Florida hip-hop is a world of its own: it’s got its own steamy, distinctive sound, its own cast of indelible, magnetic characters, its own attitude and stance, and its own musical and lyrical vocabulary. It doesn’t beg to be ratified by the musical mainstream. But whenever outsiders stop and listen to what’s going on in these swamps, they tend to like what they hear. Florida remains a place where a hot single from a bold independent artist can take over dance clubs and local radio shows and rule the summer with little or no help from the wider music industry. Juice Yung’n has a single like that – a brash, shoutable, undeniable track that’s set to become the latest in a long line of Florida classics. From there, the rest of the country ought to be easy pickings.
“Aayy”, the latest from the Gainesville vocalist, is half rap, half R&B, and all fire. Just like the other ferocious singles by Juice Yung’n, it’s a candid, unapologetic look at life inside the trap: the perils and pleasures of a rough upbringing and the consequences of a dangerous lifestyle. “Aayy” follows a pair of ferocious club bangers – Gainesville anthem “Where I Came From” and the slinky, mesmerizing “All I Want To Do” – that have firmly established Juice Yung’n as one of the most exciting new voices in Florida and Supa T Records as a reliable source for energetic trap music.
