{"id":22,"date":"2025-04-10T16:08:56","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T16:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wers.org\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/"},"modified":"2025-04-10T16:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T16:08:56","slug":"2025-4-10-2hollis-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/","title":{"rendered":"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>

\n
\n

Graphic by Charlotte Heintz<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

by Madison Decina<\/h1>\n

Chicago native 2Hollis released his sophomore album, star, <\/em>this past Friday, cementing his place at the top of the ever-evolving electro-rap scene. After his 2023 single \u201cJeans\u201d initially put him on the map, the rapper\/producer has only kept the hype rolling. Fresh faces of the genre like fakemink, Levi Ryan, and 2hollis\u2019 own opener Nate Sib have played a part in shaping star<\/em>\u2019s, sound, setting the bar for this new wave of experimental music. Among such great artists, 2hollis\u2019 ability to blend wild production with rich lyricism truly sets him apart.<\/p>\n

The project opens with a minute-long track, \u201cbeginning,\u201d that\u2019s more of a sensory experience than a cohesive track. It introduces a rainfall, then slowly fades into a whir of sound effects such as a car speeding and layers of sharp beats, creating disorientation that chases the listener through much of the 37-minute project. As \u201cbeginning\u201d picks up and locks into a solid beat, it seamlessly moves into \u201cflash,\u201d one of my personal favorites. While it’s difficult to judge a sensory experience like this by conventional standards, I believe the sensibility of \u201cbeginning\u201d speaks to electro-rap\u2019s true fluidity and the accomplishment of the genre, blurring the bounds between hearing and feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cflash\u201d sets the tone for the rest of star<\/em>; it\u2019s fast-paced, bold, and utterly addicting. The climax bursts with raw energy while still managing to uphold quality lyricism that never feels forced. Though I wished the track was a bit longer to let this aspect settle a little more, its abruptness feels intentional, fully immersing us in the chaos. \u201cflash\u201d completely steals your attention, alerting us that star<\/em> is ready to take risks and rewrite the rules.<\/p>\n

Another standout track is the eleventh track, \u201cnerve.\u201d It opens with a calm, almost ambient fade before dropping into 2hollis\u2019 signature unpredictable production style. Mysteriously, he balances his production, smooth yet chaotic, with an aloofness that defines a majority of the album. About halfway through \u201cnerve,\u201d the track shifts into a lyrically driven mindset, a rare move amongst such an audially dense genre. A unique decision that just works. It goes to show that with all its tension and unbelievable sound design, \u201cnerve\u201d is hands down my favorite track on star<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The fourteenth track, \u201celdest child,\u201d serves as a reminder that even 2hollis gets in his feels sometimes. Straying from his usual style, the track takes on an instrumental approach while also lending itself to themes of familial pressure and self-doubt. On the first listen, I honestly believed I had misclicked and that I was listening to someone else. However, while \u201celdest child\u201d may feel a bit out of place, it’s an important ode to the fact that there are no rules in electro-rap, or even music, for that matter. \u201celdest child\u201d adds a nice personal touch to the album while simultaneously serving as a testament to his desire to push boundaries.<\/p>\n

star <\/em>will stick with you. It quickly became one of my favorite albums of the year thus far, not just for its sound, but for its feeling. Its unique blend of erratic production, bold sounds, and emotional depth is hard to come by among a sea of genres in any genre, let alone in electronic rap. And 2hollis isn’t just participating in this new wave; he\u2019s creating it. This album is a statement of his craft; he knows what he\u2019s doing, and he\u2019s doing it his way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2hollis isn’t just participating in this new wave; he\u2019s creating it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-album-review"],"yoast_head":"\n2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d - wecb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d - wecb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2hollis isn't just participating in this new wave; he\u2019s creating it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"wecb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-10T16:08:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"webadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"webadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"webadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/person\/c46ba3f7f9fe9c03fa23354d226a97a9\"},\"headline\":\"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T16:08:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/\"},\"wordCount\":586,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Album Review\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/\",\"name\":\"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d - wecb\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-10T16:08:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png\",\"width\":2500,\"height\":2500,\"caption\":\"exc-67f7ebfd75383c1f4726cdc9\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/\",\"name\":\"wecb\",\"description\":\"The Underground Sound of Emerson College\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#organization\",\"name\":\"wecb\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/05\/BlIvEz0B_400x400.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/05\/BlIvEz0B_400x400.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"wecb\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/person\/c46ba3f7f9fe9c03fa23354d226a97a9\",\"name\":\"webadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69ce876dbf64a439233868c95c707278a3886908f0b6e1169e431baa2c3cb615?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69ce876dbf64a439233868c95c707278a3886908f0b6e1169e431baa2c3cb615?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"webadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/author\/webadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d - wecb","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d - wecb","og_description":"2hollis isn't just participating in this new wave; he\u2019s creating it.","og_url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/","og_site_name":"wecb","article_published_time":"2025-04-10T16:08:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2500,"height":2500,"url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"webadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"webadmin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/"},"author":{"name":"webadmin","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/person\/c46ba3f7f9fe9c03fa23354d226a97a9"},"headline":"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d","datePublished":"2025-04-10T16:08:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/"},"wordCount":586,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png","keywords":["Album Review"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/","url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/","name":"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d - wecb","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png","datePublished":"2025-04-10T16:08:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4.png","width":2500,"height":2500,"caption":"exc-67f7ebfd75383c1f4726cdc9"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/2025-4-10-2hollis-star\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2hollis\u2019 \u201cstar\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/","name":"wecb","description":"The Underground Sound of Emerson College","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#organization","name":"wecb","url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/05\/BlIvEz0B_400x400.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/05\/BlIvEz0B_400x400.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"wecb"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/person\/c46ba3f7f9fe9c03fa23354d226a97a9","name":"webadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69ce876dbf64a439233868c95c707278a3886908f0b6e1169e431baa2c3cb615?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69ce876dbf64a439233868c95c707278a3886908f0b6e1169e431baa2c3cb615?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"webadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/author\/webadmin\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"Uncategorized"}],"post_tag":[{"value":21,"label":"Album Review"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/87\/2025\/04\/thumbs-4-1024x1024.png",1024,1024,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"webadmin","author_link":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/milkcrate\/author\/webadmin\/"},"comment_info":1,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"Uncategorized","slug":"uncategorized","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":877,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":877,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Uncategorized","category_nicename":"uncategorized","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"Album Review","slug":"album-review","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":166,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orgs.emerson.edu\/wecb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}