Music Industry News

20-year-old internet-raised underground artist Lil Bubblegum encapsulates built up rage with the queen of the concept, Rico Nasty in ‘SCRAPS ON’ (out April 12th).

Serving as yet another killer single from the West Auckland native (he just dropped ‘af 1 2.0‘ with Yung Gravy, the sequel to his track which has over 105 million plays on Spotify alone), ‘SCRAPS ON’ is a live-show staple, representing the notion of anger rising up and letting it out when stepping foot on stage:

“In New Zealand when people butt heads and start fighting we call it a ‘scrap’. I’m not tryna encourage people to go pick a fight with someone on the street or anything but the song is meant to encapsulate built up anger and letting it out in a live show. I’ve performed this song unreleased so many times at different shows and the reactions have always been awesome. Always very strong and positive. It’s arguably the most involved the crowd gets out of most of my set list”, says the rapper.

Coming paired with a Tristan Zammit illustrated video, the pair pose as secret agents suited up fighting crime.

“I’ve been listening to Rico’s music since I was in high school so to have a collaboration with her, let alone on one of my favourite singles I’ve made is a blessing for real.”

Hailing from West Auckland, he is New Zealand’s highest streaming rapper with over 338 million Spotify streams and 205 million YouTube views – driven by a cult-like fanbase that stretches across continents. Lil Bubblegum’s blinding success has broken all of the rules of the music industry.

Following the runaway success of breakout 2020 single ‘guap‘, Lil Bubblegum found himself on the forefront of the ‘aesthetic rap’ movement-a group of Internet-savvy artists who took influence from the moody sonics of SoundCloud rap, as well as glitchy, kitsch visuals snatched from 2000s online archives. Lil Bubblegum’s woozy, monotone delivery and bleak instrumentals struck a chord with fans worldwide, with the vast majority of his listeners based in the United States – a notoriously difficult feat for a New Zealand hip-hop artist.

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Photo credit: Andre Kong