It's easy to view the lo-fi, bedroom rappers Main Attrakionz through a post-Lil B lens. Their often self-produced sound follows directly in the path of the murky, muffled beats of frequent Based God collaborator Clams Casino, and that's only if they aren't rapping over one of Clams' productions in the first place. But where Lil B's worldview is straight out of a 1960s love-in, Main Attrakionz are insular and anti-social-- their calling card is "Fakest Year Ever", a show-stopping solo track from Squadda B (one half of the duo) wherein he calls out his peers for not being true to themselves ("Quote Kanye songs like you be living it") or to their heritage ("Realize we're living Martin Luther's dreams/ If he was here now, would y'all care what he thinks?"). Crucially though, the anti-social tendencies of Main Attrakionz aren't aggressive or confrontational like the in-your-face showmanship of Odd Future. Their world is more closed off and features no artifice-- it doesn't always make for better art (their aesthetic is less accomplished and the writing is rougher from a technical standpoint), but their songs are arguably darker and just as magnetic.
And that's why "Perfect Skies", a single off their just-released album 808s & Dark Grapes II, is such a surprise. For one, the beat is built around a piano figure straight out of a headlining set at Glastonbury, which is the sort of widescreen thing that Main Attrakionz never seemed to show much of an interest in doing. It's also a song about kicking back, relishing in success (at whatever level), and enjoying the company of your friends. Some of the paranoia and cynicism that's at the base of their music still creeps in, but both rappers brush it to the side, at least for the time being. The group has done songs of this nature before, but never framed by a beat that radiates warmth and a feeling of contentment. It could've come off as corny and misguided, but maybe it takes a pair of hardened kids to find the spot where Coldplay rap actually resonates.
[from the album 808s & Dark Grapes II; available now for free download]