If you follow the Milwaukee Hip Hop scene, new exciting artists are popping up daily. I am constantly finding great new musicians who are improving rapidly, and the scene is becoming more and more prevalent quickly. There are quite a few artists who have been making great music from Milwaukee for a while, though, that deserve more shine. They have been holding down the scene, and as they have helped it grow, they have been waiting for their chance to really pop off. An artist who fits into this mold perfectly is Yella Boy Musik. He has been honing his craft for a long time, and I would say he has come into his own recently. Yella Boy Musik has been prolific in his releases for years, but he has stepped up his output since 2022, when he released a few very good stand-alone singles as well as an EP called Candles & Love Handles. Yella Boy Musik continued that momentum into 2023, when he dropped more than ten great singles. I covered a bunch of these singles in two different write-ups about him last year, so please go check out those write-ups after reading this one if you still need to do so. One of the best things about Yella Boy Musik is how diverse of an artist he is. You never know what you are going to get in his newest tracks, as it seems like there are no limits to his abilities as a musician. Yella Boy Musik has already started strong; he dropped one single called ‘Butterflies’ back on January 1st, and just put out his second single of the year, ‘Someone Like You,’ a couple of days ago. I wanted to highlight these new tracks briefly below. Please let me know in the comments how you feel about Yella Boy Musik’s latest singles, and also comment the names of any other up-and-coming artists you think I should check out.

Now something I find cool and interesting is that both of these most recent songs from Yella Boy Musik stray against the Hip Hop theme that he has typically gone with in the past. Instead, both tracks feel inspired by Alternative Pop-Rock from the late 2000s and early 2010s(albeit two slightly different forms of this genre of music). ‘Butterflies’ is an energetic and peppy track that seems to be influenced by the music of artists like Neon Trees or Phoenix. The beat for this track is what makes me think of these artists in particular. There is a hint of Pop-Punk here in the guitar riff that is similar to the music of artists like Blink 182 as well. I enjoy the distortion that is put on this melancholy guitar riff a ton, as it gives the song an atmospheric element that makes me feel like I am floating. As cool as this instrumental is. The best thing about ‘Butterflies’ is the vocal performance. The emotion that Yella Boy Musik sings with on this track is palpable, and his range makes the song so dynamic. ‘Someone Like You’ is a track that also has elements of early 2000s Pop-Punk, but this song definitely feels a lot more Emo than the one that precedes it. This is mainly because of the anxious and downtrodden guitar riff that drives this song. The saturation of this melody gives the song a heavy feeling that makes it hit hard. The beat for ‘Someone Like You’ is a bit more understated than the one on ‘Butterflies,’ making the melody for this one even more poignant. Like ‘Butterflies,’ the best thing about ‘Someone Like You’ is the vocals from Yella Boy Musik. His singing performance takes the song over the top and makes it so fun to listen to. To be honest, I did not know that these kinds of songs were even in Yella Boy Musik’s bag. ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Someone Like You’ are interesting and exciting additions to his catalog. I hope he continues to go in this direction in the future, as I think he has found something special that he can excel at which makes him stand out in a big way.