Only Atlanta could hope to rival Chicago in the amount of young talent being pumped out of the city. Unfortunately, in both of these cases, the rap climate is inextricably intertwined with gang warfare, leading to territorial beefs and situations like the ongoing GBE/Migos controversy. Part of what made albums like Chance the Rapper’s 2013 Acid Rap such a success was its ability to showcase the talent while distancing itself from the gang violence. ShowYouSuck is one such rapper who manages to retain a street authority by presenting a more humorous, absurd side of Chicago. His efforts have earned him cosigns and collaborations from the likes of Mr. MFN Exquire, Yelawolf, and The Hood Internet.
ShowYouSuck invokes a X-Files vibe over the spooky production for “Mars Attacks / XFiles”. The lyrics, however, are anything but unnerving, mostly funny, free-associative references to vague disobedience, like raiding a fridge and sneaking into a pool. The track is braggadocious but flips these tropes of acting ‘hard’ – SYS refers to himself as Godzilla IRL, and claims to jack your Hulu password in order to watch Gotham and Baywatch. It’s a more self-aware, laid-back approach than we might get from a crew like GBE. This is not to understate ShowYouSuck’s technical ability, however—even though he’s basically rapping about nonsense, his flow and the wit of his delivery makes it clear that there’s a lot of deeper potential to be uncovered. If the hook of “You are not alone,” has any relation to the rest of the track, it’s in ShowYouSuck’s ear for utterly relatable raps, showing we have a kindred spirit in the windy city.
