Written by written by @bryce
Intro
Welcome back to Under 1 Million, a series of posts exploring some of my favorite artists that I think you should listen to, with under a million monthly listeners on Spotify.
A few years ago a close friend of mine sent me a Spotify link to an album I had never heard of. It was called “Ramona” by an artist named Kill Bill: The Rapper. I decided to give it a listen if for no other reason than because Ramona was a character from one of my favorite series, Scott Pilgrim. After giving it a listen I soon discovered it to be a great album by a great artist, that I’ve been following since. And, it’s turning 10 years old in just a few weeks! So let’s talk about him today.
Kill Bill: The Rapper, or simply Kill Bill, is a rapper from South Carolina, known for his indie rap and hip hop music. He’s one of the earliest members of the label / rap collective known as EXOCIETY, formerly known as Exordium Records.
He’s a frequent collaborator with other EXOCIETY members, namely founding member Rav, and another early member known as Scuare. To date, he’s worked on 13 albums, 17 singles / features, but probably even more that’s just the stuff that’s released on streaming. His most recent work is a collaborative album with Rav called “KEEP THE CHANGE!“, released June 20th, 2024, and his most recent solo work is an album called “FULLMETAL KAIJU“, released April 26th 2023 (one of his best albums to date btw). And while I do plan to cover the collaborative pieces at a later date, for now I’ll just be talking about his solo work.
Kill Bill: The Rapper’s sound and production
Being completely honest, I kind of had a hard time describing Kill Bill: The Rapper’s music. Every genre I could think of didn’t quite seem to contain who he is. He definitely has some variety. His production tends to have a lofi kind of sound, meaning it’s usually pretty chill, like in the songs “Black Coffee” or “ib“, but that’s not all he is. He can definitely have a more aggressive and loud sound, which can be heard on songs like “Let’s Bounce” or “ALL DUNGEONS NO DOORS“.
He even has a producer alter ego known as “Jinzo The Trap Lord”, known for hard hitting trap beats, who makes special appearances throughout many of his projects, namely “Resin“. Whatever style it is, every track is great and his production is always amazing, and I think it always compliments his deep and raspy vocals very well.
But something that’s pretty prevalent when listening to most of his music, is the kind of nerdcore, reference heavy, and culture loving sound. Kill Bill is a lover of media, just by scrolling through his twitter (which is hilarious and something you should definitely follow) you can see where many of his influences come from, and where his passions lie.
Anime, movies, video games, music, internet culture, it all leaves a mark on his work. I remember the first time I listened to the song “False Swipe” and was taken aback by how dense and layered it is with references to pretty much all facets of culture and media, it’s a perfect example for what I’m talking about. I remember being baffled when I heard what I’m pretty sure is an item pickup sound effect from Super Smash Bros Brawl at about 0:58.
Kill Bill: The Rapper’s Themes and Lyrics
Kill Bill: The Rapper is an artist that’s not afraid of tackling tough and complex themes. His music often features emotionally charged, very vulnerable, and very self aware lyrics. He frequently dives into themes of love, loss, sobriety, and all the complexities faced throughout day to day life. Heck, as I was writing this and listening to his discography, the track “Simple” came on and nearly brought me to tears. His lyrics can be very introspective, and sometimes when listening, it feels like it’s inviting me to take a look at myself and connect with my own emotions.
But ultimately, what I find to be truly captivating about Kill Bill as an artist is that his albums truly feel like it’s more than music, like it’s more of an experience. I know that that can sound kind of like a generic or cringey thing to say, but I really don’t say that lightly. Listening to a Kill Bill: The Rapper album front to back can truly immerse you in a way unlike anything else.
His incredible homemade feeling production in combination with the vulnerable lyricism makes for a feeling like I’m talking to a friend, bringing back memories of staying up all night at my computer desk, talking to my friends about whatever came up over a discord voice chat even though I had to get up and go to school in a few hours. I can’t think of any other artist that does something like that to me.
Outro
And that’s it! I think that, somewhat fittingly, this Under 1 Million feature ended up being a bit more abstract and introspective than past entries. I hope that throughout this I’ve convinced you that Kill Bill: The Rapper is an artist worthy of your attention, especially if you’re a fan of indie rap, or music with emotional depth. If you’re looking for an artist who isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and have some fun, Kill Bill: The Rapper might be what you’re looking for.
If you read this and think that Kill Bill might be for you, I’d recommend starting with “FULLMETAL KAIJU“, as I personally think it’s the album that encapsulates what he’s all about the best, or maybe even “Ramona“, that’s what got me hooked and it’s probably one of my favorite projects ever. From there it’s up to you, between him and the rest of EXOCIETY (which I plan on writing about in the future), there’s plenty to explore. And depending where you live, you might be even to catch him and Rav on tour, you can get tickets here, if you’re going to the SLC show I’ll see you there! I trust that it’s gonna be a great show.
Kill Bill is an incredibly friendly and funny guy, and there’s plenty of other places you can support him as well, which I fully encourage you to do. Like I mentioned earlier, he’s pretty active on twitter, and he streams pretty often on twitch too (he’s even live right now as I’m writing this), or you can just checkout his linktree here. Make sure to check those out, read my other Under 1 Million features here on The Groove Grounds, and give “FULLMETAL KAIJU” a listen below.