Chiptune Charged Up Boom Bap as MC Zappa Turned Hypocrisy Inside Out in ‘Why?’  –

In MC Zappa’s Why?, featuring Hakeem Shakur, old school boom bap is pushed through an 8bit prism until it hits with a vibe-heavy voltage that flashes between nostalgia and razor-edged commentary. The wit and conviction threaded through the lyricism shape a delivery that lands with its own swagger, but the cadence becomes the real accelerant. The MC locks into the rhythm with the kind of cheeky, almost Machiavellian adrenaline that turns each bar into something sharper than the last.

As the old school instrumentals settle into a nostalgia-soaked polyphonic groove, the bars widen the cracks in modern hate and the contradictions dressed up as Christianity, exposing the irony and hypocrisy that sit beneath the sermon tone some people hide behind. The upbeat, meandering melodies move in the way chiptune always has, but here they serve as a foil to the lyrical weight instead of diluting it.

The track carries that rare mix of snarl and playfulness. It keeps its own swagger while still framing the lines of spiritual enquiry with enough intention to leave the questions lingering long after the last hook. As much as the momentum points toward whatever MC Zappa lines up next, the call for the people he puts in the firing line to answer back grows louder. There is something delicious in the idea of hearing them attempt to clap back against the audacity and the clarity he brings to the subject.

Beyond the release, MC Zappa’s work comes from years of shaping his own lane as an American rapper, producer, and filmmaker. His self-coined Bit Hop sound merges golden age hip hop with 8-bit video game textures, forming a style that refuses to sit still and refuses to water itself down.

Why? is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Music and YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast