The Ones: Kap G’s “The Bomb”

With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.

Kap G - “The Bomb”

Few Atlanta rappers have been hovering just below the radar as long as Kap G. Despite a high-profile Pharrell co-sign, XXL Freshman cover, a gold single (2016’s “Girlfriend”)—he has yet to ascend to the status of the collaborators and peers in his age bracket, like Playboi Carti or Lil Uzi Vert. He continues to keep his nose to the grindstone regardless, releasing Spanglish mixtapes like El Southside and SupaJefe full of lightly Auto-Tuned raps that turn on infectious melodies. His latest single, “The Bomb,” is representative of his best work; it’s catchy, to the point, and winkingly clever. The song interpolates Ritchie Valens’ 1958 interpretation of the Mexican folk song “La Bamba,” bringing bits of its sound to the present day.

Kap’s Mexican heritage has always been an important part of his music, but in reimaging an iconic Chicano rock song as trap he takes his cultural synthesis to new heights. He works plenty of Latin signifiers into his mellow flows and squeezes in Spanish phrases, but more impressive still is how the mix of reference points speaks for itself; how seamlessly he threads genres together. The two things seem inextricable from one another, to the point it’s unclear which is influencing the other.

Check out previous Ones, and listen to new rap from Kap G and more on our Spotify playlist, Apple Music playlist, and SoundCloud playlist.

Originally Appeared on Pitchfork