Bop is Chicago's newest hip-hop craze, a hyperreal Day-Glo mash-up of club music, bouncy hip-hop beats, sing-a-long party anthems and lots - LOTS - of autotune. Sicko Mobb, the duo of Lil Ceno and Lil Trav, are the scene's most visible artists, and they have honed the sound to perfection across the two volumes of their Super Saiyan mixtape series. If it wasn't for Sicko Mobb, bop would have been a passing craze, a silly bubblegum sub-genre that was fun for a while but never really went anywhere. But as they have become increasingly famous, the duo have shown an ability to make the initially skeletal sound of the genre into something truly glossy, vibrant and even garishly danceable. Guest spots from Lil Durk, Rick Ross and other major figures granted them a platform for success, and their own abilities allowed them to follow up on that potential. The best thing about Sicko Mobb is how happy they sound. Hip-hop is so frequently dark - because, y'know, darkness, violence, introspection and the like are cool and subversive - but Sicko Mobb's music is utterly fun and revels in its party-celebrating atmosphere. Even if you don't take the time to listen to their full mixtapes - and you absolutely should - then at least have a listen to their autotuned guest appearance on Future Brown's Big Homie. Fun and weird, Sicko Mobb are going places. No doubt.
