The other day, I was driving into Richmond for a show, and I noticed a big billboard hanging over Route 64. It was a picture of Mutant Academy, the great local indie-rap collective, and it said something like "Mutant Academy welcomes you to Richmond." This was one of those digital billboards that keeps changing, and it switched over before I got a better look. Still, it made me happy.
That billboard was presumably up there to promote Keep Holly Alive, Mutant Academy's first-ever full-group album, which came out in September. Now, Mutant Academy leader Fly Anakin has a new single of his own. Brooklyn-via-Detroit rapper/producer Quelle Chris was the only outside guest allowed to appear on Keep Holly Alive, and he produced Fly Anakin's "YOUGOTME!!"
"YOUGOTME!!" is a song about relationship stresses, and the beat and delivery both exist on the most nervously wormy side of the classic boom-bap spectrum. Its cover art is something rare: A picture of a guy wearing a shirt of a different record's cover art. It makes sense that Fly Anakin is a Scaring The Hoes fan. So am I. Listen below.
"YOUGOTME!!" is out now on Lex Records. Check out our 2022 Fly Anakin interview here.
