EPICMUSTDIE - Members Only (Produced by Cardo & Lex Luger)

To come from southern California and carry a gangsta rapper’s swagger and stance but not have to rely on outright aggression can be a difficult task. To be a synthesist of both bares the mark of the Dr. Dres, MC Eihts and Dogg Pound Gangsters of old. For them, lying back in the cut is both a scary sight and something that’s done when they’re cool and collected. It’s this same aura that Compton’s EPICMUSTDIE projects. The Wiz Khalifa-cosigned rapper is both menacing and intimidating like the G-Funk sentinels of old, and carries the same laidback demeanor and calculation of a good Snoop Dogg performance. It’s all there — blunts, brass and brains.

For “Members Only,” the first single from his upcoming solo project, EPICMUSTDIE enlists producers Cardo and Lex Luger to lace him with a wavy beat to ash blunts and sip tall cans to. While both producers give him something to you can nod your head and kick back to, the young LA upstart fires back with bars that are antisocial and acidic. Still, he sounds like he’ll never lose his cool or break his calm. It’s a quality and style not many can pull off, but it’s something EPICMUSTDIE is coming close to perfecting.

You can listen to “Members Only” above, while EPICMUSTDIE’s new solo effort, ALEXANDER, is slated for release soon.