While 2025 was one of the most exciting years for the underground hip-hop scene in recent times with countless rappers cementing their legacy with career-defining projects, one name easily stands out from the crowd. The artist is none other than slayr. With albums such as “HeavenTunes,” and especially with the immense success of “Half Blood,” slayr emerged as the breakout star. He was able to carry on that momentum into 2026 with the drop of the follow-up project of his previous album “Half Blood (BloodLuxe).”
With the hype surrounding him as the hottest artist in the scene, slayr dropped “Avant Nova” on July 10, 2026. Released as the prelude to his upcoming feature-length album “Fabula Nova,” this project, which is the first since slayr’s major success of “Half Blood,” gives the audience a glimpse of the direction he is headed in terms of his sound.
With the rage music being the dominant sound in the underground hip-hop scene with artists such as OsamaSon and Nettspend who pushes for abrasiveness in quality as the most influential figures, slayr initially differentiated himself in “HeavenTunes” by creating a melodic rage sound which is easily accessible for larger audiences while maintaining the energy, density and layer of sound of the genre, positioning himself within the lineage of artists such as prettifun.
“Half Blood” and “BloodLuxe” showed further development of slayr in terms of his musicality as he prominently applied two elements: genre blending with hyperpop and digicore and constant use of transitions between each track.
While the overlap between hyperpop and rage has always existed with artists such as 2hollis, Jane Remover and Lucy Bedroque elevating it into mainstream in recent years, slayr’s approach is vastly different in the sense that he uses these sounds to imbue a level of expressiveness to his music that is highly rare within the rage genre. With nearly every rapper in the underground scene leaning into a mysterious and “nonchalant” persona, slayr’s attempts earned him the nickname “burger music,” coming off as cheesy to some fans. This is apparent in tracks such as “Love Blur” or “Died But Came Back,” often being described as whimsical.
Additionally, the transitions he uses to connect every song not only gives them a more dramatic quality, but also gives the audience a seamless listening experience. The most streamed song on the album, “Sloppy Joe,” benefited greatly from this with the last 40 seconds of the previous song, “Demigod,” being used for transitions.
“Avant Nova” does not try to break away from these elements. Rather, slayr leans into them further. From the very first track, “promise,” slayr samples underscores’ song “The Peace” from her album “U,” implying the influences that hyperpop and EDM scene has had on his music. Given his recent collaboration with Tiffany Day, slayr clearly seems committed to expanding his sound with hyperpop production.
Following “promise,” slayr smoothly transitions into the second track “switch my swag” featuring the pioneer of the musical lane that he is on, prettifun, giving one of the most memorable performances on the EP. These are more instances where slayr takes his defining characteristics and hones in on them further.
Generally, the conversation around slayr has been regarding his production. However, slayr showed great improvement in his flow as well in this EP with tracks such as “i got taste” where rather than relying on melodic lines as he usually does, slayr spits out what could easily be considered one of his most rhythmic bars with bouncy flows.
While the project does contain several memorable tracks, the concern that many of them feel predictable does remain. Aside from songs such as “promise” and “i got a taste,” most of them feel extremely repetitive from “Half Blood,” as if these were tracks left out of the album. This is excusable in the context of an EP. However, the upcoming album “Fabula Nova” will require a much more novel approach.
Slayr is undoubtedly an established artist with a distinct style that already has a tremendous influence on the scene with up-and-coming artists such as vax taking clear inspiration from him. “Avant Nova” takes his strengths and delves deeper, elevating him to a more complete artist.
Verdict: While it is certainly not his most ambitious project in terms of expanding his sound, Slayr’s newest EP “Avant Nova” vividly highlights the appeal of the artist’s music.
