Suriel Releases Old School-esque Hip Hop Mixtape “Blank Slate”

News · January 23, 2019

Old School Hip Hop is Back

If you’re in the need for throwback vibes with a little more charisma, Suriel is your man. From Lynn, Massachusetts, the hip hop artist does not disappoint when it comes to understanding the elements of a hip hop album. Originally born as Wilson Suriel, the independent American hip hop artist develops a style familiar to that of the east coast vibe that echoes against the urban environment of Boston. With influences stemming from legends such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, J. Cole, Drake, Wiz Khalifa, and Big Sean, the young artist strives to make his own lane in the ever-growing genre.

Suriel’s debut EP Rise was released back in December of 2017. After the drop, he gained a solid buzz from the surrounding neighborhoods around him in Massachusetts’ hip hop scene. Already, the artist has received radio play for his singles “Rockland St.” and “Ghetto Dreams”, as well as earned streams across the nation and the globe. Suriel’s debut mixtape Blank Slate was shared on October 19, 2018 and has since been named by WBUR as “Top 7 hiphop albums in Boston”. (Now that’s high praise.)

From his music, you can tell that the artist doesn’t play around. In fact, you can hear the grit and the grind in the emphasis he puts on the words, while also caressing each rhythm with the smooth sound of his voice. Using witty lyrics with a vicious bite, Suriel demonstrates a control of the sound and production of his music. Similar to that of J. Cole, Nick Grant, and Logic, Suriel embraces their power to bring a compilation of tracks that tell very vivid stories as we hear between the lines.

Of the tracks on this project, my favorites are “$tack$” and “Rockland St.” Each have their own, stand-out personality that then come to life as he matches the words to the rhythm, and each are dreamy, raw, and poetic tracks that demonstrate the diversity of Blank Slate as a mixtape and the level of creativity that Suriel is willing to experiment with on his projects.