime and hip-hop scenes of Iceland, England, and now Berlin (where he is currently based) like Antwon, Metro Zu, and Th@ Kid. His dreamy, exotic, and delightfully hard-edged full-length Lord Pusswhip is Wack was released last October.
After a delightful series of email exchanges, LP suggested a playlist, and we thought, yes, that'll do.
1. "Endurminning"—Lord Pusswhip ft. Lauren Auder
This was automatically my favorite song off Lord Pusswhip is Wack. Lauren is doing big things and even though we made a few tracks together, this one clicked the best somehow. We've been preparing to make a video for it with my friend Se-un Lee from South Korea, who does really beautiful animation.
2. "PIMP STAR PIMP%%(RAWTRASH)%%%%%"—Lord Catpiss (Onoe Caponoe) x Marceyy
My homie Onoe who started Cosmic Seagull Records is a natural born artist so he can't really be confined in the box named hip-hop. This junt is a sick vibey post-punk song that he just released on the Cosmic Seagull soundcloud, along with another one called Bad MDMA, which could only be classified as 169 London black metal. Check it out.
3. "ÞÚ SEGIR"—GKR ft. Nguvo (Prod. by Marteinn)
GKR is a young cat like me from Reykjavík, Iceland who makes beautiful rap music produced by my favourite Icelandic producer, Marteinn. GKR's video for a great song called "Morgunmatur" just blew up but this one just released on his Soundcloud with the Swedish Nguvo really goes in. You might not understand the lyrics but the inspiration is permeating.
4. "DIRTY VANS"—Mike Theory ft. Clayton Kasady
Extremely dirty rap from UK's OGz n Tha Hood members Mike Theory and Clayton Kasady (aka Faze). This is an extremely nihilistic turn-up song. Mike Theory just released a new album called Gone, all self-produced. Go peep!
5. "Meszmorized Remix"—Dari Loso x Slug Christ
Dari Loso is a super-underrated rapper who was featured on my debut, he recently released this song with Slug Christ from Awful Records who I've been listening a lot to as well. I love how he reversed the beat on the second part of the song, the krautrock band Can did something similar on their album Tago Mago in the '70s.
6. "HVAÐ ER AÐ FRÉTTA"—Lord Pusswhip x Countess Malaise x Svarti Laxness
I just made this track when I was back home for Christmas with my homies. I've known Laxness since we were kids, he's an amazing lyricist. Countess is a really good friend of mine, she was actually my hypeman at the first time I played Iceland Airwaves. S/o Vrong for maneuvering the killer autotune on this one.
7. "Endz"—Novelist
This track was definitely song of the year for me. So raw, all self-produced and even the video made by the man himself. The beat is so cold, it just sounds like England. Novelist is born in 1997—what the fuck have you done with your life so far?
8. "God Bless Me"—Wiki ft. Sporting Life & Skepta
This is definitely the runner-up to my song of the year. It was the stand-out track on Wiki's solo debut Lil' Me which was amazing. It was a huge honor to get Wiki and Antwon on a beat by me and Vrong on Twon's album Heavy Hearted in Doldrums. I def wanna give those guys some more beats. Ratking is the most inspirational rap group out now, love the punk energy.
9. "Sniper Redux"—Endgame x Kamixlo ft. Blaze Kidd & Uli K
I don't know a lot about this crew except that the rappers are of South American origin and live in London. Latin rap makes me wanna get buck and I love the vibes in this one, super clean beats too. I discovered DJ Playero last year and this feels like a kind of modern extension of that.
10. "That Siccness"—X-Raided
Back in the day I used to listen to Brotha Lynch Hung a lot. I missed out on X-Raided and finally checked out his infamous album Psycho Active from 1992. Caviar gangsta rap—I'm almost 100% sure that Key & Peele got the inspiration for their "Rap Album Confessions" sketch from X-Raided's story.
11. "Pluggeddd"—P2 the Gold Mask ft. Dretti Franks
Here's a super chill junt I've been listening to a lot from rapper P2 the Gold Mask, featuring Texas spitter Dretti Franks. It's produced by MVNTRA, a super ill hip hop producer from the Caribbean. We're gonna work together on some beats soon.