It's 2014 and high time you got some new music into your playlist -- seriously. And that's doubly true when it comes local music, of which there's an abundance in metro Phoenix. The Valley's music scene is gifted with burgeoning bands and emerging artists who will be making waves and getting attention this year.
Up on the Sun is highlighting more than a dozen such acts for our series 14 Bands You Need to Hear in 2014, including today's entry by Jaron Ikner covering local rapper Kyle Collins.
Local MC Kyle Collins has already hit 2014 running. The 24-year-old has a new music video, "Stupid Shit," which is full of satirical jabs at the music industry and features a comedic vibe, and a new mixtape Sincerely, Collins on the way.
And with the buzz he's been generating lately (not to mention his much-anticipated official album The Manhattan Project later this year) all these projects are expected to be a pretty huge deal, as is Collins himself.
The Office Space-inspired visuals of the music video for "Stupid Shit" provide a comedic angle to a topic that Collins is very serious about: putting stereotypical rap clichés -- such as excessive twerking, guns, and money -- on blast.
Something else he's serious about: making it to the next level of the rap game. Since debuting last month, "Stupid Shit," which features beats crafted by Phoenix hip-hop producer Qux, has received airplay on 101.1 The Beat and gotten love from RapDose. That's not the only coup for Collins, a member of local pop/hip-hop group Weird Is the New Cool, as he's opening for Pusha T later this month at Club Red.
Collins' new mixtape features all-original material and is almost guaranteed to make a huge impact on the Arizona hip-hop scene. Local legend Irin Daniels (better known as RocaDolla or IROC) has bigger and brighter plans in mind for the rising star.
Daniels, considered to many to be the "Dr. Dre of Arizona hip-hop," has had a hand in helping numerous artists (such as Lifted, Trap, and Pokafase) on their way to success and is hoping to duplicate the results with Collins and try and take the MC to the level and maybe even further.