The FADER’s “Songs You Need” are the tracks we can’t stop playing. Check back every day for new music and follow along on our Spotify playlist.
Last year, the rap world was shaken up by "Shake Dat," a club song from Zahsossa, Baltimore producer DJ Crazy, and D Sturdy, one-third of the local group Philly Goats. It took an oblique approach to energy: stripped-down with a charged BPM and gun-loading sound effects as verses from the two rappers came at a submachine rate over the sustained flute notes of the lead melody. “X Em," the new song from the fully-assembled Philly Goats — D Sturdy with PG and PGS Spence — takes a different tack. DJ Crazy's beat announces the song's whirlwind fury from the first electric piano notes, a sped-up version of a melody you might hear at a theme park's haunted house ride. Each rapper treats their verses like a mad dash with their brags reflecting the jittery energy of their dance moves. The biggest flex, though is the extended, nearly voiceless outro that concludes the song — it's a challenge not to at least bop your head at your keyboard, something few will be able to resist.
