Simon Cliche Trudeau aka Loud thrives on modern hip-hop’s melting-pot approach. The Montreal-based artist first rose to prominence as a member of Loud Lary Ajust, a franglais rap trio balancing swaggering lyrical stingers with retro-tinted production. Loud went solo in 2017, dropping the boastful veneer and instead digging into headier philosophical matters and social commentary. That depth comes through via his canny, colloquial bilingual delivery and melodic hip-hop that playfully hopscotches between Latin-influenced pop, hypnotic trap and throwback ’90s grooves.