Since 2014, Chicago rapper-producer Supa Bwe has celebrated Independence Day by releasing new music. The first couple years he did it as a member of coulda-been-huge experimental rap group Hurt Everybody, and then last year he dropped his solo mixtape Dead Again 3. Supa planned to follow the tradition this year with Finally Dead, but on July 3 he announced on Twitter that he was rescheduling the release for a date TBD. Supa’s melting, mystical pop-rap songs contain yearning Auto-Tune crooning that comes out in Pollock-like bursts and instrumentals that bark and bite. But for all its visceral energy, Supa’s music would be less potent if he didn’t approach it with precision, so I can’t blame him for taking more time to finesse Finally Dead. On the snippets of the new material I’ve heard, he’s padding out his work—most noticeably with the addition of horns on one track—without tamping down the volcanic bursts of his best performances. Early single “I Hate Being Alive” touches down like a tornado, and hits with the kind of punk force that so many new lo-fi Soundcloud rappers have used as their secret weapon. v
Chicago rapper-producer Supa Bwe sounds steps from stardom on the first cuts from Finally Dead
