Month 101: January

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One of the exciting things about Super Empty is that new series' are being kicked off all the time (whether they are sustained for long is another matter). It's in that spirit that we embark on just the latest recurring (?) feature, Month 101. Besides being named in a way that makes my mid-30s age painfully obvious, the look back at January '25 was prompted by something I'm doing later today: talking about one recently-released Triangle hip-hop song on WCHL 97.9 (recorded on Wednesday, but airing around 6:10 pm this evening).

Any time I'm asked to single out one song for any reason, regardless of the parameters, another three or four (or in this case nine) worthy options are inevitably left on the cutting room floor. So that's what this post is, and just maybe, what future Month 101's will be: a space to recognize many of the NC hip-hop tracks released over the past few weeks, and also a prompt for others to put me on to the things I missed or got wrong. Also, two of these ten songs feature Cookout, a 20% rule that feels like something to aspire to in Month 101's going forward. Enjoy the post, and see you on the airwaves.

NOTE: For easy saving and downloading, all songs below have all been assembled in an Apple Music playlist.

Deniro Farrar - "Bird Scooter" (Jan. 17)

Few things hit like Deniro Farrar's sandpaper baritone over a good soul sample, so it's only right, if not a bit on-the-nose, that his latest single arrives courtesy of Raleigh native L'Orange's indie label Old Soul Music (responsible for a new Skyzoo record, too). Don't worry, despite its title, this isn't a deep-dive into the minutiae of micro-mobility brands — see: "My dog puttin' birds on the corner like scooters/ delegate to distributors then let them serve consumers" — but rather the same blend of observation and (these days, more gentle) thought provocation that has made him an essential NC voice for a decade-plus.

Joshua Raw - "JNCO Jeans" (Jan. 17)

The latest solo single from Biking With Francis member Joshua Raw may be named after the iconic and comically wide-legged jeans brand of the late 90s/early 2000s, but from the parking lot music video to the lyrics ("ice tea in my Cookout cup, on my Carolina shit") its deepest loyalty, as far as corporations go, clearly belongs to Cookout. Halfway through the maximalist, freestyle-esque fever dream, the denim connection is made clear: "need some bigger jeans for my bigger dreams." I respect it. But also, like, how big we talkin'?

Bobby James - "For The Birds" (Jan. 17)

Some people simply don't know how to connect with the working class. As "For The Birds" attests, Bobby James isn't one of them. Over a simple, hypnotic bass line, the somber diary entry flips the popular "early bird" aphorism with caged bird imagery ("birds ain't meant to be caged, they meant to fly/I'm outta space, been feelin' a way, ain't feelin' okay") for a sneakily resonant reflection on the trials and sacrifices of working life. Get this man a podium and some bumper stickers, for God's sake! (Or just let him keep making music. That's cool too.)

Sinopsis ft. Blu - "No Tellin'" (Jan. 14)

While much of Kooley High's 2024 release, All Infinite, felt spiritually aligned with outer space, the album didn't necessarily feel like it had been made there. That's more the vibe on in-house producer Sinopsis's remix to "Ain't No Tellin'," which glides along like an interstellar voyage or a slow-motion space walk that could seemingly go on for infinity. The closing verse from hip-hop legend Blu doesn't disappoint, either — an appearance that for Kooley High, might be the biggest stamp of approval yet in a career that's been full of them.

T.F (prod. Khrysis) - "Line It Up" (Jan. 16)

As an understudy of sorts to 9th Wonder and an early Little Brother contributor (including The Minstrel Show's "Watch Me"), there's a mostly sunny side of soul sampling that Khrysis could've chosen to make a whole career out of. Instead, he's quietly stacked an overflowing catalog of grim, barbed wire-wrapped beats so irresistible to cold-blooded rappers like Conway The Machine, they often end up on them. But even by Khrysis standards, "Line It Up" is a screw face special, something that could be the stony soundtrack to a mafioso funeral. The vocals are handled by Nipsey Hussle-reminiscent Cali native T.F — whose biggest collaborators to date include ScHoolboy Q, Roc Marciano, and, not surprisingly, Conway the Machine.

Trent the HOOLiGAN - "Dodgeball" (Jan. 10)

With a heavy assist from director Ryan Pham, Trent the HOOLiGAN's (or more appropriately on this release, O'HOOLiHAN's) "Dodgeball" has to be an early entrant for most cinematic and ambitious indie hip-hop release this year (and even before I got this posted, he released another track too, which might be even better). While centered primarily on the turmoil that comes with growing into a man, "Dodgeball" — from its name, to the moments of bravado, playfulness and creativity that pepper the song throughout — nods at another reality too: at the end of the day, it's all just a game.

Joey Zen ft. J.R.C. & KATA - "No Faith" (Jan. 20)

There's an irrepressible note of hope to Joey Zen & Co's "No Faith," odd as that may be to say about a song with lyrics like "let's talk about faith, I've got none of it/ cuz of society's lack of it," and "the cycle keeps on going and nobody is safe/ what is a society that's always in pain?" The brightly-produced dose of Gen Z yearning and despondence isn't rosy in its words, but interpreting it only in that vein would seem to miss the point — in confronting the bleakness and dissatisfaction all around us, they've already taken the first step to making a change.

Jaythehbk - "Hurt Nobody" (Jan. 13)

It may not be hard, in the general sense, to conjure sonic comparisons for Durham artist Jaythehbk — DVSN, early Weeknd — but in the Triangle area, at least, his spare, moody R&B vignettes are in a lane of their own. Like those aforementioned acts, Jay's melodic instincts can be transformative, rendering lyrics like "just got laid off my night shift, need a nice spliff, and a bad bitch on me" as fine poetry, or at least more magnetic and evocative than they have any right to be. On "Hurt Nobody," the usual murky, unsettled sound dovetails with subject matter revealing two facts that seem destined, at some point, to collide: the desire to not cause harm sounds genuine, but so does the drive for something more.

Newman - "Arrow460" prod. Señor Bennett (Jan. 23)

Mid-song beat switch-up lovers of the world rejoice, because Newman's "Arrow460" packs a hell of one — from the electric, rapid-fire assault of its opening half (courtesy of Señor Bennett) to a coolly reflective back side that crescendos into some of the best rapping of the Raleigh native's career. "Delete the beat, the stems, I got the Lord with me/ They switched sides, I crossed the ocean in a Arrow460" — on the spurned indignation scale, it may not be "Mt. Olympus," but it's more than enough horsepower to make a wave or two.

Leroy - "Peter Griffin" (Jan. 17)

For years, Leroy (formerly WELL$) has been a master at piecing together pithy, imaginative one-liners, and he unleashes a torrent of them just in "Peter Griffin"'s opening moments: "I'm from where junkies get high and start speaking tongues/ I'm from barely gettin' by and still showin' love/ and my mom can drop us off if yours can pick us up." But it's a couplet a little later, reflecting on a journey that's included both teenage notoriety as well as more recently a near-total reboot, that truly showcases his ability to pack density of meaning into tight spaces: "I went from empty seats, now these folks couldn't stand to miss it/ Back to empty seats, who knew the fame ain't come with pension." It doesn't last for more than a few seconds, but it doesn't have to. Come for those parts, stay for the one later in the video where he seems to be rapping to a stuffed animal chicken on the couch.

That's all for Month 101 #1, folks. Thanks for reading. If you liked it, I hope you'll share it with a friend who'll enjoy one or more of these tracks as much as I did. Until next time, listen to local music, go out to a local show, and cancel a subscription to a company owned by a billionaire. Peace.