Filipino rapper OJ River of Bawal Clan has released a new solo track, ‘Mainit’.
The song arrived on streaming services today, June 4. On ‘Mainit’, River raps in a hypnotic monotone over moody hip-hop production from Skev, with trap snares, keys, thumping bass and the occasional blaring siren.
Listen to ‘Mainit’ by OJ River below.
‘Mainit’ is the Bawal Clan rapper’s latest single, following May’s ‘Walang Problema’. The two recent singles are OJ River’s first wave of new releases of 2021 after last year’s ‘Talampunay’.
In March, Bawal Clan released a bloody, intense music video for their track ‘LaPain’ with Owfuck. The video was directed by Gian Mawo and marked the first music video from Bawal Clan and Owfuck’s collaborative 2020 album ‘Ligtas’.
The project ranked ninth on NME’s 25 best Asian albums of 2020 list. “Bawal Clan and Owfuck deliver aspirational rap grounded in dim reality: music that’s jaded and feverishly impatient at the same time,” NME’s MC Galang wrote.
After releasing ‘Ligtas’, Bawal Clan dropped in September a politically charged two-track ‘FUCK 12’ EP that addressed social injustice and police brutality in the Philippines and the United States. The EP was followed up by a standalone track entitled ‘Bangungot’ in late October.