Let’s be clear about Social Gravy’s re-released single, “Fools”: this is not a song that uses metaphor as a shield. From its first snarling chords, this track, a furious time capsule from 2016 unearthed by Brad Kohn and Vee Bordukov, feels less like a composition and more like a brick heaved through a stained-glass window. It’s a raw-throated accusation, a two-by-four of a protest...

The fiercely independent, Idaho-raised rapper nick! channels a deeply overstimulated, restless frequency on his new EP, "GEEKED!". Born in 2006 and building a fervent following entirely without industry co-signs, he occupies an interesting lane in new-wave underground hip-hop. His music sounds precisely like the brain chemistry of an internet-raised creative processing the blinding speed of newfound success. He writes and produces melodic, hard-hitting rap...