Babyxsosa and a New Type of Summer

The best kind of music in the summertime during my high school and college years was the kind that transported, washed over, and caused involuntary shoulder-shaking. The kind of music that begged for open windows, peach sunsets, voluptuous grooves and DJ Quik pussy tales. There's no riding I-95 without a DJ Mustard bass line in my opinion. There's no beach days without Ill Addicts' Beautiful, (you all should check them out by the way). There's no mosquito bites or blossoming gardens without Tyler's Flower Boy.

Over these past two volatile summers though-amidst the quarantine isolation and seemingly endless thunderstorms-music during the summer has felt a lot less buoyant. As nights when on, so did the search for music to soundtrack the dystopian landscape. I still love a good classic YG and Mustard collaboration, but early-2010s nostalgia can only take you so far when you're latest and greatest adventure is a five-minute drive to a hellish Cumberland Farms for a daunting eight-hour overnight shift filled with anti-maskers, a wretched manager, and overtly-racist Karens who long for the "old days" when COVID-19 didn't close their beloved coffee machines.

Richmond, Virginia native Babyxsosa has infiltrated my playlist during some of my favorite smoke sessions, evening strolls, morning commutes and highway joyrides. She's kept me moving during immovable days. In a world of death and disease, the only three constants in 2020 were waking up, a shit gas station job and Sosa's aerial voice.

A consistent affiliate with New York underground collective Surf Gang, Babyxsosa writes lyrics grounded in Earth and sings melodies that breech the atmosphere. She makes celebratory anthems, heavenly swirls, and songs for lonely strolls along steamy sidewalks. She's worked with some of the best underground producers like Tony Seltzer and GAWD, but her greatest celestial journeys begin and end with Surf Gang producer evilgiane behind the boards.

Sosa, who is now 21, started writing music when she was in elementary school, and began reading music while playing oboe in middle school. Her dad bought her an acoustic and electric guitar, so when she was grounded, she would write music and perform in front of her grandma in her free time.

By the time she reached high school, she was DJing and making beats. During a 2020 interview with Complex, she claimed that people weren't really fucking with her when she was DJing and mixing; mainly because she was a woman doing it. When it came to her actually writing music though, no one could say anything, and when she began working with Surf Gang, shit really began popping off for her.

Rapping was her first vocal calling, but singing comes more naturally to her. If you were to delve into her catalog on Apple Music and Soundcloud, you can hear her artistic vision evolve in real time. On her Soundcloud, there's a 12-minute electronic mix titled "do u believe in angels" that accentuates her DJ skills, while a vaporous instrumental titled "finessed" represents her early allegiance to the production side of music. The latter was most likely created in Garageband, as I recognize the skittish drum pattern and dreamy synth from the stock loops they carry.

Her earliest track on Apple Music, "Beat MY ASS," is a glitchy, 808-heavy onslaught of punch-in diatribes with a sarcastic tone that mirrors some of Flo Mili's biggest hits and overall attitude.

Sosa's own biggest hit came in the form of 2019's "EVERYWHEREIGO," a song that still to this day reaches a different level of raw melody within the Soundcloud stratosphere. The track is all-around indebted to where Sosa grew up in Richmond. Her lyrics talk about "Virginia beaching," while the music video (one of her few ever) pinballs between important staples of her home-whether they be the local arcade, premier chicken spot, or skyline roofs of downtown. GAWD, a Virginia native--and one of the most studious producers in the underground working today (his page has well over 40 projects )--laces a fidgety beat that leaves ample space for Sosa to switch between magnetic raps and gleeful chants ("Everywhere I goooo, they all know my name").

It only make sense that "EVERYWHEREIGO" would be her biggest song to date. It's celebratory and subtly personal to her roots and it's also the one of the first times she mentions her aforementioned grandma in a song too-"I'm told my grandma, 'I'm hopping off the porch'/She thought I was playing." The track has amassed over 500,000 plays on Soundcloud and a little under 500,000 on YouTube.

Since then, Sosa continues to release loosies at her own pace. She technically only has one full solo project to her name (at least, released to the public), 2020's Babyxobama, and she stated in a recent Instagram story post that she doesn't plan on releasing any solo projects this year. She was also heavily featured on Surf Gang's SGV1 project that came out during the heat of summer 2021 ("Cinderella" and "6am" are slaps).

Sosa's music meant a lot to me over the past couple of years, and it's nice to see her work with someone like Vegyn (a Frank Ocean collaborator) on one of her more recent songs, "Running." She's been gathering a cult following through a truly distinct voice and lyrics that are simple, yet wholly filled with emotion during an emotionally-taxing time period in our history. She's reached the point where none of us know what direction she may go in stylistically, but that's what makes her so intriguing. Life is neither predictable nor linear, despite what social structures might tell us. One minute Sosa will fixate on physical and emotional distance ("Running"); the next she's gleefully frolicking to the bank with bands as if she just won the lottery ("Throw it").

Her diverse talents have lead to her growing internet popularity, with many people already taking a stab at chopped-and-screwed versions of some of her songs. Music nerds are just as entranced as I am. If aliens won't take me into space away from this dungeon, then Sosa's voice will, and has. The soundtrack for peaceful starry nights, small campfires, and meditative summer drives comes straight out of Richmond. Summer hasn't felt the same, and may never will, but Sosa's warm vocals continue to highlight a new era for me personally. The bridge between college life and adulthood is set, as meditative nights become more frequent. So, as a thanks to Sosa for getting me through some tough months, here are five of my favorite tracks from her. Be sure to check out her entire catalog if you haven't yet.

"Keyshia Keef"

The boosted bass and stuttering hi-hats operate in the same rhythm as Keef's recent oddball production, while the Sonic-like synth fizzles in mid-air like a melodic buzz saw. As with a lot of her soulful tracks, Sosa marinates within the beat like a juicy steak during a hot summer afternoon grill session. Lyrically, she offers a quick snapshot of post-breakup realizations. "I might as well have known I'm better than that," she sings in staggered reflection. The track is a perfect representation of the scope of music that inspires her.

The boosted bass and stuttering hi-hats operate in the same rhythm as Keef's recent oddball production, while the Sonic-like synth fizzles in mid-air like a melodic buzzsaw. As with a lot of her soulful tracks, Sosa marinates within the beat like a juicy steak during a hot summer afternoon grill session. Lyrically, she offers a quick snapshot of post-breakup realizations. "I might as well have known I'm better than that," she sings in staggered reflection. The track is a perfect representation of the scope of music that inspires her.

Note: for whatever reason, the original video version of this song was taken down, but there's multiple accounts that have it posted. Either way, people can also find it on Apple or Spotify.

"Lonely Nights in New York"

There was once a time when Babyxsosa, on her social media, claimed that her and Surf Gang producer evilgiane were an unstoppable duo (I'm paraphrasing, but she said something along these lines). It's a fair proclamation given their comparable experimentation. In the Complex interview, Sosa said that she'll usually ask evilgiane how he felt when making a specific beat, and then she would try to mirror the feeling of whatever he told her.

Anyone tapped into the underground scene knows that anytime you hear Sosa and evilgiane-whether together or separate-you're bound to hear something different from their previous work. Emotions are ever-changing facets of humanity, and you can feel that whirlwind of energy any time these two collaborate.

I've wrote about "Lonely Nights in NY" at least twice in the past, and maybe once more in my dreams. evilgiane's production wafts like a tranquil fog on a mid-fall morning. "And while you thinking about me, I know you missing her," Sosa sings in a somber tone. Later on in the track, Sosa harmonizes about being a star and going far, almost matching giane's cathartic, almost Screw-like, energy. It's the type of track that ruminates on the present and future while the past still lingers in a dark hallway. Like cheese on a burger, Sosa and giane make for an appetizing match.

"24hrs"

Call me a millennia-(mainly cause I am one-but the best songs in my opinion are the ones that can convey a message or feeling through a short burst. I'll always appreciate a good concept album, especially from an artist that deserves the attention, but some things don't have to be so self-indulgent. Sometimes, capturing an idea for a brief couple minutes can do a lot to satisfy our own feelings.

On "24Hrs," Sosa and Surf Gang affiliate PPGCasper detail the ups-and-downs of a relationship with forward quips about deception and fabrication ("I thought you was riding, now I see you swerrrrrving"). There's a certain emotional weight added to the track with the help of evilgiane's oscillating synth wave and subtle Sosa ad-libs that float in the background. PPGCasper, meanwhile, mumbles through the serene landscape. It's almost as if he's second-guessing his decision to put his thoughts on a track. His style fits the concept well.

"Better By Yourself"

I knew Babyxsosa was capable of making a formidable R&B song, but damn, "Better By Yourself" is more potent than I could've imagined. The track is lyrically skeletal and conceptually timeworn, but Sosa seems very self-aware of that. The song's allure is the Richmond native's ability to reach melodic heights that other artists dare wouldn't try. You may ask, why mimic a famous riff on "Get Off My Swag?" Seems like there's a posilbity it could be botched, right? Nope, not when Sosa has the self-confidence to experiment with her greatest instrument.

A laid-back piano and a fluttering vocal sample highlight the milky production. The tempo is steamy and sensual, but Sosa combats that with a circular feeling of falling in love. ("You know that if you knew better you would do better/You would do better"). When she says that the other person could do better by themselves, I can't tell if she's trying to pry the person away from their other romantic relationship, or if she means something else. I guess the mystery is the beauty.

What really sets this track a part in her discography is her ability to reach an insanely high register when singing the word "again." I feel like when most people try to sing that high, their voice cracks or it just sounds muddied in the mix. Sosa on the other hand sounds like an angel descending from the sun gods. It's no wonder she said she was more comfortable singing.

"EVERYWHEREIGO"

"THEY ALL KNOW MY NAAAAAAME." I know it's lame to place this in the five best songs after writing about it in a couple paragraphs above, but if the track hits it hits. And this one hits. Every once on a while I annoy my parents by screaming out one of Sosa's many quotables. This shit is an underground anthem, and I hope there's a day when it blows up, along with Sosa herself. If that happens, I'll walk to the corner store to get some woods, maybe hit my favorite chicken spot, and then run through her discography for a third summer.

Other tracks from her to check out