For his new single, "S K E L E," DamiV12 opens up over a frigid, spine-shattering trap instrumental, inviting you on a dark journey where raw emotion, hard bars, and melodic autotune coalesce into something chillingly raw. This is a cryptic audio message scratched into bone. While cut from a hip-hop cloth and draped under the atmospheric veil of trap, "S K E L E" finds DamiV12 sharpening his lyrical sword while also exploring the melodically intoxicating side of the rap life, courtesy of an assured use of autotune. It's a haunted, yet not defeated, song, propelled by a beat that pulses as if it were a heart beating out in the awkward space between survival and stillness.
You can hear a rawness to DamiV12's voice that's not filtered out by autotune so much as it's warped by it, not hiding his emotion so much as distorting it, vapors rising off molten steel. This song made the list because of how it cleverly DamiV12 dances in and out of hardness and openness. "S K E L E" is more of a muttering confession, spoken in low tones to no one in the dark part mantra, part battle cry, part warning. The trappy beat is sparse but stacked with details, allowing each of his vocal stabs and creeping 808 hits to land with force. In the pause in the beat, there's a place for DamiV12 to reflect, and he uses that space like a weapon.
The pacing of the track keeps things moving at a steady pace. There's no wasted breath. Every line flows to a beat that feels natural, like he's lived and breathed each word. Where a lot of trap records go full flex, complete fantasy, "S K E L E" feels grounded, introspective, without being toothless. DamiV12 proves once again that he's not afraid to tread new ground, particularly when it comes to sound design. The haunting undertone and skeletal aesthetic of this song make it seem like an anthem for those walking through the fire quietly, yet nonetheless, walking. With "S K E L E," DamiV12 issues a cold-blooded reminder that openness can hurt just as much as bravado, and it's from the bones we struggle to bury that some of the coldest bars are born.