As much as hip hop has evolved and we’ve gotten further and further away from the genre sounding like it did back in the 90s, especially as far as what’s deemed mainstream, there’s always been new crops of rappers that embody that older sound more than what’s new. Washington Heights, NY native Lord Sko certainly has a sound that embodies the “golden era” sound of the 90s more than anything, but there’s a flare and an energy about him and what he’s doing that truly cuts through amongst not only his contemporaries but it cuts through in the full landscape of rap.

There’s rappers like Marlon Craft that can objectively rap their ass off, and while he’ll probably never have a hit song unless it’s a soundtrack tune or something, he’s got quite the cult fanbase that has him sitting at over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Or someone like Aaron May that’s done things his own way and has over 7 million monthlies. And what Lord Sko has in common with both of them is he also this gruff, textured voice that gives every bar he’s uttering a splash of flavor. Nor is he trying to rap too fast and do lyrical miracle gymnastics and use SAT words. Lord Sko drops funny, relatable bars with an effervescent flow and touch of New York grit. Is he reinventing the wheel, no, but he has an uncanny ability for making songs that are not only hard but fun to listen to.

He’s been getting cosigns for the last couple of years from not only hip hop OGs like Dante Ross and Statik Selektah but there’s new rap media as well like UndergroundSound, On The Radar and Annabelle Kline and many more betting on him. Going to be interesting to follow where Lord Sko’s trajectory leads from here.