New Sleet Mage: “Owari”

It’s important not too go overboard when talking about an intriguing newer artist and overlook the past in the process. Sleet Mage’s music certainly allows its strings to other artists show through — feel free to drop an essay about how the current wave of “SoundCloud rappers” have a deep appreciation of anime, and how this creates a cross section with young Japanese rappers who grew up liking the same thing — and new song “Owari” certainly owes a lot to young American artists who make the most out of repeated phrases (and, like, part of the hook is “fuckin lit”). But it also shows something unique to Sleet Mage too, primarily in how he delivers his words. Over that groggy-eyed beat, Sleet Mage offers up rapping that isn’t quite a whisper but far from being high-energy. It’s melancholy, where all the modern signifiers (again, “fuckin lit”) take on a fading shape. Listen above.