The underground hip-hop music scene has flourished in Jacksonville over the last 10 years, and it has become remarkably apparent that the quality of the artists has been raised to a higher level. A new crop of local recording artists has surfaced and they are starting to make some noise in the industry. A member of the group known as PoorRichKidz with brothers Prkchubb and Prkspiffyike, Prksmiley is an unsigned artist straight out of Jacksonville, FL, who is currently promoting his latest track, “Our Year”. He doesn’t short cut anything when it comes to his music.
His style of flow and cadence is very unique, energetic and aggressive. Prksmiley penchant for addictive wordplay and his exhaustive thesaurus of flows awaken the verve hidden within the musky hollows of the beat, sketching a mission statement.
“Our Year” opens with an incredible stripped back, bass-booming beat which evolves into an ominous and daunting, atmospheric backdrop. Prksmiley goes in as if on a mission to prove himself to hip-hop. His incredible energy conjuring the ghosts of some of his more famous peers.
The spirit and hunger of their work may be present, but the content is raw and new. The Jacksonville swag sounds intact, in the hands of Prksmiley, as he serves up an interesting flow right from the first verse.
He is fired-up, rapping with agility, and flexing like a boss. The record shines from the get-go, and serves as a solid showcase for the Jacksonville rapper. In between verses Prksmiley slackens the pace a bit without sacrificing grit or toughness. Around him the atmosphere is dense with eyebrow-raising lyrics.
One of the selling points is the quirky echo effect on the vocal, which comes off almost like a call and response motif. While some rappers taking ages to get inside the vibe of the song, Prksmiley wastes no time with bringing the people what they want and what they need.
Prksmiley cleverly switches his flow up throughout the tracks and raps his verses with a lot of passion, taking you on a roller-coaster ride. Overall, “Our Year” is a track that is consistently dope from start to finish. It doesn’t try to be groundbreaking. It doesn’t claim to be a classic. It’ not here to save hip hop.
Does hip-hop need saving? No, not really. Anybody who says hip-hop is dead, is living in the past. Hip hop has never been so fertile, with fresh talent taking the genre in multiple directions. Some good, some not so good. But that’s how a genre evolves and grows.
Prksmiley is a young hip-hop artist giving us his personal bent on the genre, and only time will tell how much further he will excel and what impact he will have in the industry. In the meantime he’s telling the world that it’s “Our Year”. Many of you may have sat up and taken note, while others may have already jumped on it. The rest of you need to get off the fence now!
