New Brooklyn-via-Barbados rapper Haleek Maul might not have the world's most glamorous press shot, but he's a name to watch out for. The East Coast Hip Hop scene is enjoying a rightful renaissance right now, not seen since the days when "Reasonable Doubt," "Ready To Die," and "Illmatic" were the jostling for space on the Billboard 100. New York rap has always been darker, nastier than its Tinseltown or Dirty South counterparts. It's the urban hell to their sunny reaches. Haleek Maul is like an East Coast Schoolboy Q, spitting his decadent and violent bars over the whipping beats and nightmarish synths provided by Chicago-based producers Supreme Cuts. Plus, he's also only 15-years-old. Lyrically, he taps into the same kind of teenage skunk-addled horrorcore that Odd Future takes so much flak for, but whereas with OF it feels like cultural trick-or-treating, there seems to be a kind of authenticity and conviction in what Maul is saying.His forthcoming, strongly-punned EP "Oxyconteen" is dropping on hip-as-fuck label Merok on June 14th. So when he's duetting with fellow Bajan Ri-Ri by this time next year, you can tell your younger siblings you heard him when he was still UG.Supreme Cuts - Gully (feat. Haleek Maul)@thugclive
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