Papoose

Brooklyn rapper Papoose is a veteran of East Coast hip-hop, with a fluid style and a tendency toward prolific output. When his early career was held up by hassles with various labels and music industry roadblocks, Papoose chose to build his music independently by releasing and distributing high-quality mixtapes. This struggle ultimately paid off with a devoted fan base enamored with his street-savvy persona and hard-edged flows. His long-completed debut album, The Nacirema Dream, finally saw proper release in 2013, and made a showing in the charts. While subsequent studio albums like 2015's You Can't Stop Destiny and 2020's Endangered Species followed, Papoose made more of a name for himself by releasing dozens of mixtapes and EPs. He released a new EP for every month of 2021, and steadily shared new projects like the 2019 mixtape Food for Thought and 2025 EP Bars on Wheels: A Journey to Save Hip-Hop.