Tobias Hess, aka tobias for now, is a new name on the increasingly appreciated LGBTQ+ Hip-Hop scene, whose humorous lyrics, playful production and uncompromising celebration of all things queer marks him out as true talent. Prior to releasing his debut (and brilliantly named) album, JAZZ/SEX/SOUP, Hess had shared just two tracks, including 'Jumping' featuring hot shot Rome Fortune. Under the mentorship of Kip Blackshire (who has worked with Prince and Dr. Dre), this teenage producer and rapper has worked at finding a sound that’s entirely his own, one that’s true to his life and doesn’t have to conform to Hip-Hop’s stereotypes. That’s actually a topic that the Californian artist emanates in our chosen LP track ‘Typhoon’, which cleverly inverts many of the genre’s misguided tropes. Sex, money, fame, violence, drugs; not much escapes tobias for now’s parody. However, just because he’s pulling the jokes out left, right and centre, that hasn’t taken away from the superb production, with its back-and-forth beat, trap stutters and sweet synths, or even Hess’ ability as a rapper to express himself through various tones, tempos and levels of vocabularic prowess. Although you should definitely set aside time to listen to the whole of his LP, for the impatient listener we highly recommend ‘Sex!’, ‘The Gay Kanye’ and of course ‘Typhoon’. - HT