Xanman
“Kane”
Hey Shootah Vol 2. (self-released)
This song has been out for a minute, but I just realized that I still haven’t written about the super talented DMV native yet. Considering that I’ve probably listened to more Xanman than any other rapper so far in 2019, it feels like it’s time to change that.
Like most of his tracks, “Kane” feels like it’s over before it even stars, imploring you to run it back (at least) a couple more times as soon as it finishes. At his most frenetic, Xanman basically eats the end of his bars (pun extremely intended), jamming in as many as possible and thumbing his nose at the beat. But he’s far from a one-trick pony, as he highlights by shifting into a cut-time, sing-song flow midway through the track. It’s the kind of melody lesser rappers would build an entire song around, but Xanman tosses it out in under 15 seconds, just because he can.
