10 Standout Beats Making Noise Right Now
Over the weekend, while watching the premiere of Rachel Sennott’s new comedy about influencer culture, I Love LA, I was jolted by a familiar name buried in the credits: Kenneth Blume. If you haven’t been tracking the Geese-adjacent universe, that name might mean nothing to you. But it’s simply Kenny Beats—just operating under his government name this time. (And yes, 777 still holds up.)
Table Of Content
- Lady Binladen – “Blow It”
- XanGang – “Promiscuous Lover”
- HollyG – “Wa Coco” (feat. Tiitof)
- KeiyaA – “lateeee”
- Skino – “Killing Spree”
- 63OG – “R.J.C (Belek)”
- Tana – “Lil Twin”
- Jujujumpinout – “All We Know” (feat. TOD Buddha)
- J.U.S & Raphy – “Forage” (feat. Quentin Ahmad DaGod & Kevin Bailey)
- Treety – “Really Love’m”
His evolution from endlessly adaptable rap producer to respected rock album collaborator and composer for film and television feels intentional. He recently scored Alex Russell’s thriller Lurker, a film that plays like The Talented Mr. Ripley filtered through obsessive stan culture. The name change feels symbolic, tied to the idea that being taken seriously by institutions often requires distancing yourself from rap. Kenny himself has acknowledged this tension, noting that “Kenny Beats” was a teenage MySpace alias that stuck, even though part of him still wants his real surname attached to his achievements.
That mindset is frustrating, because beats—especially great ones—don’t need institutional validation to matter. That feeling hit me again last week at a show in Williamsburg. Chicago group Semiratruth were reworking material from their 2024 album The Star of the Story, improvising and reshaping it live in ways that recalled the strangest, most beautiful moments of cult collagist records like Red Burns. Later that night, New Jersey producer Doris took the stage. His mic barely worked, forcing the focus entirely onto the production. As he ran through dozens of short, pitch-shifted, sample-heavy tracks from Ultimate Love Songs Collection, it struck me how even after countless listens, the beats still felt overwhelming and new.
That experience sent me down a rabbit hole, thinking about recent production that hits with the same force. Lately, that energy has been coming from unexpected places: the bouyon scenes of Guadeloupe and Dominica, where producers crank out alien keyboard melodies weekly, and the DMV free-car circuit, where the blown-out framework pioneered by Dolan Beatz and Cheecho keeps mutating with new layers. What follows is a selection of beats from those worlds and beyond that are impossible to ignore right now.
Lady Binladen – “Blow It”
I’ll admit it: I get jealous hearing people from other cities talk about growing up with Baton Rouge jig beats at middle school dances. That strand of Southern rap never fully reached New York, so there’s no nostalgia there for me. But the way Lady Binladen flips that energy here is undeniable. A classic jig rhythm gets transformed into a hyper-aggressive Chicago drill beat, complete with clipped drums and flashes of footwork-inspired jitter. It’s ruthless and danceable at the same time.
XanGang – “Promiscuous Lover”
Buried at the tail end of XanGang’s Love & Cuddles Samples pack, “Promiscuous Lover” is a plugg take on new jack swing that feels absurdly satisfying. Xan has been flirting with this sound for a while, but this track—loaded with drum-machine rolls and snapping snares—feels like the idea fully realized. Imagine Teddy Riley coming up through SoundCloud instead of the late ’80s.
HollyG – “Wa Coco” (feat. Tiitof)
I’ve grown weary of lazy beat switches, but this one earns its keep. The producers behind “Wa Coco” smoothly morph a standard UK drill rhythm into a pounding bouyon groove without breaking momentum. Add sirens and arcade-like bursts of noise, and the track feels like it’s constantly leveling up, pushing HollyG into overdrive.
KeiyaA – “lateeee”
Under her dj cowriiie alias, KeiyaA quietly showcased her production range on last year’s Rage Tape. That experimental freedom carries over to Hooke’s Law, especially on “lateeee.” Here, massive 808s collide with luminous, almost spiritual synths. It’s club music that feels weightless, like it’s designed for a strip club orbiting Earth.
Skino – “Killing Spree”
In the DMV free-car scene, the sound has drifted closer to full-blown EDM. “Killing Spree” toys with that idea by constantly teasing a massive festival drop that never quite arrives. Instead, the tension builds through restarting industrial drums and eerie chants reminiscent of early Three 6 Mafia. It sounds like an entrance theme for a wrestler who thrives on chaos.
63OG – “R.J.C (Belek)”
French producer 63OG has been studying DMV free-car production closely, then twisting it into something brighter and more global. On “R.J.C (Belek),” metallic percussion meets Afrojerk-inspired rhythms and coupé-décalé bounce. Somehow, it turns a style rooted in raw street energy into something made for the dancefloor—and it works.
Tana – “Lil Twin”
Rage beats rarely hit for me anymore, but Kelewya still knows how to pull it off. “Lil Twin” takes its time, building patiently before erupting into colorful chaos. It’s playful rather than menacing, packed with elastic drums and loose, hangout energy instead of the genre’s usual grim seriousness.
Jujujumpinout – “All We Know” (feat. TOD Buddha)
Laser-sharp, flickering beats have traveled from Detroit to Florida to Memphis, but Philly artists seem to understand them best. This one wraps sparse percussion around a sped-up vocal loop, letting Jujujumpinout and TOD Buddha’s rapid-fire delivery do the rest. The result feels like a drill cousin to experimental hip-hop remix culture.
J.U.S & Raphy – “Forage” (feat. Quentin Ahmad DaGod & Kevin Bailey)
Raphy’s washed-out, game-console funk production sets the tone across his collaborative tape with J.U.S, and “Forage” might be the highlight. Jazzy whistles, thick basslines, and mournful keys create a cinematic mood—like the calm before a doomed heist in an old French crime film.
Treety – “Really Love’m”
New Orleans bounce producer BlaqNmilD is so prolific it’s easy to take him for granted, but this track demands attention. It opens with a brief flip of the Rugrats theme before abandoning it entirely, plunging into a chaotic clash of dance breaks, airhorns, and overlapping R&B references. It’s too restless to dance to conventionally—you just nod along and let it hit.
