One of my least favorite opinions about Hip Hop music today is that it has become safe or stale. Of course, mainstream artists always take a more tame approach, so it is not tough to see why casual Hip Hop listeners may say this. But if you expand your horizons and look beyond the surface, you will see that the genre is expanding its sound more than ever. There are a ton of great artists who release various types of Hip Hop that go way against the norm right now and who are pushing the genre in directions it has never gone. One Hip Hop artist who is carving his own lane and deserves way more praise is Quadeca. He has been very popular on the internet for a long time and is now making his imprint on the music world. Quadeca got his start as a YouTuber who made Fifa-related videos back in 2012(he was also a very good soccer player as a kid, garnering a ton of praise for his skills on the field as well). A couple of years into his YouTube career, Quadeca pivoted to Hip Hop content, specifically with some freestyles that showcased his immense talent. Quadeca put out his first mixtape in 2015, which is titled Work In Progress. Since then he has been prolific in his releases, having put out many more mixtapes and three studio albums, showing massive improvement with each project he put out. His 2022 album I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You is considered his best full-length project yet. This is a concept album that proves how far Quadeca has developed as an artist(This was one of my favorite personal albums from 2022, so please go read my review of it after reading this one if you haven’t done so). Quadeca recently returned with a new mixtape titled SCRAPYARD. This project has been highly anticipated, as fans want to see if he can keep up the positive momentum he has had in recent years. Fans of Quadeca should know a lot of the music on this mixtape, as it is a combination of one-off singles he’s released over the years, some stuff that didn’t make it onto his last two records but follows that theme, and some new ideas he wanted to throw out there. With that being said, here is how I feel about Quadeca’s SCRAPYARD. Please let me know in the comments below what your favorite songs are from SCRAPYARD, and also comment on how you feel about it as a whole.
Given the variety of Quadeca’s releases, I honestly had no idea what direction this mixtape was going to go. To start with, Quadeca is going in an Emo-Trap HyperPop-tinted direction with the song ‘DUSTCUTTER.’ This song is driven by a very melancholy and cold guitar riff that gets increasingly saturated as the song progresses. The beat for this track feels like a cross between late 2010s Emo-Trap and very modern HyperPop. The mix on this beat is very abrasive and grainy which makes it so weighty. Quadeca’s vocals on ‘DUSTCUTTER’ are great. He sings in so many tones on this track, with this variation in tone matching the looming feeling of the instrumental. ‘DUSTCUTTER’ is a response to the theme of I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You, with Quadeca singing to his mom about the pain he was in that led to his demise in that album. ‘A LA CARTE,’ which features brakence, keeps the Emo feeling of the last track but calms things down in terms of the beat. The guitar-driven melody for this one is very intricate and almost has a Math Rock element to it. This melody somehow feels bright and anxious at the same time, making it very interesting. The beat on ‘A LA CARTE’ still feels like a HyperPop-Trap fusion, but it is a lot softer than the one on ‘DUSTCUTTER.’ This softer beat hits this melody well and adds to the anxious feeling of the song. The vocal performances on this one from Quadeca and brakence are solid but do not stand out for me. On ‘A LA CARTE,’ Quadeca and brakence profess their love to someone in a graphic way. ‘PRETTY PRIVILEGE’ takes the melancholy feeling of the last track and roughs it up a bit. For most of the track, the guitar riff that drives this instrumental is heavily distorted and very chunky. This gives the track a bit of a Grungy feeling that is reminiscent of the 1990s. The best for PRETTY PRIVILEGE’ has a bit of a Trap tempo, but also has elements that remind me of Alternative Rock. It is like a true fusion of Trap and Rock in a manner that is unique and interesting. The vocal performance from Quadeca on this one is great. I really love how he strains his vocals throughout this track, as it makes the song feel so emotional. On ‘PRETTY PRIVILEGE,’ Quadeca is singing about body issues. He is insecure about his image and can not get himself to believe a significant other who is calling him attractive. ‘EASIER’ is this record’s lightest and most colorful song so far. The melody for this track is a lot more affable than what we have heard to this point. This melody is driven by a sweet acoustic guitar riff that is complemented by a keyboard and various synths that come in and out. For most of this track, there is no beat, giving ‘EASIER’ a retro Pop-Rock sound. Towards the end of the song, a pretty soft Pop-Trap beat starts up; this breaks up the monotony of ‘EASIER’ and gives it a bit of liveliness. Quadeca’s vocal performance on ‘EASIER’ is not riveting, but it does fit the weightless feeling of the track nicely. On ‘EASIER,’ Quadeca is singing about being in love with someone who does not feel the same way about him, and how it makes him feel rejected.
‘EVEN IF I TRIED’ is a song that brings up the tempo a bit. Quadeca goes even further away from Hip Hop on this track. I would say this song only has traces of Hip Hop through a brief Trap tempo that kicks in at a few points in the track. Though this song does not have an Emo melody, I would not say it is any happier than the tracks that precede it. Instead, the piano riff and various instruments and sound effects that accompany it have a worrisome tone to them. Quadeca’s vocal delivery changes multiple times throughout the track. The tempo in which he sings at different points in the song coincides with the changes in the style of the drum pattern on the track. On ‘EVEN IF I TRIED,’ Quadeca is singing about trying to get over a girl he used to love and is trying to hype himself up as being okay with being around her platonically. ‘WHAT’S IT TO HIM’ goes in a completely different direction than anything before it. This track has an Alternative Rock sound that feels inspired by a couple of different styles of the genre. I can hear the influence of 1990s Post Grunge in the guitar and piano-driven melody, but I can hear elements of 2000s Shoegaze music in the drum pattern and distortion on the mix. This song has a massive sound that is extremely fuzzy and huge. To be honest, for me, the vocals on ‘WHAT’S IT TO HIM’ hold it back. This is probably Quadeca’s most tame performance on the record so far. If he would have pushed himself more, I think it would have made this instrumental feel even more commanding. In ‘WHAT’S IT TO HIM,’ Quadeca is singing about longing to feel more emotion and not be so guarded; he wants to be able to express himself more easily. ‘U DON’T LIKE ME LIKE THAT’ brings the song back to the Trap sound we got at the beginning of the album, this time in a very sunny and Atmospheric way(until the end of the track when the beat switches to House music sound as the track flames out). This is easily the most cheerful song on the record so far. The song is driven by a soulful piano melody that is complemented by various synths that get weirder and more distorted as the track goes on. After how downtrodden a lot of the record has been to this point, this vivid sound is appreciated. I love the way Quadeca’s vocals are mixed on this track, as they fit the eccentric nature of the instrumental nicely. In ‘U DON’T LIKE ME LIKE THAT,’ Quadeca is mourning the loss of a significant other and expressing that he still loves this person. ‘I MAKE IT LOOK EFFORTLESS’ is a short and sweet Melodic Trap track with a punchy sound. I wish this track were longer than 1:07, because it may be my favorite instrumental of the album(which is saying a bunch because all of the instrumentals have been cool). The melody for this track has a Funky Southern Trap sound that sort of reminds me of artists like Earthgang or 6lack. This melody is put on a bass-heavy and intense Trap beat that just bangs. Quadeca’s vocals on this one are great. His tone is fun and memorable, and his flow is awesome. On ‘I MAKE IT LOOK EFFORTLESS,’ Quadeca is bragging about himself as a rapper while mentioning his issues with opening himself up and committing.
‘WAY TO MANY FRIENDS’ is a song that ventures into a different style of Hip Hop than we have heard on this record so far. The underlying melody and beat for this track have an early 2000s Alternative Hip Hop sound that makes me think of artists like Atmosphere or El P. This piano-driven melody gets more distorted as the track progresses, and the sound effects that come in give the song an ultramodern element. Quadeca’s vocal performance in this track is pretty laid-back and flat, but it fits the melody and beat well so that is okay. On ‘WAY TO MANY FRIENDS,’ QUADECA raps about being overworked and committing to his career over connecting with his loved ones. ‘GUESS WHO’ is by far the most eccentric and intense song of the record to this point. This song has the kind of hard-hitting and futuristic sound I would expect to hear from artists like Ken Carson or Playboi Carti. This track feels robotic and psychedelic at the same time. The metallic melody and raucous beat on ‘GUESS WHO’ gives a larger-than-life feeling. The bold sound of this track makes it feel like a club banger, but also makes it sound like it would be a perfect track to work out to. Quadeca’s vocals on ‘GUESS WHO’ are just as irreverent and striking as the instrumental and totally match its energy. On ‘GUESS WHO,’ QUADECA raps about how he knows he has made it and is proud of his success despite his unconventional path to fame. ‘UNDER MY SKIN’ is a track where Quadeca fully dives into the Shoegaze sound we heard earlier. This song has a gloomy guitar-driven melody that is very fuzzy and varies in level of saturation and distortion as the song moves along. The song gets increasingly otherworldly and futuristic as it progresses, taking on a strange Shoegazey mechanical Hip Hop sound at the end of the track. I appreciate this crazy outro because the rest of the song does not pull me in much. The outro is a saving grace for a mostly boring track in my opinion. On ‘UNDER MY SKIN,’ Quadeca is singing about being envious of a former partner being in love with someone else and longing for them to come back. More so than the last several songs, ‘BEING YOURSELF’ feels like it was a throwaway track from one of his older albums. Like the music at the beginning of the record, this song has the kind of abrasive Alternative Hip Hop sound that Quadeca’s become known for on his last couple of records. It is a massive wall of sound, driven by heavily distorted synths and guitars on top of a brash and harsh beat. At the end of the track, the beat picks up, giving the track a Punk Rock element that ends it with a bang. Quadeca’s vocals in ‘BEING YOURSELF’ are just as mean and grating as the instrumental and fit its sound well. On ‘BEING YOURSELF,’ Quadeca is talking about regretting not being able to be there for a significant other or friend that he loves but can not help.
Based on the subject matter, sound, and overall essence of the track. ‘U TRIED THAT THING WHERE UR HUMAN’ has to be a song that was left off of I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You. At the very least, if it was inspired by the ideas of that record. This song is so intimate that it is almost unsettling. It has a sound and feel that is so vulnerable, almost as if you are listening to a private recording you should not hear made by someone going through despair. This feeling makes the track engaging, even if it is unnerving. Quadeca’s vocal performance is the best thing about ‘U TRIED THAT THING WHERE UR HUMAN.’ It’s probably his best performance overall. His vocals are so fried that one can feel the pain he is in on this track through his voice; this is one of the things that makes the song unnerving, but it also makes the song great. In ‘U TRIED THAT THING WHERE UR HUMAN,’ Quadeca(or rather, the character he is portraying) expresses that he does not want to be alive anymore, as he thinks that he has failed at being a competent person. ‘GUIDE DOG’ is probably the softest and most calm song on the album. It takes on an Americana/Folk sound, which is something we have not heard yet on this record. To be frank, this track does not resonate with me much. This kind of music does not do it for me. There is nothing bad about it necessarily; the instrumental is okay, and the vocals are decent. ‘GUIDE DOG’ may even be a favorite of some other fans of this record. In ‘GUIDE DOG,’ he sings about how he loves a girl and how he wants to be her protector in life. Quadeca closes out SCRAPYARD with what is probably the most happy and charming song on the record in ‘TEXAS BLUE,’ which features Kevin Abstract. This song has an old-school sound that feels like a crossover between Billy Joel-style Ballady Piano Rock and Philadelphia Soul/Yacht Rock music. The instrumental for this song is vivacious, delightful, and epic. The track is driven by a funky and joyful piano melody that is complemented by various other instruments and sound effects and is put on an easy-going and punctual drum beat. The vocal performances on ‘TEXAS BLUE’ are excellent. Both Quadeca and Kevin Abstract add to the warmth of the track and make it so fun to listen to. On ‘TEXAS BLUE,’ Quadeca and Kevin Abstract are singing about honesty in a relationship and how talking things out with a partner can help them work out for the better. I think that Quadeca saved the best for last with ‘TEXAS BLUE,’ as not only is it my favorite song on the record, but it is probably one of my favorite songs of the year so far.
Over the last few years, Quadeca has gone from a YouTube rapper trying to find his way to one of the most dynamic Hip Hop artists in the game today. He is proof that hard work, dedication, and willingness to take risks are the key components to improving as a musician and that it is always better to expand your artistry than it is to stay stale. In addition to that, he is proof that the Hip Hop genre is as potent and diverse as ever. SCRAPYARD is not the most concise project Quadeca has made. Unlike his last couple of albums, there is no underlying theme to this one, as it is instead a mish-mash of ideas he wanted to try out. The fact that this project has such a scattered sound is okay to me, considering it is supposed to be a mixtape of old and new stuff from Quadeca and not an actual conceptual album. The quality of music on SCRAPYARD is great, with there only being a couple of songs that I do not dig. And even with those couple of songs, I can respect the value of the songs for those who do enjoy those styles of music. Overall, SCRAPYARD is a dope project that shows why Quadeca has become so highly regarded in the realm of experimental Hip Hop recently.
EAST SIDE VIBES 