Rich Music Cartel Releases Album "#CartelShxt Vol.2"

It doesn’t take long to notice that there are a lot of “legacy” rappers in the Athens hip hop scene, passing down genes to spit fire and hunger for the mic from an early age. So it’s no wonder that one of the new generations stepping up to the plate is led by Rich Music Cartel, a group of artists with deep local roots that formed in January 2017 (hey, so did we!).

RMC—made up of Lil Kell, Anime Zayy, Kash Mufasa, MarDolla with affiliates Mighty Mal, BIGOD, and 2RawBallout—released the album #CartelShxt Vol.2 on all platforms last Wednesday followed by an album release showcase held at Vega Studios. The performances felt like a family affair, and considering so many young hip hop groups don’t last, the dedication in RMC can be seen and felt in the energy they bring together.

“The goal is to all make something of ourselves around the same time, even though it’s hard to do. We work with each other nonstop to get each other better, as we should, cause if one blows, we all do. It’s already so much hate in the city of Athens, so we know we have to stick together,” said Lil Kell.

The album opens with the unifying track “Since 2017” and progresses through some expected and some quite surprising vibes. There’s a mix of trap beats and smooth RnB flows, and then there’s a fun but jarring switch up with “#PartyTheCartelWay” that features a Miley Cyrus sample.

This year has been buzzing with releases and performances from Anime Zayy and Lil Kell, who can usually be seen supported by the other members of RMC wherever they go. Tension can build between the brands of individual artists and whole groups, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

“It’s kinda easier making a group project because you know you won’t have to wait for a song to get finished versus doing a solo project waiting to get a feature back. Also finding beats has a better process together than alone,” said Lil Kell. “It was time that we got the world to also look at the other talents we have close to us beyond the two [Anime Zayy and Lil Kell] just dropping their solo projects. In the end, we are a group/label, so it’s best if we create a group project together.”

Now under the management of Ant Da Ripper, the group is learning lessons about staying on their grind and the process of spending money to make money. With such a busy year full of releases so far, we can expect to see a lot more coming from RMC.

Listen to #CartelShxt Vol.2 now and follow Rich Music Cartel on Instagram for updates.