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Boogie The Reach Self Released

10.07.15

With a viral semi-hit in the form of Oh My and a distinctive flow, Compton rapper Boogie looked like a prime candidate to join the ranks of OT Genasis and Chedda Da Connect – mixtape artists scrabbling to build a bankable career out of seven-figure YouTube hits through a mixture of clunky cosigns and copious tweeting.

It’s a hustle he explicitly rejects on Wit Me: “I’m like “Nigga you weak, you think you poppin’ off that shit that you tweet? / You buying followers, you niggas is creeps”. On The Reach, Boogie seems less concerned with turning his sound into something profitable and more interested in honing in on it. His unusual, lisping intonation fits as perfectly in to the street-rap anthem blueprint of Oh My as it does the melodious unpremeditated delivery that plays out on cuts like God’s Work and Change.

As a tape, Boogie’s style fluctuates too much for this to be a real game-changer but the standard is high enough to build Boogie a future past the clicks. He’s frequently been called one of the West Coast’s most slept-on rappers. There’s a feeling that existing in the periphery is the aim for the time being. Followers and favourites will come in time – for a rapper so versatile, nailing a sound of his own is the most exciting move Boogie could make.