Listen to Cash Cobain & Bay Swag’s “Fisherrr”: New Rap Music Today

Cash Cobain & Bay Swag: “Fisherrr”

Back in the mid-2010s, there were particular rappers who built their mythos around leaks and low-quality snippets—Young Thug and Playboi Carti, specifically—but now pretty much everyone plays that game. If a rapper has a fanbase, then it’s almost a guarantee that there is also a frenzied black market for unreleased songs and ripped Instagram previews. It’s so overwhelming that these days I rarely consume music this way.

Cash Cobain and Bay Swag’s “Fisherrr” has been the exception. I knew pretty much every word weeks before it was released, shuffling around several 15-to-20-second snippets until they fit like a tangram. It was because of Cash Cobain’s beat, dreamy yet jerky, the kind of slow-building rhythm that makes you want to fantasize about the last person you flirted with. Then there’s Cash and Bay Swag’s killer back-and-forth. The two Queens boys sweetly—and very provocatively—blur the lines between thirst and romance, from the backhanded compliment on the opening line to Cash calling a girl thick in a way only someone who grew up in the Caribbean enclaves of New York would: “And yo’ ass fat I know you eat your rice and your cabbage, too.” This all happens before the beat even drops, which takes nearly two minutes and sends the song into another gear of debauchery. The leaks and snippets and blurry TikTok clips didn’t do it justice.

With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace, it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear.

Check out previous Ones, and listen to new rap from Cash Cobain, Bay Swag, and more on our Spotify playlist.