Rapper's Delight: Reyn

posted in: Features • Urban

West coast hip hop is a well known and well respected sub-genre in the realm of rap. Starting in 1981 with Duffy Hook’s Rappers Rapp Records and then evolving to the likes of N.W.A., the Pharcyde, Jurassic 5 and many others, West roast rap has come a long way. More recently, OurStage artist Reyn is emerging out of Los Angeles with a style of his own. Reyn aims to push uniquely perceptive lyrics while keeping his commercial and universal appeal. Don’t let his easygoing style fool you”his delivery packs a punch. “Lyfe feat. Mic Illusion and Eddie Tate” for example, talks about the troubles of day-to-day life between a smooth, R&B-influenced, chorus crooning “come take a look inside of my life.”

One thing that separates Reyn from other LA hip hop acts is his commitment to creating family-friendly music. He stays away from offensive content and keeps all of it radio friendly and relatable. More interesting, perhaps, is his commitment to creating original music; that’s right, he doesn’t use samples at all. Both of these facts are a testament to his skill: it’s not easy to make radio-friendly music while staying relevant, and it’s downright difficult to make your own beats at his level without sampling from other artists.

Reyn’s hard work has attracted him a bit of a following here at Ourstage. Give “Pray feat. Jason Damato and Toyanna Holloway” a listen (we posted it below for you)” it finished third in our Alternative Hip Hop Channel last February. That’s no easy feat, as you probably know, so show Reyn some love and check out his other songs too.