Connecticut rapper Felly just released “Surf Trap,” a record whose title could also be a genre description of his sound. A video for the single “Maple” features Felly dreaming of young bikini-clad women twerking and pouring maple-syrup on each other while he frolics with them or plays a sweet retro electric keyboard. Felly and his crew also drive around on those ubiquitous Bird scooters. He even drops a Beyblades reference, for all the kids.
Felly, 22, is fully of the moment, with a light, baked sound built around thin, ticky beats behind smeared guitars, keyboards and strings. “Circus” has a catchy chorus where the rapper strings together fast triplets and then leaps up to an airy falsetto at the end of the line.
Sometimes Felly’s vocal style seems a little thickly put on, but maybe that’s an unfair gripe in a genre that routinely warps and stretches tones to the point of abstraction. He also slides into that flow with an “Aye” dropped on the first beat of every line, which is a nifty way of shifting stresses, but seems to have turned into an overused approach.
It’s hard to imagine Connecticut ever being nationally known for its hip-hop, but if it happens, Felly, who’s been gaining more and more attention everywhere, will be part of the reason why. See Felly at Toad’s Place, 300 York St., New Haven, on Nov. 24 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $30. toadsplace.com, 203-624-8623.
