Today's 137FM is an even number. You know what that means: we're diving into some of the world's best upcoming producers.
137FM 008 features four producers of different scales. There's one thing in particular that all of them share: a knack for music and a clear vision of what they're after.
Just as impressive as the dynamic ability of producers who can rap is that of producers who can manage artists. Rubi Rosa is that and more; he manages some of New York's best hip-hop talent and is behind the creation of some very popular songs.
Rubi's management roster includes Bizzy Banks and Leeky G Bando, who have each fostered a massive role for themselves in Brooklyn's ever-growing drill scene. He also manages acts in other genres as well: Breezy Bankz (afro beats), Gabo Alonzo (Latin music), and Lil Perco (hip-hop) On top of that impressive feat, Rubi Rosa has produced for Jay Critch, Juelz Santana, Troy Ave, ABG Neal, Robb Bank$, Slayter, Retch, Ski Mask, PnB Rock, and even produced UnoTheActivist and Rich the Kid's hit song, "Fabo."
It's not every day you see a female producer absolutely killing shit in the world of hip-hop. Well, today isn't like every other day. Say hello to Working on Dying's only female member, ilykimchi.
ilykimchi is responsible for underground hits with Ken Carson, Lil Keed, midwxst, and TheHxliday, to name a few. If you don't already know Working on Dying, then you might not be grasping the significance of ilykimchi's membership.
Working on Dying is a producer collective that features BrandonFinessin, Oogiemane, WakeUpF1lthy, Ness, Jarek, Loosie Man, FaxOnly, BNYX, and of course, ilykimchi. Some of the founding members went to high school with Lil Uzi Vert in Philadelphia, so when they began to emerge as some of Philly's top producers, Uzi enlisted their help for his March 2020 project, Eternal Atake.
After growing very reputable for their charting hits on EA, the stage was set. WOD then went on to play a major role in Playboi Carti's 2020 Christmas Day album, Whole Lotta Red, and haven't stopped since. After checking out ilykimchi's featured songs on our Curiously Curated playlist, be sure to take a deeper dive into Working on Dying's credits.
One of my favorite underground producers (for many reasons) is CaptainCrunch. Not only does he make some of the hardest beats that you'll find anywhere, he also is one of the funniest Twitter personalities.
Crunch does not miss, whether music or humor. Seriously.
Some of his most notable collabs include works with Lil Peep, SkiMask the Slump God, Lil Tracy, Lucki, 03 Greedo, Lil Pump, Thouxanbanfauni, Lil Yachty, UnoTheActivist - I'm not even halfway done, but I think you get the point. Chances are, you've heard his work, especially with his top-performing record, "Fashion" by Jay Critch and Rich the Kid.
CaptainCrunch has one of the best perspectives on what the underground music scene actually is, and has a comparable amount of placements to super-producer groups like Working on Dying. If you're interested in learning more about CaptainCrunch, check out his catalog on his Genius page.
Last up on today's edition of Curiously Curated is Zara616. This young talent is relatively green compared to the rest of the producers we covered today, but his progress is impressive nonetheless.
Zara616 has been stamping himself as a reliable option for artists to collaborate with, after placements with top-notch talent like YN Jay (famously known for his 2020 TikTok hit "Coochie Man"), Babytron's ShittyBoyz group, and even Jdot Breezy.
Take a listen to Zara616's work in the link below, as well as in the latest Curiously Curated playlist.
That's it for this week! Stay tuned to 137FM as we continue our search for this generation's top up-and-coming talent. Next week, we'll be back to focusing on recording artists. Check out the 137FM playlist below, which features the producers from volume 008, along with all seven earlier editions.
