The last few years have quietly seen a new New York sound emerging. Held up against the huge trap sounds and Auto-Tuned pop records of Atlanta, the city’s classic, grimy rap has had some reckoning to do with itself to get attention in clubs and on the radio dial. But with artists like Bobby Shmurda and Young M.A, a template of drill- and trap-inflected bangers has emerged, hewing to the gritty toughness and dark sound that made artists like Mobb Deep or The Lox come to represent the city but serving as an heir to that sound rather than a direct continuation of it. F1JO, f.k.a. Yung Joey, of Jamaica, Queens, a longtime friend of producer Mike WiLL Made-It, is perhaps most fully realized incarnation of this aesthetic.
Case in point: His new single “No Beer” seems primed for tearing up the club, with a sinister, almost macabre sound that nonetheless makes you want to jump on the nearest couch and start yelling out party-ready catchphrases, including the hook, “as long as it ain’t no mothafuckin’ beer.” It’s a bit of a slow burn, but by the second time you hear it, it’s impossible to get out of your head. That bass line is just too massive not to make you start acting reckless. There’s no telling what kind of chaos this song might unleash this summer in New York, and while Noisy is premiering it, we do not take any legal responsibility for the consequences.
Connect with F1JO
Twitter: twitter.com/f1jo
Instagram: instagram.com/f1jo
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/3aBe7wR8eOZi8vqw3JgHiZ