Rap Blog: Lil Tecca killed the SoundCloud rap star

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Lil Tecca has been a bonafide star longer than some of my favorite rappers have stayed in the game, ranking among the most consistent creatives. While Tecca has always been talented, it felt as though some intangibles finally gelled together on the young artist’s third studio album TEC, a melodic fever dream of pitched up vocal samples and slowed down synths that sounds like a billion dollars. Whether rapping alongside childhood icon Kodak Black or SoundCloud contemporary Ken Carson, that album found Tecca more than holding his own alongside major label money minters, though he certainly didn’t need any assistance notching a hit (“500lbs” seemed to be everywhere online for three to six months). Last year’s PLAN A was even more isolated, boasting just a single feature from Don Toliver across its 18 tracks, polishing the Long Island rapper’s sound until everything was hypersleek, glossy as the paint on a Ghost or a Phantom. The singles from his upcoming album DOPAMINE extend this suave streak, decidedly un-childish if not quite grown and sexy.

Allow me to briefly digress: the best Nicki Minaj song of all time might be “Check It Out,” thanks to will.i.am’s hyperactive flip of “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Lil Tecca’s latest single “OWA OWA” takes the opposite tack, slowing The Buggles down to a slight jog, but there’s a similar defamiliarization at play, twisting the source material until it neatly detaches from context. Over the lilting instrumental, Tecca spins a loose romantic narrative, detailing a touch-and-go casual relationship with a fling who wants more of the young star than his career will allow. “OWA OWA” isn’t a particularly deep cut from Tecca, really a catchy hook stacked around ephemeral verses, but taken alongside Neptunes-channeling March single “Dark Thoughts,” seems to indicate DOPAMINE will be a particularly danceable affair. Whether this song convinces you to get up and move or not, odds are its sample chop chorus will be stuck in your head for weeks to come.