No one embodies the measured IDGAF spirit of Earl Sweatshirt and Wiki more than Diz, a left-of-center abstract emcee that marries his music with his mentality. Simultaneously a battle with demons as well as a victory lap, the 19-year-old’s third album ULTRA.VIOLET is perhaps the perfect showcase of the new generation of abstract rappers, with Diz being chief among them.
Spitting recklessly emotional bars over eclectic sample-driven beats, the consistent themes of struggle and success push and pull throughout the project’s runtime. Heavily reminiscent of Some Rap Songs, Diz’s chaotic flows call to mind the gap-toothed and impassioned spitting of Wiki, sometimes swerving into the more apathetic tones of a Billy Woods. Any fan of these titans of alternative hip-hop will feel right at home with ULTRA.VIOLET. Rapping with reckless abandon, Diz exercises a cautious and ingenious control of his emotions that often manifests through his swift tonal changes from track to track. Early highlights of the album include “Point of Madness Reprise” and “Rest”, two cuts that dive into the dusty, demon-excavating ethos upon which the entire project finds its footing. Easily digestible at about 2 minutes per track, you won’t have any trouble listening back and forth as the cohesiveness of the project is perhaps its main strength.
We haven’t seen a music counterculture movement like abstract hip-hop since the 90’s when rock music birthed its own disconsolate counterpart in grunge. Boom-bap’s moody little brother, abstract hip-hop is just starting to reach its zenith by creating its own unique counterculture for the Twitter-verse, fueled by tirelessly innovative emcees like Diz that can blend elements of the greats into oblique pieces of lyrical mastery.
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