Gangstagrass

Gangstagrass ain’t your street skunk, your rotten c-grade chronic, your hydro-dirt, your ass-up bitch schwag, it’s the real potent shit. So good you’ll forget you’re doing the audio equivalent of mixing red wine and coke.

It’s bluegrass rap and like the infectious party starter that is a wash tub full of kalimoxto (read: equal parts shitty red wine and coke) it’s a horrible idea that plays out very, very nicely. It’s the kind of thing that seems pointless until you try it once. Then you will think, ‘why is this not a thing?’

The thing that really stands out about Gangstagrass is that their fusion of bluegrass and hip-hop, unlike various genre splicings in the past, is not another gratuitous gimmick. They sound equally authentic by both standards. They have the rough east-coast street wisdom and party grooves of Mobb Deep and the like, while the slide guitar breakaways, fiddles and folky vocals reflect everyone from Blind Willie Johnson to Laura Marling to the Soggy Bottom Boys.

Out of Brooklyn, NY, their polished sound draws quite a crowd.