UNDERGROUND RAP IS “BASED AND NEGATIVE”

By: @lex2k

Since the 2010s, underground rap has been a psychedelic cyber scape of unlikely heroes and idols emerging from its scenes, with artists like Chief Keef, Playboi Carti, and Lil B setting the tone for the scene. Now In the 2020s a new generation of artists who grew up listening to those same rappers are now in position to grab. This is where Based Negative Squad comes in. While the likes of Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely with their gothic nu metal aesthetic. BNS boasts a colorful variety of personalities and really adds color to a grimey scene. While keeping it hardcore and in your face, nice and raw.

The group was Founded by rapper Christ Dillinger who was inspired by an unreleased DJ Smokey tape while on tour with his crew, known as “Based Positive Squad” The touring rappers flipped it as a joke, and despite the pessimistic face value, the concept is true to its name; pull from negativity and transform it into something good. Christ Dillinger felt that in order to create great art you needed to pull from the dark side of things. The group’s idea of darkness is more abstract and skewed compared to the likes of Opium. With a more chronically online aesthetic that’s more inviting and familiar.

Members as of the date of this article follows: Christ Dillinger, Acid Souljah, Xhris2Eazy BRUHMANEGOD, Wendigo, Tenkay, Brodiebased, Dj Smokey, Sleepy, Cj Hunter

For the most part they were all on tour before the group was conceptualized, and according to Acid Soulja a prominent figure in the scene, their first breakout self title mixtape BASED NEGATIVE SQUAD (out now on all platforms)a collection of songs they accrued throughout touring.

Despite the seemingly abrasive undertone, Based Negative Squad (BNS) isn’t rooted in nihilism and their influences are much more aligned with Chief Keef, Metro Zu, and Lil B the Based God—all of which have a huge influence on their sound and aesthetic.

Here’s a breakdown of how those influences shape BNS:

• Chief Keef: Known for his impact on the drill scene and his raw, heavy beats, Chief Keef’s influence can be seen in BNS’s trap-inspired sound and aggressive delivery.

• Metro Zu: A Florida-based collective known for their experimental, lo-fi, and energetic sound, which aligns with BNS’s unique production style that often blends fast-paced beats with atmospheric, hard-hitting production.

• Lil B the Based God: His influence is significant when it comes to the “based” attitude and approach to music. Lil B’s style of rapping about being free from societal norms and celebrating individuality can be seen in BNS’s unfiltered and self-assured style.

One could describe the songs that come out of it as a perfect representation of a generation fed on blog era and soundcloud rap. With songs like “Giggity giggity” which already off the bat feels like a meme with a reference to family guy with Christ Dillingers in ur face raps drowned in hyper saturated beats with hard drums and 808s and synths that sound like the soundtrack from an episode of Ben 10 (the original of course). Also noteworthy, the anthemic 6 minute long cypher that introduces you to a good chunk of the group with verses from Acid Souljah · Tenkay · Pistolero2k · brodiebased and Christ Dillinger.

The group serves up a fun wild chaotic drug fueled experience that never insists upon itself and really holds true to the tenants of being “Based”. Their music feels free and unrestricted and every song feels like a unique vibe being captured consistently. Not worried about the state of the world and taking the backseat approach simply living for the music and the rage. If you’re like me you are probably tired of the mainstream and its limited creativity, and its overblown hyped up personalities and constant chasing of 2016 hype. Based Negative Squad will save you from such oppression.

Acetone is Litty

By: Maggie Cragar

I lay on the beach, sun-drunk and warm-skinned, my body draped across an old bath towel on the dense, muddy sands of Galveston beach. As Acetone’s 1997 self-titled album blasted through my headphones, I was lulled into a smiley haze; the band’s laid-back, leisurely sound enveloped me in a wave of pleasant lethargy, its plucking strings tinged with melancholy. The music was infused with elements of Americana, country, jazz, and slowcore, creating a sound that was as beautiful as it was rare.

Acetone’s sound stood in stark contrast to the grunge era that defined much of the ’90s. While bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains voiced raw frustration and dissatisfaction with the state of the world through unbridled intensity, Acetone pursued a subtler path, inviting listeners to read between the lines and sense the band’s emotions in restraint, atmosphere, and apathy rather than aggression.

The record perfectly captured the languid rhythm of the island where I grew up, a place where time seemed to stand still, engulfing its people in both a sense of permanent relaxation and an unspoken yearning for something more. It was a place where marijuana smoke curled lazily in the air, fostering complacency within static lives—an almost manufactured happiness, a drowsy surrender. The song “All The Time” itself seemed to mimic the breath of the tide, like the ocean’s lungs inhaling and exhaling in eternal rhythm.

Acetone remains one of the most underrated bands of the ‘90s; perhaps their greatness will never be fully appreciated by the masses, but they sure as hell will always matter to me.

D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L

By: Gregory Makarian

While in London, you spend a lot of time on the tube and while on the tube you spend a lot of time on your phone. I was on the way to see my cousin, and was listening to music when Spotify recommended a song called ‘death metal’ by an artist named Panchiko.

Despite its title, the song didn’t sound like death metal at all; instead its a dreamy ballad with soothing vocals, singing of a long lost lover. The lyrics caught my ear.

“‘Cause you’re holding onto someone who’s special

Educating someone who’s mental Giving the fat pigs their facial We all listen to death metal [Bridge: OWAIN] Let it go Let it go Let it go Let it go”

While the music caught my ear, the album art caught my eye, I recognized the face of an anime girl in peril ripped out of a manga panel, felt like a touchstone of a culture I knew, and so began my fascination with Panchiko.

The track “Stabilizers for Big Boys” instantly captivated me with its grungy guitar riffs and the rhythm of metallic, clanking drums, reminiscent of a washing machine cascading down a staircase. I continued to listen, thoroughly drawn in by the sound.

And while I wasn’t quite sure what I was hearing, i knew I had to find out more about this mysterious anime girl indie band.

Next, came the song Laputa, which began with what sounds like an old lullaby, then opened up into chords,

“Laputa was all we knew, and How we got there, how we flew up Heaven’s doors are miles away ‘Cause you’re stuck to the ground, you have to stay [Bridge: OWAIN] The robots died in a flash The robots died off at last”

In reference to Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky, the first animated film released under Studio Ghibili. The story follows a mysterious girl named Sheeta and a boy named Pozu as they are guided by a magical crystal amulet on a journey to find a legend, the castle in the sky named Laputa.

In these words of longing, the singer yearns for Laputa as much as the characters in the story. I imagine him seeing Castle in the Sky for the first time in 1986 somewhere in Nottingham England, his childhood imagination running wild with tales of Laputa, a land of magic and wonder that exists just out of reach from the world. The motif of a fantasy realm parallel to our own is relatable to an entire generation raised on late night TV cartoons. It’s fitting then that deathmetal was conceived of by 4 teenagers in 1999.

The 4 track EP was recorded in a basement by 4 teenagers in Nottingham England. And for 17 years, that’s where it stayed. That was until 21 July 2016, when a user on 4chan posted a copy of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L; The album was unknown, but the tracks intrigued listeners who wanted to know more. Unbeknownst to the former members, Panchiko gained a small cult following determined to find out whether the CD was an elaborate hoax or the real deal. Much of the search and lack of information was due to the members not putting their last names on the back of the album.

Since their discovery and reunion, Panchiko has recorded 3 studio albums including a remaster of D>E>A>T>H>M>E>T>A>L (Remastered and reissued) complete with B sides and disc rot versions of the original tracks. The band, now in their late 40s, are playing sold out shows on a world tour, their lvies changed forever by a stroke of luck, only it wasn’t luck - it was curiosity, a taste for the unknown, shared with the world.

Mateo and I went to a recent show in Ft. Worth and we spoke with several fans after the show,

“They just make me float, honestly”

recounted one fan,

“You can hear the soul in it”

remarked another.

While filming interviews, we happened to run into Shaun who was packing some of the gear. I asked him if he imagined this would have been his life.

“Those dreams had gone long, long ago…we had normal lives and stuff…every day it feels weird to be living this life.”

“Its a very strange thing to happen, but we’re really grateful.”

Their story is a modern artifact of internet culture meshing the internet with IRL in a permeable sense, illuminating the thin veil between fantasy and reality, it seems Laputa was never that far away after all.

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