In February of 2017, Los Angeles rapper Annimeanz was introduced to rap fans as one of AllHipHop’s esteemed Breeding Ground spotlight artists. From time to time we will keep an eye out for these artists to see what has become of them since their Features. Some have gone on to big things like Ab-Soul from TDE and others have fallen out of the industry – and then there those who have continued to build and develop their careers like West Coast Hispanic artist Annimeanz. Since his Breeding Ground spotlight, Annimeanz has been further spotlighted in Los Angeles area outlets The L.A. Weekly and O.C. Weekly and took to the road to travel from California to states like Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to build a base of Hispanic support. With Hispanics being the largest growing demographic in those states, Annimeanz put his focus not only on building up a fanbase but has also become one of the leading acts to evolve the sound of what is considered by the industry to be “Chicano rap” into a mainstream sound heard on the radio and in the cars of every hood in America. The release of videos and album projects from Cudahy Dopeboy I & II, The Murder Business, The Architect, Summer 19, and Crack Rock Soul reached a combined total of a million views on YouTube.
With his latest project Crack Rock Bounce, Annimeanz feels he is at a place where he deserves to be in the conversation with other top emcees coming out of the West Coast and when you listen to his album and how his flow and song structure have developed since The Murder Business was reviewed by us and given high remarks in June 2017, he has a case. Although Hispanics are a high demographic and many Latin artists have made a living selling to that audience, the genre itself has taken a backseat to the rap industry and has been treated like a step-child in many cases. Every once in awhile a station on the West Coast will show love to a song here and there. Annimeanz had some radio spins with his singles “Like The Westside” and “Bad 1” which was also picked up by The Core DJ’s and given their support. On the East Coast, Puerto Ricans have had artists break out into mainstream and radio but on the West Coast, it has been a long time since a Hispanic Mexican has enjoyed mainstream success. For the longest time the excuse has been that Hispanic/Chicano Rap was unrelatable to anyone outside that culture but with the sound that Annimeanz and other artists like Flight Mob are bringing, you have a new direction of a sound that is still cultured yet relatable for all hip-hop cultures to enjoy – kind of like how D Smoke makes music that the African American hip-hop crowd can feel yet manages to appeal to Hispanics at the same time.
The message is loud and clear with Crack Rock Bounce: West Coast Hispanics are here and they will not be ignored or treated as a sub-group in Hip-Hop. All things adapt and change and there is an entire new wave of young Latinos who can flow and craft songs for all to play and bump in their rides. Take a listen to Crack Rock Bounce and decide for yourselves if it’s worthy of your continual entertainment.
