YC the Cynic is an MC out of The Bronx, yet his style isn’t really reminiscent of the East Coast. In fact, the first thing I noticed listening to the first single from his upcoming album, GNK, is the similarity of his vocal delivery to Suzanne Vega’s “Tom’s Diner,” which is… not something I’ve ever heard in hip hop before. It’s a common motif that repeats throughout the song, yet it doesn’t overshadow his hooks and verses. It fits over the key-driven beat, which was produced by Frank Drake.
The video itself is a trippy, green-screen heavy video that relies heavily on a rotoscope-esque filter to make YC appear animated amidst brightly-colored clouds and geysers. He might go by YC the Cynic, but “God Complex” is an irony-filled song full of faux-bravado as he lyrically puffs his chest out with a crown on his head to complete the visual metaphor of the titular god complex.
Like a sudden smoke cloud, YC seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but if “God Complex” is a sign of things to come, I don’t think he’ll be dissipating anytime soon.