Amalgama is a producer who has been steadily moving through the underground internet rap scene, gaining more traction with each release. Hailing from Rhode Island, the producer’s sound taps as much the paranoia of Memphis rap as it does into the spaced out sounds of internet cloud rap. Amalgama presents a synthesis made by and through internet culture, proudly wearing his influences on his sleeves. Now, with the release of his collaborative album with MILLENIUM, HOUNDS Vol. 1, it feels like he’s on the cusp of something bigger, establishing himself as a consistent and reliable artist to keep an eye on. We sat down with Amalgama to break down the album, his feelings on the underground, and peeked into what we can expect in the future.

Last November I stumbled upon the tape VAULT CATACOMBS (A.K.A CORTES’ DWELLINGS), instantly drawn to the magnetic black and white Mayan imagery on the cover and the hypnotic, distorted hip-hop beats inside it. The project comes from an Arizona-based producer MILLENIUM, member of the group Absent Call of Response, one of the most exciting voices in the underground right now. I had the pleasure to sit down with MILLENIUM for their first interview ever, just as they are getting ready to release their newest project, the Memphis-inspired collaboration Hounds, Vol. 1 with Amalgama. We talked about Mayan culture, geeked over the new billy woods album and discussed the difference between making beats for yourself and for others.

Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake. Even though the rap genre offered plenty of memorable moments last year, it would be hard to find a more significant event than the beef between two of the biggest rappers of our time, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. A rap beef can be defined as a dispute between rappers who create songs whose main purpose is to verbally attack each other. This beef has been closely watched by the entire music scene and was at the birth of the most notable rap songs of last year. It can be read on many levels, but at its core we find a powerful story of exploitation and colonialism, a war for the very soul of rap culture that should make us think about how to discuss rap.

“You don’t know what is avant-garde.” Fatboi Sharif is an artist whose work breaks every conceivable standard. His albums create mind-bending worlds; his art is both innovative and avant-garde. In his own words, he seeks sound and expression not created yet. We recently asked Fatboi about his Top 5 mind-bending rap albums to share some of the interesting and innovative rap records that have shaped the artist. His great list, however, gave us the idea for the article. So we went to the very essence of avant-garde art to help us reflect on the importance of Fatboi Sharif’s work and the albums he chose as his favorites. But we did it differently. Full of inspiration, we also wanted to break down boundaries, and so we created our little fictional sci-fi world, an experimental article, a short story in which you and an unnamed hero will explore the nooks and crannies of avant-garde art, mind-bending rap, and the album Decay.

We are SudetyRaport, your favorite rap plug, and today is exactly two years since we launched our website. Yes, it’s unbelievable, but for two years now we’ve been taking you week after week into the depths of the best rap and introducing you to all the nooks and crannies of the genre. We’re really trying to be a place where culture flourishes, and where even those artists whose art the general public still hasn’t the slightest idea about get a space. Rap has no boundaries and tells stories that matter. In order to better continue our mission, we need to create a new website, which we are already working hard on. We have a lot of new things coming up, from audiovisual content to merch.