Kenny Beats may be the perfect producer for Q Da Fool. Last year’s fastest-rising beatmaker, Kenny possesses the chameleonic ability to match most any rapper musically while retaining his own dirty, low-end thump. With JPEGMAFIA, that means metal-edged sludge accented by the synths of British grime; with Rico Nasty, it means chasing her energy with sparse, loud hits, highlighting her without crowding her half-yelled flow. On Bad Influence, Kenny’s six-track EP with Q Da Fool, it means trap-indebted, percussion-oriented beats that carry weight, letting Q settle into the pockets of every groove.
Q has risen to the top of the DMV’s ascendant rap scene, but, on a collaboration with Atlanta street king Zaytoven last year, he eschewed the regional tonality that gave him his initial break. Still, on last year’s standout track “Heavy Metal,” he solidified his place not as a mere area talent riding the wave of an increasingly popular scene but instead one of the nation’s most exciting acts. He matches machine gun beats with menacing one-liners like, “If we was beefin’, you’d be dead/So don’t say my name.” Q’s blend of terror and excitement gives his tracks immediacy. On the best parts of Bad Influence, he commands the same attitude and attention.
“Drop,” the opener, serves as an apt summary of Q Da Fool’s interests. Over a flute sample and the hi-hat triplet so crucial to trap beats, he doesn’t mince words: “Got her legs up/Like a Tesla truck/Bitch said I fucked her bed up/Made her catch the nut.” The imagery is unsavory, but Q’s electric delivery and playful eye for details allow him to color the scene with flamboyance and gravitas. During the trap-inspired “100,” neither Kenny nor Q let up for two quick minutes. Q’s flow boosts the enthusiasm of his strongest lines—cocky without becoming off-putting, more charisma than braggadocio. Q sounds even more confident in his own voice on “Win,” using the same approach that took him toward the top of the DMV heap in the first place. Over wispy synths, he presses ahead in a vivacious double-time flow.
When Q approaches the sing-song method of regionless rap birthed and developed by SoundCloud rappers untethered to place, Bad Influence drifts off course. “Had Shit” relies too heavily on Auto-Tune, the effect interrupting Q’s flow and swallowing his energy. Still, as a whole, Bad Influence is another win for Q Da Fool, a course correction after last year’s effort with Zaytoven. When he abandoned his bread and butter to match the producer’s melodic stomp, he pulled shakily him away from his most engaging styles. It’s reassuring to know it wasn’t permanent. At his best here, Q realizes that home isn’t necessarily a place but instead a concept—the sound peerless and singular, distinctly personal yet universally relatable. More and more, it belongs to Q Da Fool.
