Like bombs falling from the sky in a dizzying display of military might, beats and bombastic melodies come raining down on us out of an eerie silence in the introduction to “Resurection Paradise (Beef Music Mix),” one of five fantastic tracks offered from up and coming rap kingpin B Fhukken Have, but their violent thrust has nothing on the venomous lines this vocalist is about to fire in our direction. In songs like “Resurection Paradise (Beef Music Mix),” B Fhukken Have distinguishes himself from the mainstream through a bevy of tone-first harmonies issued amid a perfect balance of rhythm and rhyme, and even if you’ve never heard his work before, 2019 is the perfect time to learn what all of the buzz has been about.
The slow jamming “XIXXCI” and new single “Babyfood” show off B Fhukken Have’s duality as an artist better than any other tracks he’s release have, and I think that in the case of “XIXXCI,” we get a picture window into the tree of influences that inspired his ascent to the limelight today. There’s an east coast rebelliousness to his sound, but he’s totally avoiding recycled, old school beats in all of these songs. In a sense, he’s updating formulas of yesteryear for a new audience and incorporating melodic mannerisms that wouldn’t have been possible before the apex of late-2010s hip-hop.
Lyrically speaking, I don’t think that “Beef Stew,” “Windy City” or the powerful “Resurection Paradise (Beef Music Mix)” are really all that complicated, but they’re certainly poetic in all the ways that matter most to a listener. There’s always an element of virtuosity to the delivery as well as the structure of the verses, and I get the impression that B Fhukken Have wants us to feel his emotion more through the tone of his voice than he even does some of the lines here. He’s got no time for overly enigmatic metaphors, but he isn’t shy about indulging in provocative riddles every now and again when it benefits his overarching narrative.
I thought that the percussion in “Windy City” was a little more intense than it really needed to be, but I think that I can understand what B Fhukken Have was trying to do with the track in the grander scheme of things. In making the textures on the drums just as heavy as any of the vocal parts are, we’re getting a rattling undertow that replicates a beating heart more than it does a regular percussive section, and as I noted before, it’s multidimensional components like this one that really set his music apart from the crowd.
Raw, real and affective in startlingly tangible ways, B Fhukken Have is an artist worth getting excited about, and anyone who wants a sampling of his prowess would do well to hear “Beef Stew,” new single “Babyfood,” “XICCXI,” “Windy City” and “Resurection Paradise (Beef Music Mix)” before the year expires. This is one rapper who has the chops to shift the needle towards a harmonious new era for hip-hop, and whatever he does next will be quite intriguing for anyone who digs new beats from a fresh, untainted voice in the industry.
Joshua Corbin
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