The Bronx has yet another new rising star
In the Summer of Sexy Drill, artists from all over are trying their hand at the infectious NYC sound pioneered by Cash Cobain. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the best takes is coming from a fellow Bronx-native in 21-year-old Baby Osamaa.
Throughout the year Osamaa has been gaining traction with her own fresh twist on the sound of the moment, feeding the streets with a string of impressive singles including “I DONT MEAN IT,” “Free Max B” and “Line Em Up” as well as a standout On The Radar appearance and countless snippets and social media clips showcasing her boundary-pushing style and highly entertaining personality.
With each release, her melodic autotune flows over innovative sexy drill production feel familiar and strikingly fresh at the same time, while adding a whole new dimension to the slizzy subgenre with catchy melodies and her uniquely fiery yet feminine point of view forged in the BX – culminating on her new tape SEXC SUMMER.
With the demand for sexy drill at an all time high in the summer of 2024, now was the perfect time for a well-rounded, authentically New York project from the female perspective to explore some of the untapped pockets within the sound. Throughout the project, punctuated by the familiar sounds of drill stomps, asymmetrical hi-hats and the punchiest of drums, Baby Osamaa effortlessly strings together dense, slang-heavy phrases over cleverly selected samples ranging from Max B to Bobby Brown with the cool confidence and uncensored charisma of a true BX native – painting an unforgiving and refreshingly relatable picture of young love in the big city.
The production on the tape comes from a talented cast of NYC producers at the forefront of the sound including R2R Moe-staple Eddy Rivers, ZOEUP, Bvndo, jah!, luvkris, and frequent duo Cash Kelly & Uh Oh Dee. Across the tight 9-song tracklist Osamaa offers a range of sounds: in some moments vibing out of over soul samples on “Just Stay With Me” and “Body,” and in others really rapping clever, tough-nosed bars on tracks like “Line Em Up” and “Free Max B.” Some of the tape’s most quotable lines can be found on “If I See U With Her Pt. 2” with lines like “Don’t let me see you with that girl, Ima really air it out” and “Baby boy watch your mouth, cuz your mom and your dad ain’t jackin me in your house.” And on the closing track “So Real,” she slows all the way down and taps into her lower register over minimal piano-led production – ending the tape on a high note with essentially an anti-love song so steamy we might as well call it sultry drill.
Baby Osamaa’s second-ever project feels like a perfectly executed 19-minute walk through her world, immersing listeners into the current NYC soundscape and painting a gritty picture of what it’s like to love and lose as a no-nonsense young woman in 2024. Since its release she’s gained a ton of new fans and glowing cosigns from outlets like The Fader and Pitchfork, as well as becoming the face of Spotify’s Fresh Finds: Hip Hop and Soundcloud’s Femcees playlist. Wasting no time before her next move, she’s already begun teasing new sounds well beyond sexy drill – leaving plenty left to uncover about one of New York’s most promising new faces.
Listen to Baby Osamaa’s SEXC Summer below