Over the last six months, a new rising star has quietly emerged out of Florida. Seemingly out of nowhere, 15-year-old Percaso is quickly rising through the ranks on the back of his impressively polished sound at the critical intersection between the streets and the underground. From his grown look, to his poised bars and keen ear for forward thinking production, Percaso is operating at a level well beyond his years – and people are taking note.
After hitting the radar in 2023 with standout single “On Deck,” Perc has kept his foot on the gas with a steady series of impressive singles culminating in his latest project, MGN (released June 28th). A street-first artist with a keen understanding of the underground, his sound channels the popular flows of artists like Luh Tyler and Lil Tony combined with a wide range of progressive production that feels intensely fresh and perfectly positioned for success in 2024. And just off a national tour with the Concrete Boys, a whole new wave of fans are just beginning to get hip to the hottest 15-year-old in Florida.
With so much going on at a young age, it’s not surprising that Percaso (often referring to himself as “KK”) has an interesting backstory. Born in Italy, he was raised in the Domican Republic before settling in the Orlanda-area of Florida. It was there that he began to explore the idea of music both in the local scene and online, particularly in various discord servers amongst many familiar names in the underground – likely where he developed his taste for out-of-the-box underground production. For example, his first-ever track in 2022 opened with the iconic ATL-underground “Plugg!” ad lib.
KK really began to find his stride in 2023 with the release of his projects MHM and Fifteen, for the first time applying his gritty Florida-jit flow over stuttery drums on tracks like “Everybody in the Club T’d” and “Rollin Thru the Bity.” Later he would use the same formula with tracks like “Dark Nights,” “F*ck Dat Jerk Shi” and most notably “Chilli” – a standout on his latest project and easily one of the best and most listenable tracks to come out of the new Jerk wave.
Despite his use of the sound, there’s no mistaking Percaso for a “jerk rapper.” His breakout track “On Deck” (released in February) has no stutter drums in sight, just a relentless flow and a beat that sounds suspiciously similar to that of Vonoff1700; essentially confirming he can hold his own with the best new street artists of the moment. In the following months he continued to flex his versatility with well-constructed (no-jerk) singles like “Evil Dreams” and “Change,” and even going full Drumless for “Glee’s n P’s” and “Money Gettin N****” – the title track of his new tape which was featured on stream with popular streamer, PlaqueBoyMax.
Instead of opting for a one-note tape, with MGN he continued to round out his sound with a variety of interesting production choices: from the progressive dark ATL trap production on “KK” and “Poison Tree,” to the upbeat squeaky-bed beat on “That Shit Dead,” to the alternative sampling “Downey.” He even adopted the infectious Milwaukee claps for “Dark Nights, Pt. 2,” all the while dropping real bars, staying true to his core sound, and creating an original style that feels perfectly “of the moment” the way few artists have been able to do in 2024.
At just 15-years-old, it’s safe to say Percaso is off to an auspicious start. With a hugely compelling original sound, a national tour under his belt, and new cosigns rolling in daily, there’s no question that KK is one of the youngest and most promising new faces to watch this year.
Listen Percaso’s new project MGN below