Throughout this article we will explore the ‘Trippidy Trap’ hitmaker’s journey from Soundcloud to our Radio stations.
January of 2019 marked the beginnings of a very promising career for West London’s Rushy. Once the new year had commenced the overly-saturated scene cast away the gritty rap tracks and flowy summer bops of it’s past and looked towards something new, vibrant and refreshing… Or rather someone.
Sure enough, just a week into January, Rushy arrived with a new track which would have the streets talking and the scene welcoming an artist who would change and elevate UK trap music, as we knew it.
Although the Straight3 member had been dropping gems on Soundcloud since 2016 which saw him accumulate an impressive 20,000+ plays on few of them – which would go on to established the foundations of small but supportive fanbase. Nothing could prepare him for the response that would follow the release of his debut single, “Trippidy Trap” and it’s accompanying video. Which quickly garnered 2 million views on YouTube in under 2 months and is now a staple single on many of our personal ‘UK’ playlist’s.
The aforementioned hit supplied a twinkling, flute-led backdrop that which oddly complemented the rappers signature bouncy flow, crisp and self-assured delivery and illicit themes. Consequently overlapping the realms of trap and drill, as he describes his gritty lifestyle and hunger for “paper bands”.
Some months after his debut, the rapper appeared on Next Up? where he shut down a dual-beat freestyle; with the intention of bringing what he explained as a “different vibe”. Throughout he displayed his quick-witted pen game and clever ability to narrate a common storyline through relatable punchlines and simplistic yet effective rhyme schemes.
Following up from an impressive freestyle, it was time for his second offering, “Hi! Bye!”. The premise of the track boils down to the rappers focus on his “booming line” and playboy lifestyle. This was well received by his listeners, subsequently leading to over 1.5 million streams on Spotify.
Three months later, Rushy linked up with “Lock arf” producer , Nyge. On this one the pair shifted the soundscape, to an airy composition laced with fluttering piano strokes and the intermittent impressions of flute runs. During, the artist reminds us of his unrelenting desire for money. Flowing on the hook, he proclaims: “make a move I gotta go now, see them yutes, their moving slow now, I need big racks in my ATM.”
Fast forwarding to 2020, Rushy delivered his first official track of the year titled “S3”. The title is an acronym which stands for his collective, Straight3.
On each track we hear his flows get tighter and tighter, it’s clear that the rapper aims to display his versatility every time. However, “S3” seemed to be a combination of everything we’d heard before; it sounded as though he had finally settled on an exact portrayal of the sub-sound that he’d created. While proceeding to draw on similar subject matters, Rushy differentiates the offering from his last by coming through with a unique yet ‘Rushy’-styled flow pattern atop of a booming instrumental accented by the hallmark of cosmic-chords.
Reviving the “trippidy trap-raps” Rushy enlisted up and coming rapper RomyJo to join him on most recent release titled,“Faces”. The pair channelled a darker, hazy feel to this one. With the addition of the altering of Rushy’s vocals which contribute to it’s vibe. Throughout the pair urge haters to stay in their “own lane”.
To conclude, it’s remarkable that Rushy was able to break the mould on his humble start as a “Soundcloud rapper” and go on to flood our radio stations with the youthful trap-wave that he’d pioneered. Leading to boast worthy appearances on taste making platforms such as; BBC 1Xtra’s Tiffany Calver freestyle and an high-energy set on the Boiler Room. Which combined, subsequently saw him and this new sub-sound anchored as a mainstay within the urban music infrastructure.