Kyle Oashu is a hip-hop and rap artist based in Bluffton, South Carolina. His debut project, the mixtape “Bunnii,” is a creative process that took 2 years to complete. Throughout the 10 track project, Kyle explores themes of self-discovery, mental health, and the future with three story arcs. “Bunnii” is an acronym for ‘beyond the uncertainty nests new infinite inspiration’.  If you like chill sounding music with dark vibes, plus half-spitting insightful lyricism and half-melodic rhyming, it ends up a pretty perfect. On this album, Kyle Oashu maintains a trend of being wildly introspective and soulful through his music. Honing in on a dreamy yet tumultuous vibe, he projects his signature vocals over each track, accompanied by thoughtfully analytical verses.

Kyle is existing in a place that is both familiar and innovative in this project, running the line between an introspective and progressive outlook. The passion fueling his addictive personality, as well as all the afflictions that come with such strong emotions, make for a very compelling and skewed style of music.

The resulting diversity is a sound that Kyle’s listeners will come to love about his music. He creates a melancholic yet comforting melody on the opening song “Stars in the Ocean” where he uses cryptic but impactful lyrics to describe a troublesome position.

On an even deeper cut, “Midnight Luna”, we get yet another glimpse into Kyle Oashu’s woe-stricken world. “Ninteen99” is awash with clean guitars and dreamy atmosphere. Music that is able to elicit such emotions out of its listeners is representative of a great body of work. Kyle is exemplary of the type of artist that comes too few and far between in hip-hop today; he cares about the listener and the quality of music he provides them.

This is no carbon copy of a hip hop album. It drains blood from the heart of sincerity in its musicality, eschewing the need for friendly club bangers, or shamelessly clinging to the overproduced sing-a-longs that currently stalk many of the releases bombarding the rap landscape.

Here, the production team on board, have played on Kyle’s strengths as a talented lyricist, rapper and thinker. By the time you have pressed play on “PFXM, “Stoney Hill” and “The Hallows”, the list of Kyle Oashu’s personal strengths as an artist are in lockstep with literate production that submits a user-friendly album experience for the gamut of the hip-hop community.

Kyle’s allure is bound by precise vocal control, where his honed delivery can switch from a melancholic throaty scratch, to a soothing melodic swish. He pretty much does both on “Castles in the Sky”.

The beauty of “Bunnii” is its subversion of the translucent archetypes of the modern rap record. Sure, it participates in some genre tropes, but its minimalist lo-fi approach to hitting these touchstones eclipses the slew of records that drop too much fanfare and disappear with ease.

And the best tracks are still to come in the closing triad of “These Scars of Ours”, “Mountain Head” and “The Kid in the Dreams is Me”.  Kyle Oashu’s suave flow, floats over bars that are never boastful or bloated, generally tending to stray from ubiquitous hip-hop debauchery. Seldom has contemporary hip-hop been so open with regards to emotional affliction, vulnerability, love and hope.

OFFICIAL LINKS: SOUNDCLOUD – INSTAGRAM