Hip-hop is often used to reflect a city’s culture, and New Orleans culture is like no other in the U.S. Like the Big Easy’s signature bounce and flair for individual expression, New Orleans hip-hop artists range from brassy flamboyance to psychedelic ambient rap and everything in between.
As we move further into 2021, these New Orleans rappers are bringing their best game to the global stage. From the Ambassador of Bounce to music collective GLBL WRMG, New Orleans is uniting the music world by embracing fluidity and forward momentum in a time of seemingly endless stagnation.
Pell
Music runs in Pell’s veins. Born to a musical family, he grew up listening to jazz, gospel, and Motown greats. And while his music embraces NOLA culture and bounce and brass, Pell doesn’t stick to classic New Orleans styles. Ambient synths and floaty soundscapes, ala Waking Life, the film that inspired 2014’s Floating While Dreaming. Pell’s latest release is glbl warming vol.1, a love letter to New Orleans by GLBL WRMG. GLBL WRMG is a brand new music collective including local musicians like Jelly (Tank and The Bangas), Malik NinetyFive, Lil Iceberg, Jzzle, Kr3wcial, and more.
Malik Ninety Five
After a stint in L.A., New Orleans hip-hop artist Malik Ninety Five is back in The Big Easy. Malik has met life’s curveballs head on and used the chaos to elevate his craft. Lush soundscapes belie his hearing impairment. And a deeper perspective on life shines through his musical reflections after the death of a close friend. Entering 2021 with features on NOLA collective GLBL WRMG’s glbl warming vol.1, Malik is off to a promising start, and we expect to see a lot more from this young rapper over the coming year.
Stone Cold Jzzle
One of New Orleans’s foremost jocers, Jzzle makes music you can get light to. Or is it lit? Anyway, this up and comer is a Crescent City stunner with his knack for making hard-ass songs using simple lyrics. It’s heavy but you can dance to it. It’s also straight-up blunt smokin’ music. Favoring chimey bells over sick beats, the music is top-shelf hook. And the videos are even doper. Joce at its finest.
Kr3wcial
New Orleans hip-hop artist, producer, and sound engineer, Kr3wcial is a triple threat. He’s worked with a handful of other top New Orleans artists like Tank and the Bangas, NBA YoungBoy, Zaytoven, and most recently, Pell. He joins a bunch of other Big Easy artists on NOLA collective GLBL WRMG’s first release, glbl warming vol.1. And, in a time when individual isolation is at its all-time peak, the rapper’s timely single, “Lonely,” hit home, encouraging self-acceptance and reminding us that, ironically, loneliness is something we all share.
Big Freedia
The Big Easy’s LGBTQ queen diva isn’t exactly underground. Big Freedia helped cement the city’s bounce movement in hip hop, and she’s even had some tracks hit the mainstream, like the 2014 breakthrough album Just Be Free, 2018’s “Rent” off 3rd Ward Bounce and “Raising Hell” with Kesha in 2019. Her latest releases roll out in Freedia’s classic high-energy, empowering style, so, if you need a confidence boost or you’re feeling blue, play some Big Freedia and put on a happy face.
$leazy EZ
“Your baby cuzn” is relatively unknown outside of on the NOLA scene. But this young ‘un is promising as hell. You’ve probably never heard of $leazy EZ before, but you’ll be glad you did once you put on these tracks with the smooth, psychedelic flow. EZ doesn’t have a big catalog (yet) but you can catch features on “Party” and “504” off GLBL WRMG’s glbl warming vol. 1 and “Work Wit It” from Paasky’s The Fifth Child. This is underground hip-hop at its finest, and if it’s not about to blow up in the next few years, then we’re all dummies.
Paasky
Paasky is one of New Orleans’s most prolific rappers, and one of the best. Breaking from the New Orleans bounce mold, Paasky’s music is epic. Cinematic sounds, dark vibes, stellar production, and wordplay for days are all tied up with a big shiny Mardi Gras bow in one helluva package. Why is this dude so underrated still? Who knows, but if there’s any justice in the world this 5th Ward prodigy should get further recognition in 2021.
Alfred Banks
Alfred Banks reps underdog central on the New Orleans scene. With a scarf tied around his mic, Banks spits blue fire over the Tai Chi beats. Banks is another example of one of those underground rapper names you should know but don’t. So, even if the whole world is still sleeping on these tracks, don’t join the crowd on that nap, ‘cause there’s no “fake woke” here.
Lil Iceberg
Uptown New Orleans hip-hop artist Lil Iceberg on his way to the top with that uptown fly style and a recent record deal with Tidal. Iceberg’s flow is cold and his beats are hot, plus he’s got that je ne sais quois. And also lyrics. Like he says on “Came From Nothin” – “My downfall was tragic but my bounce back fantastic.” Mmmmm, may that be our motto in 2021.
Kenneth Brother
The Westbank’s Kenneth Brother, aka BEE, aka KB, is about to blow. Some call KB the low key New Orleans frontman for rap’s next generation. Some just call him fire. Whatever you call him today, if he keeps going like he does you might be calling him legendary one day. Coming with some real talk, this dude doesn’t need to write diss tracks to come hard. Why he’s not bigger already is a mystery, but like so many underrated New Orleans hip-hop artists, KB has creativity and flow that needs to be recognized.
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