Niontay, notorious rapper and mumbleman, released his debut album Fada<3of$, a play on ‘for the love of money,’ April 25. The rapper is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the New York underground, as he is part of MIKE’s 10k label and cohort.
But Niontay couldn’t be more different from his peers, whose primary focus is jazz loops and meditative lyricism. Niontay’s twitchy flows and boastful lyrics have provided the perfect contrast to 10k’s ruminations for the past few years he’s been in the scene.
Initially, Niontay announced his album alongside the single “mumbleman.” The track cheekily comments on his hazy mumble rap style, with Niontay saying “I done slept walk to the bag.” Even further, the lyrics for the song feature question marks when his rhymes are especially hazy. This single served as the confident first look at Niontay’s debut album, where he promises to embrace his unconventional style. With the album, Niontay unleashes these abilities across 19 bite-sized tracks.
The record still sports usual Niontay conventions. In songs like “MR.HAVEMYWAY,” “GMAN balaclava(like09),” and “Stuntin’ like my baba,” Niontay’s flows create a dizzying frenzy out of explosive trap beats. Overall, this album features the rapper’s best production yet. The songs have a raw, demo-like feel, which service Niontay’s wiry vocals on tracks such as “Top da top” and “Vice grip”.
Still, the real highlight of Fada<3of$ is the variety of styles present. And it makes sense; Niontay has always been a renaissance man. Despite channeling his overall style from places as far apart as Florida and Detroit, the rapper easily found his place in the moody New York underground.
Niontay uses these same Darwinistic abilities in order to meld himself with different kinds of beats in this album. The bellowing loop of “X-factor” sounds more akin to an early-era MIKE cut, but Niontay commandeers the track with just as much skill. “So lovely” is practically a ballad, where Niontay sings a juvenile love letter in the chorus.
Even further, “Souljaman by Smv” is a breezy R&B cut that doesn’t even feature Niontay, perfectly showing the many personalities of the album.
On the other hand, Fada<3of$’s features bring some rappers in the underground circle out of their comfort zone. In “Poltergeist,” Niontay and Jadasea blend together under a heavy-fisted trap beat. With “Triangle offensive,” Niontay joins forces with MAVI and Sideshow in an all out assault that will excite fans of any of these artists.
Overall, it’s this supreme merging of styles and artists that makes Fada<3of$ so special. The many personas of Niontay and his colla
borators create an expansive world out of this album. It’s an impressive feat on its own that in his debut album, Niontay can bring his peculiar mumble style to grand proportions, but it’s even greater that an album of such variety can feel so cohesive. If anything is clear, it’s that Niontay is breaking boundaries in the underground scene, and he isn’t someone to look past.
