For all his vaguely quirky medieval imagery, Zukenee’s music is grounded in the more recent past. Hailing from Atlanta, the rapper who calls himself a Slayer — an alias and aesthetic that probably triples as a lifestyle or even quadruples as a philosophy — would’ve been either an idea or a mischievous lil’ squirt when I heard Trap Muzik, Trap House, or Trap Or Die for the first time. But his tracks pull straight from the 2000s: a collage of blunt rhymes, jumpy synths, and soft, Zaytoven-esque piano keys that could’ve soundtracked that lo-fi Reggie Bush highlight tape 22 years ago. It’s all a reminder that, bad as I want to, I can’t cop a $5 foot long and or touch the rim anymore. Less existentially, it’s the core of Slaytanic, a compelling new mixtape from an artist crystallizing his sound. Adorning trap music ephemera with interesting vocality, some welcome eccentricity, and splashes of distinct writing, Zukenee remixes the past for something new and intermittently electric.
