The New Yorker - USA (2019-11-25)

THE NEWYORKER, NOVEMBER 25, 2019 81

He wore a suit in the video, which fea-
tured him going around New York and
meeting strangers. But his arrogance and
self-mythologizing were substantiated
by obvious lyrical talent. On the Web
site Talkhouse, the New York rapper—
and former member of Das Racist—
Heems described “No Mountains” as “a
love letter to New York I wish I could
have written, but am happy someone
else did.” Wiki found friends and ad-
mirers in high places: on “Made for This,”
a song about being predestined for great-
ness, he went toe to toe with the Wu-
Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah. In a short
time, he’d become peers with those who
helped shape New York rap.
But the churn of the music business
quickly turns young stars into grizzled
veterans, and, in just a couple of years,
Wiki has outgrown most of his boyish
enthusiasm. His new album, “Oofie,” is
a document of disillusionment—not
with New York City but with the tri-
als of young rap stardom. Whereas he
used to rap mostly in the present tense,
much of his new album switches to the
past, offering a more rueful perspective
on the hedonistic pursuits of his teen-
age years and early twenties. (There is
even a song called “Back Then.”) The
mythology of his youth collides with
reality on this album, which has a slower,
more laborious energy to it; he laments
his inadequate streaming numbers,
drained bank account, and drug and al-
cohol abuse. The record begins with a
murky beat and murmuring voices spec-
ulating about Wiki’s decline. “He’s lost
it,” one mutters. “Every time I’ve seen
him, he’s been drunk,” another says.
“He’s a scumbag.” Raw talent is a thrill-
ing gift, but in the absence of friend-
ship, commercial success, or infrastruc-
tural support—before this record, Wiki
parted ways with his label, XL Record-
ings—it can be a torturous companion.
Still, Wiki’s verbal skills are just as
effective when refracted through bit-
terness and regret. “Oofie” takes all the
vividness he once levelled at New York
and channels it inward, offering a de-
spondent portrait of self-loathing that
doubles as a critique of the hype-hun-
gry nature of contemporary rap fandom.
Nostalgia for an earlier sound or a differ-
ent New York was once the enemy, but
now it has become a potent tool for Wiki,
who describes the rowdiness of his school

days with longing and lust. “Oofie” makes

Wiki sound like a gentrifying city block

newly overrun with chain restaurants

and 7-Elevens—under siege but full of

pride and history, nonetheless. “I played

this game too long to move on,” he says

on a song called “Pesto,” describing his

rapping ability as “ten thou”—not as a

boast but as a matter of fact.

O

f all the distinct regional sounds

and scenes made obsolete by the

Internet, perhaps none have been recast

quite as dramatically as New York hip-

hop. The city’s rising stars now show

little interest in the past. The calm pug-

nacity of Pop Smoke, a twenty-year-old

breakout star and Brooklyn native, fits

nicely into the city’s hip-hop lineage,

but his sound is, quite literally, foreign—

most of his grimy beats are made by

808Melo, a producer in London. 808Melo

is a key figure in U.K. drill, a lively and

controversial scene of young rappers

who give voice to the crime and despair

of places that are often overlooked in

mainstream rap. U.K.-drill rappers, in

turn, were inspired by the vibrant tough-

ness of Chicago drill, which originated

almost a decade ago. A crop of emer-

gent New Yorkers—Sheff G and 22Gz

among them—are legitimatizing U.K.

drill in the U.S.

Other young New York rap stars,

such as Lil Tjay and Smooky MarGielaa,

are indistinguishable from the streams

of melodic singer-rappers coming out

of Atlanta, hip-hop’s commercial epi-

center. Their New York-ness seems in-

cidental to their success. Regional her-

itage and lived experience do not count

for much in the economy of music fan-

dom, which feeds simultaneously on

novelty and conformity.

These trends are the source of a deep

well of resentment for Wiki. “I’m an

enigma they tryna get rid of /Thought

I was a contender until they forget ya,”

he raps on “Downfall.” But Wiki is a

gifted storyteller above all, and, just as

his earlier work was an imaginative ex-

ercise that turned New York into an

urban Atlantis, “Oofie” is, at least in

part, a dramatization. The album takes

Wiki, the protagonist of his own ad-

venture, to rock bottom, and then hedges

with hints of future triumph. “Gotta be

better, not bitter,” he raps. “I’ll be back

in all of my splendor.” 

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