Some rappers consistently put out dope music and for whatever reason, don’t get the shine they deserve. Why is that? Is it strictly PR? Is it all based on who you know and your network? These are questions I constantly wonder aloud because I follow some dope rappers who have super low stream counts who shouldn’t. I know I’m obscure with my ear at times but I think that some of these rappers need to be signed by independent labels and pushed. Or maybe these artists don’t want that and would rather just make music for their small core group of fans?
Let’s take Mr. Muthaf*ckin eXquire for example. Is his name just too hard to remember and type into your search bars? Is his lyrical content too explicit and out there? Have you even heard of Mr. M’fn eXquire before? If I told you that he spit like Biggie and Cube would you ears perk a bit? They should because dude has been dope for years. I think I first heard him on the “The Last Huzzah Remix” which is one of my favorite hip hop posse cuts of all-time. eXquire + Despot + Das Racist + Danny Brown + El-P with Killer Mike as his hype man? FIRE.
There are a lot of songs I check Spotify for constantly and this song above is easily Top 5. This to me is the what Def Jux would have been if the label would have kept going. Mr. Muthaf*ckin eXquire would have been one of the best emcees on the label right? I mean, just check him out on the Eric Andre Show…. Eric Andre and Hannibal are into him just like Chappelle was into Kanye and Common when they were on the Chappelle Show back in the day. Just look at Ex’s swag…. Loving it.
His releases all come under the radar so only the true heads really know what’s up. Maybe that’s the way he likes it and if that’s the case, I’m just glad I’m in the know.
I always check for eXquire releases but I wasn’t ready for what I saw last week. I thought it was one of my imaginary collabs that I come up with while blazed up but nope… This was the real thing. But what’s the story behind this? Is it just a random single? Do they have an album dropping? Oh yeah… forgot to mention… Who did eX collab with? None other than Madlib…. Yup…. Madlib. This is major folks. But the sad thing is that you’re not even listening. The YouTube and Spotify streams only have 5K views. WHY?!?! This is dope hip hop. Oh well… Guess I’ll just throw on my headphones and bump that real sh*t.