As someone from this city who has loved and paid attention to Milwaukee Hip Hop for a long time, it is awesome to see it start to thrive over the last couple of years. The Slap music sound driven by artists like J.P., Chicken P, myaap, and AyooLii that has been sweeping the nation has done so much for the music scene here; more eyes are on Milwaukee’s Hip Hop scene than ever, and its exponential growth lately gives me hope that we can start to be a hub for the genre on a national scale for good. Although most people do associate Milwaukee Hip Hop with that Slap music sound, there are so many artists here making equally thrilling music that more people need to know. One Milwaukee artist I covered earlier in the year and have been waiting to hear more from is Ef Ay. Everything about Ef Ay’s sound and persona stands out; he has larger-than-life energy(go watch some live performances of his on Instagram to see what I mean by this), and this energy permeates into his unique sound. Ef Ay really started to pop off in late 2023, when his awesome track ‘MONDAY FUNDDAY’ started to gain traction online. Ey Ay closed out 2023 and began 2024 with a bang; from November through February, Ef Ay put on several riveting songs that show so much variance in his artistry and proved that he just needs so much more hype surrounding him. After taking a bit of a breather from his releases, Ef Ay has been back in a big way over the last couple of months. He dropped a collaborative track with producer ThatGuyEli called ‘S.O.S.’ back in May, and he has released 6 new tracks already in August. Below I wanted to briefly highlight his three newest songs, titled ‘GLITCH !,’ ‘JESTER !,’ and ‘FAMILIAR FACE !.’ These three tracks do a great job of proving why Ef Ay is an artist you need to be listening to, and I hope I inspire you to go check out some of his other latest releases. Please let me know in the comments below what you think of these new songs from Milwaukee’s Ef Ay, and also comment the names of any other independent or Milwaukee-based artists you think I should check out! 

‘GLITCH !’ is a song with a bright and highly saturated sound that puts me in a good mood whenever it comes on. This track has the kind of sunny and bubbling sound that can brighten anyone’s day. There is something about the tone of the synths that drive this melody that injects me with life and makes me want to party. I love the varying levels of distortion that are put on this melody. The main basis of the melody has a very clean sound and has an old-school video game quality to it. The harsh synths that come in and out give the song texture and make it feel heavier. This melody is put on top of an intricate, hard-hitting beat that matches the feeling of the melody nicely and makes this track feel very bold. As cool as the instrumental for ‘GLITCH !’ is, the thing that stands out about this one is Ef Ay’s vocals. Everything about his performance is cool. From his rapid-fire flow to the multiple tones he sings with on this one, his vocals are very catchy and give the song such an interesting texture. ‘GLITCH !’ is a great song where Ef Ay shows his vocal prowess in a way that I love. ‘JESTER !’ has a way different sound than the song that precedes it. In fact, it has a pretty different sound from anything I have heard from Ef Ay to this point. ‘JESTER !’ feels like Ef Ay’s take on the Slap music that has been popping off in Milwaukee lately. This song is very high-energy, dark, and gritty. The melody for this one is very melancholy. It almost has an inverse lullaby sound to it. The tone of this melody is very smooth and mesmerizing, but there is a dark element to it that makes it stand out. The beat for ‘JESTER !’ has the pacing of a zany, high-energy Milwaukee Slap music song. I like the snap noises that help drive this beat, as they give this song a raw feeling which is very cool. Ef Ay’s vocal performance on ‘JESTER !’ varies from what I would expect from him. He raps with a rapid-fire flow and a gruff tone which matches the instrumental super nicely. His flow on this one has a bit of a BabyTron element to it; considering I am a big BabyTron fan, this is the kind of delivery I can get before. ‘JESTER !’ is a low and gritty track that is pretty different from what I have heard from Ef Ay in the past; it shows a varied side to his music that I appreciate a ton. Ef Ay’s newest single ‘FAMILIAR FACE !,’ is the shortest of the bunch. This song is a rambunctious flash in the pan. ‘FAMILIAR FACE !’ almost feels like a combination of the styles of Hip Hop we got on the previous two tracks. The melody for this one is very saturated and super shimmery, but the beat is quirky and fast-paced. The melody for this one almost sounds like wind chimes. It has a very ethereal sound that is so vivid. This beat is pretty subdued, but also impactful because of how out of the ordinary it is. The drums feel a little off-pace from the melody, which makes this song stand out and stick. As interesting as the instrumental is, the thing that stands out the most about ‘FAMILIAR FACE !’ are the vocals from Ef Ay. His flow contrasts the pacing of the melody but fits the pacing of the beat, making it pop. The tone that Ef Ay sings with on this one is very soothing, adding to the all-encompassing sound that this track has. ‘FAMILIAR FACE !’ is an intriguing track that takes multiple elements of what has worked well in Ef Ay’s music lately and combines them in a riveting way. As I said in the intro, in addition to these three singles, Ef Ay has also dropped three more singles in August: ‘FAMILY !,’ ‘PLAYING CRAZY,’ and ‘CULVERS !.’ If you are into the tracks I described above, please go check out those as well: trust me, you will dig them too! These newest releases are the latest example of why Ef Ay is one of the more captivating artists in Milwaukee music right now, and I am so pumped to see how he continues to grow and shine.