Across the hip-hop landscape, artists have increasingly followed a fad or movement that has largely been dubbed ‘Soundcloud Rap’. While rappers from Florida and other corners of the country repackage what they see on the internet, adding frilly details for show, there exists a subsect of predecessors that established the motif and deserve the recognition for such. It’s with that environment in mind that we get the latest from Chicago’s own Supa Bwe, Finally Dead. Quiet for a few months, Supa has come on strong the last month or so and wraps up 2017 with a tightly-wound offering that should serve to continue to establish him as one of the pre-eminent strategists from the Soundcloud era.
Having teamed up with the likes of Cole Bennett, Taylor Bennett and a long list of featured and collaborative artists such as Chance The Rapper, Xavier Omar, Mick Jenkins and others, Supa has never lacked for star power and has always existed as a magnet for the spotlight. While his sound is unmistakable as an influence for the current burgeoning wave of artists like Trippie Redd and XXXTentacion, Supa has the agency and background to assert himself at the head of the table and proves as much on this twelve track offering. For the last five years or so Supa has toyed with formulas on the streaming site such as dropping tracks and albums for a day or several hours, only to take them back down, thus creating a demand for his work that often eludes artists operating in the digital space. Beyond that, he’s culled a careful persona along the way as well that he’s backed up when necessary. Say what you want about the man, but he certainly backs it up. That much is evident from start to finish on Finally Dead.
It seems that the time away has served Freddy well, and we’re definitely excited to see plenty more from him in the coming months and to also see what the new year has in store for one of Chicago’s most exciting acts.