Rap Blog is a weekly showcase of a standout rap song. Follow our playlists on Apple Music and Spotify.
When Lil B brought “based” into the rap lexicon, the style signalled a loose, casual approach to lyrics and, most importantly, a willingness to try anything once. In that respect, xaviersobased is a based rapper in the purest sense of the word: he can venture out of the sounds he’s best known for – the jerk revival and ambient trap wave he helped pioneer, for example – and get strange without fear of ever looking silly. “SWAGGED OUT,” released in April via DJ Rennessey’s SoundCloud page, is one of those moments, a scintillating future bass song produced by Lunamatic. Like a magic trick, it works, you just can’t figure out how or why.
If like me, you occasionally wonder if Rustie’s glittering blog-era rave electronics could have had a deeper effect on rap, “SWAGGED OUT” feels like a welcome answer. The beat has the same crispy on the outside, tender on the inside texture as Syzy’s excellent 2024 album The weight of the world, seeking to alternatively fry and engage your dopamine receptors. That’s ideal territory for xavier, whose bleary yet sincere flexings operate in a similar space. Your ears might be reminded of Bladee and his experiments with club music, but “SWAGGED OUT” is simultaneously more raw and more ambitious, with in-the-red peaks preceding drops built for the Ultra mainstage.
