The track is half serious, half party. But throughout, Joshua Hatkins flexes his lyrical talent and vocal variety. Joshua’s greatest strengths throughout his debut track, “Time to Waste”, is the electronic slamming beat, his ear for interesting production, and the double-edged imagery he uses in his lyrics. The Portland, Oregon based rapper is diverse, enigmatic and just intriguing to listen to.
I particularly love the fact that Joshua Hatkins is able to make music that is exciting and noticeably different from other hip hop artists. Being his first official track, we can’t yet be sure how lyrically gifted he really is but what he has in bucket loads is charisma.
The appeal that lies in Joshua as an artist is his persona and his unique flow. Yes it’s slightly experimental, yes, its pretty catchy; and yes, it’s the easiest, most comprehensible track you will hear this year, but it is undeniably great, for those very same reasons.
Two things can happen with “Time to Waste”. This track is either going to take off like wildfire, catching everybody by surprise because of its quaint style and smartly ambiguous presentation, or it’s going to take a really long while to penetrate the mainstream, being so far removed from the hip-hop stereotypes everyone have become so used to. Nothing scares the clichéd chain and rim hip hop gang more than change and diversity.
If your first impression on hearing the name Joshua Hatkins is that he is just another mainstream cheap hip-pop styled artist, you couldn’t be more wrong. Clean your ears out and give him a proper listen.
What will impress you the most about Joshua is his ability rap with a tongue-in-cheek twist, in a totally deadpan style while still being able to utilize the full range of his emotions. He is putting out some of the smartest, most innovative lyrics and beats today, while his larger than life persona is all over the track and video clip.
“Time to Waste” is a more than worthwhile listen for anyone who likes alternative hip hop styles, especially highly charged and electronically infused.
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