Okay I'm gonna try my hand at this...
The group/media imprint/record label? (think G.O.O.D music) is 88 Rising (often seen as 88⬆) which focuses on signing, promoting, aggregating attention for primarily Asian artists. They released a posse album this week Head in the Clouds (HITC to save time) which I will cover, but first some background.
Some artists signed to the label/in the group are:
Rich Brian (formerly Rich Chigga) - Probably the most or second most notable he's an Indonesian rapper, not a whole lot to squabble about other than he has dabbled in production the last year and is providing some refreshing sounds to his surprisingly deep voice.
Joji - This would be the other artist that is most likely to be known here; he's Filthy Frank / Pink Guy. Joji is his actual musical pursuits that are primarily lo-fi crooning. Since he stopped smoking his vocals have improved and he's becoming a relatively serviceable r&b vocalist that I would argue provides above average work on hooks.
Keith Ape - Keith was the first to find his individual success musically of the group, or rather the one to go the farthest with individual efforts, due to his 2015 hip-hop hit
It G Ma which is nothing more than an ignorant banger. It's on my gym rap playlist, it is mostly ad libs, yelling, and a language I don't personally understand. I love it and the beat keeps me coming back.
Higher Brothers - A four piece Chinese hip-hop group (MaSiWei, DZKnow, Psy.P, and Melo)... within this group... that makes some pretty modern hip-hop but it's basically all in Chinese. They have many features from modern artists like Ski Mask The Slump God, Famous Dex, and.... well this is probably the group most won't be interested in unless you just want hip-hop and trap beats... They're the fast food of the group -- there is talent here but they're relegated to a guilty pleasure most often.
Onto the lesser known artists in the group on the tape;
August 08 - If you look into anything on here this is the artist to look into. Individually August 08's album FATHER is beautiful. His singing is beautiful. The album centers around the emotions of when his father left him and his mother, the production is beautiful, the singing ranges from contemporary pop to beeeeaaaautiful singing. Really enjoyed this album.
NIKI - Fairly pop music, pretty commercial, her 2018 effort Zephyr sounds like 00's pop, but in a good way? Her work on HITC is mostly backup to quite a few artists, but her song
Warpaint could pass as a MO (with the /) song if you're into that.
On to the rest...
Album: Head in the Clouds
An album they consider a "family album" as described by the group where the core of those listed above (minus Keith Ape) spent six weeks straight in the studio working on their parts. It features some remixes to already released hits which include:
Famous Dex - Japan 88 (feat. Verbal and Keith Ape) (in that order on the song)
The song is carried by the production and "aesthetic" I would argue, but the original single did very well so... here it is.
Phum Viphurit - Lover Boy 88 (feat. Higher Brothers) (Phum is the crooner on this track)
The original Lover Boy is a great tune. Phum's singing is wonderful, MaSiWei opens the track with his voice that can get annoying... DZKnow's singing (the Chinese sung section) is beautiful, and shows where a lot of the musical talent in the group resides.
It also has of course some original music by the artists that showcases each of their talents while maintaining an overall aesthetic to the album. I will keep the list short but below are the standouts.
Rich Brian - History
A nice little hip-hop track by him, pretty average lyrics, but the production on what could pass for elevator music provides a nice background to the track on love. Brian never ascends to great heights on this song, but it's catch and fits the atmosphere of this summer themed album.
Joji, Rich Brian, Higher Brothers, August 08 - Midsummer Madness
Midsummer Madness was the first single to be released for this album that showcases the members that provide the bulk of this albums content. It showcases the summer theme of this album; Joji has great singing and a wonderful hook, August 08 has clean vocals and flow on his verse, Rich Brian stays pretty average with his bars during his verse, and DZKnow closes it out showing that he's a more than capable singer.
Overall the album can feel immature due to the youth of the group but as far as albums representative of a season HITC reaches some pretty satisfying highs and showcases the diverse talents of 88 Rising's members as well as the ambition it has as a label. They're following up this release with a small festival in September featuring all of the artists on the album (minus Phum Viphurit) and with the addition of a few other including Laff Trax (Toro y Moi and Nosaj Thing).
I'm not sure how the music will age realistically but I've found myself returning to much of their individual work, and I foresee myself returning to quite a few of these tracks similarly. Moreover a lot of the personalities involved on this album are very endearing, and I've found myself simply loving the 88 Rising brand. I expect to see Brian and Joji reaching more mainstream appeal over time, and perhaps even some for the likes of NIKI and August 08. Either way it was cool reviewing these guys and I might do another one on some other releases, we'll see.