As of late, a lot of tapped-in UK rap fans have been wondering the same thing: What the hell are they doing over at XV Records? Emerging from the framework of London arts collective 10V Elysium, the British label has hit the ground running like crazy. Not even a full year since XV opened up shop, their artists have amassed hundreds of millions of streams, booked shows all across Europe, and worked closely with Lizzy Records to facilitate the next wave of British rap. In terms of potential, the bulk of their roster feels like a recruiting class John Calipari would flex at Kentucky: You have Fimiguerrero, the original 10V poster boy and a beloved fixture in the UK underground; Pierre, an aqueous, unsung crooner; Rico Ace, an enigmatic, fan-favorite hothead; and EsDeeKid, Britain’s hottest new rapper who could end up as Liverpool’s biggest export since that one band.
There’s something ironic about XV that first grabbed my attention, though: For no discernible reason besides making it look cool, the best rapper on the label has been rocking the American flag like a frat boy on spring break. I’m talking about London emcee SINN6R, whose new album #FEDERAL is so hard that the stars and stripes become an afterthought pretty quickly. (One day we’ll have to get him and Sk8star in the same room.) #FEDERAL is the second full-length released by SINN6R this year following the Opium-indebted mania of July’s 2Often, a decent record marred by hamfisted hooks and DRACO.FM type beats. #FEDERAL is much more refined and distinct, full of trap-inspired hellscapes that spotlight his dexterous flows. It’s the most evocative release I’ve heard from the UK underground this year; the amount of space eaten up by SINN6R’s bulldozing delivery is damn near suffocating.
It’s hard to think of a better example of this than “5 Geez,” a piece of day-in-the-life hedonism condensed into bars that careen past like monster trucks. Everything and everyone SINN6R describes feels within reach: the African girls he shares drugs with, the Jean-Paul Gaultier shirt with the stripes, the whip that’s “blacked out ’cause [he’s] so in-form.” A while back, I watched an interview with MIKE that likened him to DOOM for being able to tell entire stories in single lines. SINN6R accomplishes that same feat while maintaining the vulgar, teeth-gritting hubris that makes him feel larger than life. “Elizabeth died, but the money’s still here, so it feels like the ghosts won’t leave me alone,” he spits on “K on a Box.” The punchlines are so lucid, it makes his staunch delivery even heavier; later on, when he deadpans, “Put the dolls on the floor, I ain’t playin’ no more,” it feels like an affirmation of adulthood and a lust-driven command all in one.
SINN6R’s ability to strike a balance between vanity and sobersided candor makes #FEDERAL feel painfully urgent. It’s reflected equally in Zoja and Cppo’s production as in the lyrics: The somber, VST string-laden undercurrent of “Label Dinner” and the melancholic blips skittering across “Shoebox” beautifully backdrop scenes of codeine withdrawal and familial unrest. “Label dinner, I’m high as fuck/I’m tellin’ them, ‘Need that cash in account’/My mumzy ill/I need that mil to feed my sisters/Never in doubt,” SINN6R raps. There’s a pervasive push-and-pull between him reaping the new fruits of celebrity and reveling in the street shit he should leave behind. When SINN6R gets his cake and eats it too, the beats reflect that indulgence tenfold. 808s are head-busting (“5 Geez”), melodies are scintillating (“K on a Box”), and hi-hats sound like bullets spraying from an uzi (“Chilli”). As “Fuk the City”’s coda explodes with shattering glass, yelps in Jamaican patois, and a pensive piano roll from the next track, it genuinely gives me chills.
As concise as it is (just 10 tracks, 19 minutes), #FEDERAL saves some shine for other upstarts in the scene: TeeboFG on “Me & You” is brash and exciting (“Are you mad just ’cause I rock OSBATT?/Don’t mean I won’t bat man with a wrench” is funny as hell); Rico Ace on “Chilli” falls kinda flat (“You take X?/I take worse” feels juvenile). Ledbyher’s posh, numbed-out lyrical approach to “Label Dinner” feels incongruous with SINN6R’s vulnerability, but her delivery is cold and affecting; those stretches of wordless melody are angelic. It’s been a banner year for underground UK rap, and even so, #FEDERAL stands out a whole lot. If you ask me, it’s XV Records’ best work to date, full of deathly effusive earworms I can’t go long without running back.