SAMPLEDDuncecap went from the karma kids to Go Climb A Tree without losing the joke
The Brooklyn-by-way-of-New-Jersey rapper writes emotionally intelligent material that still sounds like it is having fun.
Duncecap was born in Union County, New Jersey and is based in Brooklyn. He spent his early career in the irreverent rap crew we are the karma kids, and the irreverence never fully left — which is a feature, given how humorless experimental rap can get.
The company he keeps
Since then he has released several albums working with Quelle Chris, billy woods, ELUCID, AKAI SOLO and Curly Castro. That list is essentially a map of the same downtown-to-Brooklyn network Backwoodz has been documenting for a decade.
Go Climb A Tree
His newest work is a full collaboration with producer Hajino. The label's read is that Hajino's idiosyncratic production highlights what makes Dunce distinct: the ability to deliver emotionally intelligent introspection in the register of experimental hip-hop, without either half canceling the other out.
That balance is rarer than it sounds. Most rappers pick a lane — funny or serious, weird or open — and stay there. Dunce moves between them inside a single verse.
Where to start
Start with Go Climb A Tree and work backward through the guest appearances. If you like the way the Backwoodz roster treats a beat as an argument rather than a bed, he will land.
His artist page is here (opens in a new tab).