Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and on his new project HEI$MAN, Chicago hip-hop artist Mike DFG has lit the match.
Across 11 tracks and a brief 29 minutes, Mike delivers witty, punchy, braggadocious raps over a batch of aggressive, claustrophobic trap beats.
HEI$MAN exists within a subgenre Mike himself has dubbed “anthem rap” — think Denzel Curry’s 2019 project ZUU, or Baby Keem in his most hyped-up moments.
The formula is as simple as it is effective: be as over the top as possible while creating an adrenaline-inducing listening experience that compounds with each song.
Mike gets busy right away on the intro cut “FLU GAME (DARK.),” where he throws out lots of sports-themed bars that pair nicely with the album’s name:
“When in doubt, know my team finna crashout, hit the lockers / First in depth chart, pressure on me, run the option,” he rhymes over a gritty sounding beat.
The energy Mike brings on the opener only intensifies throughout the rest of the tracklist.
“HE$TER,” which appears toward the middle of the album, brings more hyped bars along with some of the heaviest bass hits of any hip-hop song this year. The closing track, “cordial free$tyle.,” sees Mike channeling his inner DMX over yet another filthy trap beat.
While HEI$MAN feels more like a messy, informal mixtape one might have found on DatPiff in 2007 than a well-groomed commercial release, that’s kind of the point: it thrives on chaos and informality.
For that reason, Mike DFG has delivered one of the most satisfyingly off-the-wall releases of the year.
Listen to HEI$MAN here: https://open.spotify.com/album/55hVq046XJQWKumiD0YNPz?si=cqxaHHdcSv6goxn1t1zlAA
ROUNDHOUSE MUSIC 