As the Milwaukee Hip Hop scene has expanded over the last couple of years, there are a few artists who have been mainstays in the scene for a long time and have stayed consistently great. These artists helped get the ball rolling years ago in Milwaukee’s Hip Hop scene and helped put Milwaukee on the map, and their efforts have greatly helped the scene rise to new heights. Wave Chapelle is a Milwaukee rapper who fits this description well. Wave Chapelle has been so fun to follow over the years. He has had a long, fruitful career, and is a big reason why Milwaukee Hip Hop has been able to get as big as it has gotten recently. Wave Chapelle has been making music for the better part of 15 years. He first burst onto the scene in the early 2010s, when his mixtapes It’ll All Make Sense Soon and Only The Beginning went viral on Hip Hop blogs all over the internet and cemented him as an artist who needed to be watched. The success of these mixtapes led to him getting an invitation to move to Memphis to be a part of Yo Gotti’s CMG music label. After working hard in Memphis but not seeing the kind of success he saw at the beginning of his career, Wave Chapelle returned to Milwaukee and has been doing his part to grow the Milwaukee music scene since. Since 2020, Wave Chapelle has been prolific with his output and has not stopped grinding. In 2021, Wave Chapelle released a single every single week, releasing twelve total color-themed EPs which culminated in 52 total songs. He followed that epic run with two new albums dropped the next two years, 2022’s Winner’s Circle and 2023’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, a collaboration with the producer Menebeats(a deluxe version of this album was dropped near the end of 2023 with an additional four very good tracks). Wave Chapelle recently released his first single of 2024, titled ‘Balance.’ Below, I wanted to briefly highlight this new track from Wave Chapelle, as it is further proof of how dynamic and interesting a rapper he is. Please let me know in the comments below what you think of Wave Chapelle’s new track, and comment the names of any other indie or underground artists you think I should check out!

‘Balance’ has a lighter and brighter sound than what I typically would expect to hear from Wave Chapelle. A lot of his recent music has had a bit more of a dark and intense sound, but this song is charming and shimmering. The melody for this track almost has a tropical feeling to it; this melody is provided by saturated synths that have a bit of a xylophone tone to them. This melody is very pleasant; it has the kind of sound that will put anyone in a good mood when it comes on. The beat for ‘Balance’ is bass-heavy, punchy, and bold; it is also a bit quirky and off-center due to the tone of some of the drums in this beat. This relatively tough and unconventional beat contrasts the melody and gives the song a level of emphasis that it benefits from greatly. As cool as this instrumental, the thing that stands out the most about ‘Balance’ is Wave Chapelle’s rap performance. His raspy yet even-keeled tone sits perfectly on this super warm melody. Wave Chapelle constantly switches up his flow throughout ‘Balance,’ giving it texture and making his rapping really pop. Furthermore, I like how he sings the hook of this track, as it provides a buffer from the tone of his rapping and gives the track life. On ‘Balance,’ Wave Chapelle is rapping about being secure in himself and loving who he is. In addition to this, he raps about grinding at this craft and living an exciting existence that he wants to live. ‘Balance’ is an entertaining and breezy track that shows a slightly softer side to Wave Chapelle artistry that I appreciate a ton. Hopefully, it is a sign of things to come from Wave(although I am sure I will enjoy anything he puts out anyway), because I would love to see him continue to go in this direction in the future.