Lyrical Density, Texture and Taste: Meet Rapper Blvck Svm
Any hip-hop heads who have yet to encounter Chicago rapper Blvck Svm will be thrilled to dive into the wordy aesthetic rap of his discography. Svm’s calming yet intense energy propels the lyrically dense tracks forward. Attentive listening is highly encouraged.
Svm seeks to cover topics in his rap that haven’t been touched by the genre before or to say things in a unique way. This challenge to be different from so many before him compels Svm forward. This almost slice-of-life lyrical content brings relatability to his music in an intriguing way.
Inspired by black Samurai like Yaske and the heroes he read about in his youth, his name Blvck Svm is an alternative spelling of Black Sam to help set him apart as a unique artist in the industry.
Within his lyrical prose, one common thread is the descriptions of food or food-based metaphors. The 2022 album mangalica mink depicts the cuts of a pig in the album art and brings a diverse set of metaphors throughout the project.
“Once I started making enough money from music to do it full time, I was able to start exploring the Chicago food scene.” Svm acknowledged.
Experimenting with food helps Svm develop some of his philosophies about his art and life.
“When the base ingredients of food are high quality, there isn’t much you need to do to them, while lower quality food requires a lot more adornment.” Svm explained, “A Wagyu streak stands with its quality and its simplicity, they’re linked.”
In our culture of “hyper-consumption,” as Svm described, this philosophy is not always first nature. Svm explained that making generally simple music brings high quality to the individual parts. With a more bare-bones track or simple instrumentals, Svm makes room for his “underlying lyrical complexity” that sets his art apart.
Svm sees food as the “ultimate literary device or conduit for literary devices.” due to the plethora of ways to interact with the subject. Relatability, texture, temperature, culture, there is so much to tap into.
His past work involves a short ep titled Carpaccio, meaning thinly sliced cuts of meat or fish and fiftypercentgratuity which marked the point at which Svm’s music was making him enough money to be comfortable in the city. Meaning lies in every crevice of Svm’s art, each word used for any meaning attached and all imagery explored.
Svm described jotting down lyrics “whenever it hits,” he might be riding in an Uber, at home relaxing, or out with his friends when the creative urge strikes and a small detail calls to be in a song. Svm finds himself pondering, “How can I contextualize that within a rap song?” and the process begins. Recently moving through the city and the Chicago food scene, hanging peking duck is a concept Svm is looking to incorporate into a track. This could be a visual description, an uncanny metaphor, or even the experience of the duck as a meal. His eye for things that others overlook is part of what makes Svm so unique.
Now releasing music for the past few years, Svm’s lengthy discography is proof of his passion for rap. A massive proponent of this musical drive is Svm’s “internal competition to continue mastering wordplay.” Any writer understands this type of relationship with language and it shines through every track Svm releases.
Raised in Florida, Svm grew up listening to rap music and quickly became fascinated by Lil Wayne. Svm described the process of understanding “how inventive he was with wordplay and vivid imagery,” as something that took time and evolved as he grew up. “His use of similes, metaphors, turns of phrase, it was alluring,” Svm emphasized.
This obsession with words started young when Svm began reading for fun. “One thing my mom always made space for was books. We would go to Barnes and Noble and I could get whatever I wanted,” he said. Svm buried himself in fiction series like Percy Jackson and dove deep into superhero encyclopedias. Fantasy opened Svm’s vocabulary in sublet ways, paving the road for his studies in theory and literature later on.
These days Svm describes his reading as more of a “self-education” following his degree in Comparative Race and Ethnic studies at Chicago University. Svm looks to historical context to understand the world he lives in today. Recently, the book “When Affirmative Action Was White” by Ira Katznelson has helped Svm ponder today’s political context.
Svm looks to the alternative rappers that have paved the expansion of the genre like MF DOOM, Earl Sweatshirt and Action Bronson as inspiration for the artist he is today. The honesty in these artists often detached voices or off-kilter narrative styles catches Svm’s attention.
“DOOM’s abstract or lack of narrative work shows how things can be disorganized within your mind. If you’re telling people what’s in your brain it can be fragmented and fractured,” emphasized Svm.
MF DOOM didn’t follow the rap tropes of his era and stayed true to his expression in a way that Svm is deeply inspired by. Svm seeks a “staying power” for his music and hopes that his authenticity and unique style will continue to grow his fan base.
Now embedded in the modern hip-hop scene, Svm has so much for listeners to explore, including most recently, a collaboration with keni can fly on track “Nu Light” released on April 5th.