In Rotation: Fox BD

Being the one-minute-older twin brother of a rising rap star could easily turn you into a footnote. Fox BD refused the shadow. Hailing from West Memphis, Arkansas but planting his flag equally in Atlanta’s Bouldercrest, Fox operates with a hilarious, out-of-pocket punchline style that completely separates him from YTB Fatt’s trajectory. He caught my ear last year with Eat, Sip, Shxt, Studio—mostly because paying homage to Devin the Dude by putting yourself taking a dump on the album cover is a ridiculous flex. But the music actually backed up the joke. He spent the top of this year flooding the streets, dropping the 11-track I'm BD project in January and following it up with the Suxh an Asshole mixtape. Now he just dropped his new album, Finessin Distribution Deals, under his own Foxes Only LLC imprint. He packs these two-minute tracks with wild contrasts. One bar he is mapping out a lean proposal, the next he is detailing kidnappings and holding down the incarcerated half of his thousands-deep Foxes crew. You hear that urgency on "Seals Dekline," a standout that is already climbing Spotify’s Fresh Finds Hip-Hop and Apple Music’s BASE:LINE playlists. The drums knock right through the mix while Fox spits rapid-fire street lore. The bass swallows the low end, giving his raspy delivery plenty of room to breathe. He brought heavy artillery for this release. Babyface Ray, Sexyy Red, and Lil Yachty all check in, alongside his brother. Speaking of Fatt, Fox completely hijacks their recent collaboration "I Gotcha Bitch," which just cracked Spotify's Most Necessary chart at number 17. I will just say it: Fox is the superior punchline writer in the family. He uses humor as a Trojan horse for the grim reality of his environment, making the narratives stick to your ribs longer. He is building his own ecosystem outside the major label system, and the momentum is palpable on terrestrial radio from Hartford's WZMX to DC's Hip Hop Nation. Hit play down below.