Two Punks Taking Rap by Storm

There was a dance unit in PE during my eighth grade year that was vehemently required. I was ready for a month of square dancing and line dancing, especially since PE was split by gender so I’d just get to dance with my friends. But no. There were other plans.

Our bald PE teacher told a mainly excited group of 13 and 14-year-olds that they would be split into groups of six that they had already pre-selected. These groups would then collaborate to create an original dance that lasted more than two minutes with music that we had to put together. As an anxious child that had no graceful limb in my body and barely passable social skills in a grade dominated by dancers that found this assignment to be a breeze, I was absolutely horrified.

That is, until the last snippet of our music included the song “Brass Monkeys” by the Beastie Boys. I hated this song. I couldn’t understand how these men could rap in such an annoying way and everyone around me was completely into it. It distracted me so much that I didn’t even care that I had to do the dance in front of everyone. 

The dance unit ended and yet I would still hate-listen to more and more Beastie Boys songs, until one day, I was just regular listening. Eventually, I would listen to it just because I liked it. 

That started my long and secret love for ‘80s-‘90s hip hop that I kept close to my chest. None of my friends liked when I played it or recommended anything like the Beastie Boys and so it remained my little secret. My mom gets mad if we play music that has curse words in it or if it’s a sad song, so it’s safe to say she didn’t like anything about my attempts at playing this genre in the car. As this music morphed into a guilty pleasure, there were nights of Tupac and Biggie on my headphones while I listened under the covers, Beastie Boys while I cleaned my room, and when I was in a silly-goofy mood, Snoop Dogg on my headphones in our carpool to school in the mornings. 

‘90s hip hop is one of the most unique and intricate genres to ever grace American music and I can’t help but feel nostalgic for a time I wasn’t even alive for. I understand how it might not be for everyone, but hey, it’s for me! Now I listen a little more openly and search for more artists that bring to life the addictive sound that defined a decade, and thank goodness I found Joey Valence and Brae.

This duo has several duets to be enjoyed with their latest release being “Hooligang.” They both bring a massive presence to their music that successfully makes them feel larger than life with a palpable enthusiasm that lets any hesitation to sing along fly out your car windows. There are so many ways in which these artists are unique in their interpretation of ‘80s-‘90s hip hop that make their duo an excellent balance of what the genre has to offer.

Joey Valence embodies that insufferable, polarizing, and addictive voice that originated in the ‘90s and was popularized by the Beastie Boys and Eminem with playful lyrics that invite a new era of pop culture to have its place in music like referencing Obi-Wan Kenobi or the Autobots from Transformers, both hallmarks of the ‘90s as well as the 2000s making for a wedding of generational references that invites several people to appreciate and perhaps laugh at fun lyrics, no matter their age. His rhythm is creative and volatile leaving the listener silent during their first listen just to see where the yarn he’s weaving will end. Above all, he’s fun to listen to!

Brae brings the deep and soulful delivery that counters that of Valence’s tenor with a charisma that reflects more of Biggie than that of the Beastie Boys. His cadence and diction reek of zeal for his lyrics that molds your mood into hip pop’s characteristic bravado. For example, my sister and I like to joke that we feel like child prodigies answering a math equation on a chalkboard Good Will Hunting-style whenever we listen to their song “Punk Tactics” because we feel like we know exactly what we’re doing despite the fact that I have never been a prodigy in anything and had to drop out of AP Calc AB. 

When these two are on a track together, it just makes everything exponentially more fun. As a fan of the artists that they openly take inspiration from that have been mentioned throughout this article, it feels like an Olivia Rodrigo moment where I am excited to see the qualities about an artist that I previously loved (in Olivia’s case, it would be Taylor Swift) and use their own youth and generation to invite new content to such an iconic form of of their respective genres that can now be retrofitted to the 21st century. I am optimistic about their future in music and hope to see them releasing more duets soon!

You can check them out individually on TikTok, Spotify, and YouTube if you’re a fan of ‘80s-90’s style rap and are curious about their sound. They’re only a few in the group of artists bringing new life to this genre, and I hope that they can open a door to a new world of modern hip hop for you!