The Violent Harmony of OsamaSon’s psykotic
The underground’s favorite new trap star, OsamaSon, wants to punch you in your face.
South Carolina’s very own has grown a cult like following in the underground. The rapper of many names— Lil O, Lil O The Destroyer, Drako, Osama, Osa Mason, O, — is regarded by many as the frontrunner of evolution in ‘rage’ sound and aesthetic.
If you have been keeping up sonically with the scene, you’ll know the ‘rage sound’ is obviously nothing new. Gaining mainstream popularity from Playboi Carti’s hugely influential and polarizing, Whole Lotta Red (2020). Carti’s diverse vocal delivery paired with F1LTHY’s monstrous production, set the stage for artists to come.
It wasn’t long before we began seeing the emergence of the sound in underground rap scene back in 2021 among rappers like SoFaygo, SSGKobe, Yung Fazo, Tana, Slump6s, Rich Amiri, Yeat, Autmn!, Kankan, and others.
In the same year, Trippie Redd’s, Trip at Knight, helped shine another mainstream light on the genre. With its hugely popular breakout single, “Miss The Rage”, Trippie’s album was full of everything that defined the ‘rage’ genre at the time. Thick colorful synths, bubbling muddy 808s, and simple trap drums.
Since then, the sound and aesthetic have very much evolved.
But just as genres evolve, so do the artists who lead the charge. The passing of the torch musically and culturally in the underground is like a 4×1 race. One artist’s moment fades as another one bursts out the blocks; and the cycle just keeps on repeating.
Fast forward to 2025, we have seen many artists come and go under the ‘rage’ sound and aesthetic. Its current evolution is defined by speaker cracking 808’s, multi layered glittery distorted digital synths, and overly autotuned vocals that barely break through the mix. And I love it. A lot.
2025 has been a true renaissance for this lava infused subgenre. Each release this year keeps melting the boundaries between noise and melody. Tapes like Unmusique by Lucy Bedroque, Funhouse Deluxe by PrettiFun, REST IN BASS by Che, and of course the newest sonic compilation that has perfected the hellscape sound, pyskotic by OsamaSon.
OsamaSon is not a new face to the scene and has been very active for a couple of years now. His breakout tape, Osama Season, released in 2023 has aged timelessly. Many of the featured producers on the tape (wegonebeok, Perc40, Thrty, 9nine, Legion, Rok, Boolymon) turned out to be the blueprints for what crafts today’s underground sound. Fans quickly caught on to Osama’s ear for beat selection and his larger creative vision, claiming their early spot aboard a rapidly rising star.
His newest release, psykotic, comes only 10 months after, Jump Out. Not even a year between releases, OsamaSon has again crafted a sonic experience that makes you question and gives the listener that first listening experience feeling. A sensation in music that is rare and challenging to replicate more than once.
ALBUM COVERS
Album covers are an art form within themselves, and I can remember multiple times where a bad cover just ruined the song for me a little. Dulled the impact. It’s petty, but I hold cover arts in high esteem and acclaim. Covers can add so much meaning to the record but can also snatch it away just as easily.
In the underground, great album covers are a bit hard to find. I know it’s not because of the vision and artistic creativity, cause that will always be there, so I would like to think it’s because of budget constraints.
But, when you stumble across a wonderful, thoughtful, and eye striking album cover in the scene, like Crueger by Che, or Now They Know Us by Devstacks, it makes them even more special.
For OsamaSon, what initially pulled me to his breakout tape, Osama Season, and kept me coming back to it, was the freshness of the sound, but also the cover’s composition and symbolic relationship back to the music. The cover itself is a reference to a Playboi Carti photoshoot for his Self-Titled mixtape released 2018.
Similar to the Carti photoshoot, Osama is all over the place on the cover, keeping it interesting and foreshadowing the range of energy heard on the tape. Along with that, the warm colors color palette mixed with imagery of guns, drugs, and jewelry, brought great contrast and another dimension of detail.
Simply put, I absolutely loved the way it looked. I still love the way it looks and didn’t mind the homage and inspiration.
The underground is infamous for ‘sampling’ other covers/drawing references to older records. For the most part, this is done to pay homage and is in good faith. Also, this is nothing new and not something I feel people should get all that riled up for. For example, LUCKI’s Freewave 3 or Days B4 III, Young Thug’s Barter 6, A$AP Rocky’s Testing, etc, all referenced other album covers. Imitation is not stealing. Nothing in this world is original anymore anyways.
In OsamaSon’s case, all his mixtapes/albums have borrowed ideas from other artists’ album covers (see figure 1).
But, zooming back in on the cover for psykotic, I think it does what every album cover should do. Makes you question, makes you want to listen. And overall, it’s just straight up interesting. Simple as that.
PSYKOTIC COVER
Osama stands pointing downward, blank-eyed, before the hellish triangle gate — daring us to come close.
On a design level, the symmetry in all the aspects that is built through the simple triangle makes the cover easy to digest and enhances the pop. Too much on my screen would give me too much to look at, reflecting also the general simplicity of the album in terms of lyrical content and sound. Nothing too much to think about, just feel.
Along with that, the selected color palette is well meshed, building towards the evil, sinister undertone. Dark natural tones of dark red, black, brown, light brown, and off white, dominate the canvas. Nothing artificial or bright. Reinforcing the gruesome nether world of sound we hear.
Osama is the gatekeeper to a deep-fried underworld where monstrous gargoyle junkies roam. Guns in hand. Flaunting their diamond grills and chains to the soundscape of raunchy, beaten to death 808s blasting from gaping mouths lined with star-studded teeth.
This is the sonic atmosphere Osama has built for us — the official soundtrack to the new trap underworld.
THE MUSIC
Osama keeps finding new ways to make the bass hit even harder, the mix sound even more chewed up, the lyrics even more gritty, the feeling even more addictive.
Psykotic is an album that carves out a new trench way for the whole subgenre to explore. The music is ruthless. Blaring, deafening. Unforgiving, relentless. Bleeds through your headphones and feels like it’s trying to gouge your eyes. Every element beautifully crashes into the next in violent harmony. Chasing the feeling of peace found through pure chaos.
Nothing about psykotic is recycled. Everything about psykotic is new. In texture, in delivery, in energy, in tone. A collection of cohesive instrumentals and energies that truly reset your ear and leaves you chasing the high every time.
Psykotic also does a great job of highlighting and incorporating a good handful of different producers. Warren Hunter, gyro, Roxie, rok, ok, legion, skai, and even OsamaSon himself, all play a role on this tape and collaborate throughout it.
“Me, Rok, Gyro and Warren did a camp deep in LA. We did a camp in this mansion with a pool outside for a week and some change, and we got everything right there. We got all the beats right, and tightened it up together.” (Digital Dazed 2025).
In contrast to his last release, Jump Out, which only featured one producer (wegonebeok), psykotic works with a wide range of producers that helps elevate the sound to new boundaries. These producers, among others, are crafting the raging sound and will probably die with it. But for now, they are at its apex – this album proves it. Sticking to the same orchestrators of sound can trap you and create comfort. Instead Osama keeps pushing for new, new, and new.
SONG BREAKDOWNS
In my view, psykotic presents 3 main types of songs:
A. Loud, relatively unintelligible eardrum bass rattlers:
“Habits”, “FMJ”, “Addicted”, “Inferno”, “T193”, “Whats Happening”, “Maag Dump”
B. Anthemic, glittery bangers with punchy basses and mild lyrical substance:
“It’s A Party”, “Victory Lap”, “Gintama”, “In It”, “yea i kno”, “Worldwide”
C. Call backs to his traditional sound + a showcase of song style diversity:
“Guap Man”, “She woke up”, “Get Away”
Although most songs share the same kind of elements (highly clipped 808’s, harsh trap drums, crunchy harmonic virtual melodies), Osama still finds his own niche in each beat. Carving out his own sound and style back into them. psykotic offers relative diversity and vocal ranges that he hasn’t shown all that much before. Each sonic subcategory gives the listener a choice.
Here are some of my favorite songs.
- HABITS
- FMJ
- FUNCTION
- IN IT
- GET AWAY
- WORLDWIDE
HABITS
From the jump, the opening song “Habits” is as mean as a mean mug can be. Classic ear crunching layered 808’s, bitten jerk trap drums, and haunting screams set the stage – all narrated by Osama’s cold, auto-tune drenched delivery. The perfect setup and tone for what’s to come.
Produced by Gyro, the choice of snares and screams at the end of each bar builds everlasting suspense. As an opener, tension is stacked flawlessly. Creating a ball of energy that rolls over straight into one banger after another.
It’s easy to picture “Habits” scoring the chaos of a slasher film – the soundtrack to Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, or Chucky on a rampage. Sinister, relentless, and cinematic. Horror in trap form.
“These n***** tryna be Batman, but im the Joker, badman. Savin’ the ho, I’m laughin’, ha-ha-ha, Im laughin’”
FMJ
An alarm going off in a dark, distraught, digital nightmare — “FMJ” is a track designed for one purpose: to energize. To sound raw. To bite back.
The two leaders of the rage movement, OsamaSon and Che, construct a spiky, diamond-studded sound castle of black rock, perched on the rugged terrain of the nether. Split into two mirrored sections, OsamaSon and Che trade verses like a duel in a turn based rpg. Each rapper gets their attack on the beat uninterrupted.
It’s a track that’s almost unintelligible — a relentless surge of urgency and chaos. Aggressive, boastful, and nearly celebratory in its frustrated madness, FMJ fights its way to the surface, desperate to blow the cork off the bottle.
And yet, there’s peace in its simplicity. You know what’s coming — no surprises. Just close your eyes and fall into the red world. Pure adrenaline balanced by pure release.
“Bi**, I’m like Lil Tay Tay, flexin’, I’m the youngest in it.”*
A flash of humor amid the chaos — a smirk in the storm.
FUNCTION
Due to its extreme experimentation in sound, “Function” doesn’t really fit into any of these self-deemed categories. This song feels like running an infinite 100-yard dash in an overly retro world with a sea of star-studded jewelry all over your arms and neck. The crunched out of its mind square lead that barely makes it through the mix sounds like the victory anthem to a level completion.
Last time Osama did a high-pitched song like this was “New Tune” off Jump Out. But I’m glad he revisited it, such a fun song. Makes you want to jump around. So carefree and glittery. Childlike with a deep sinister evil undertone. In your face to the fullest extent.
Legion produced this track. A producer for Osama that has made some of his most gritty cutthroat bangers. Songs like “Trenches”, “X and S*x*, or “Demon Home”. Most legion’s beats take a listen to or two to really understand what is going on between my ears. But I’m not sure I’ve heard of mixes as crunchy and raunchy as Legion’s.
“the function jumpin! i think im up to somethin!”
IN IT
“In It” is one of the few introspective cuts on the record and my personal favorite above all the rest. The simple and infinitely relatable theme of reminiscing over one’s past lover and asking for another chance is hitting a little close to home at the moment.
OsamaSon is spilling his heartbreak all over this serum covered trap symphony. The intricate harmonic melodies layered into this track are singing back their own five stages of grief.
The juxtaposition of loud piercing beats being married to relatable introspection in the soft world of love, is something I can’t get enough of. Osama is beginning to stretch his sonic versatility on songs like this. Not boxing himself in as an artist that’s only here to gouge your ears out or one that you can only listen to with eyes wide and deafened ears. Instead, this song is a moment to close our eyes and be vulnerable with the hardnosed vocals. A very welcome emotional release and break on the album.
“Let’s go away, let’s go escape, til’ death do us part, til’ we hit the grave”
GET AWAY
Undoubtedly, one of the hardest cuts on the album. Not too long. Gets you in and out before you can remember what just happened. The 808 on “Get Away” hits like a wegonebeok beat gone through a meat grinder and pack-a-punched four times. I’m not sure if it is possible that this song could clip any harder.
Paired with that are lyrics that feel like Osama lecturing to you. Talking down to you to build you up. A motivational, inspirational, tough love cut that is questioning your spirit all over this monumental instrumental produced by Roxie and Warren.
“Sometimes I feel like that you didn’t wanna walk for it. Didn’t wanna crawl for it, but I put in my all for it, all they do is fall short…”
WORLDWIDE
In both sound selection and feel, “Worldwide” is a blend between the Flex Musix swag parade Chief Keef inspired anthems and the new boundaryless, aggressive, and careless psykotic feel. Song off Flex Musix like “Freestyle”, “Alot”, or “All Star” would fit right into the core melodic elements of this track.
A bridge between two worlds originally crafted by OsamaSon. Sampling his own energy and handpicking what to blend.
As the horns blare, the leads dance, and the bass punches back, this song wants you to get abducted by the alien beings all in good spirits. Chains dancing and lasers flying.
However, this is a song of two parts.
The wonderful beat switch and soft ear break of melodic paradise that plays in the latter half of this song turns out to build up to nothing. A bit of a mishit on Osama’s part.
A little disappointing especially since on Flex Musix, the song “Kills” is one the best songs on the album purely based on the beat switch. I would have hoped he would of done it again but nevertheless, still a vulgar cut that pays off every time.
“Flexing with my headphones in, I aint hear…yeah yeah, you get whacked, if you try to take this feelin.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Those are just a couple of my favorites, some others that I couldn’t get to are “Addicted”, “Victory Lap”, and “yea i kno”.
CONCLUSION
When you find an artist that you really like, in their early stages, you feel a part of their journey. You are investing in their sound and appeal. You subconsciously begin to generate an emotional contract with them. When they hopefully “break out” of the underground into the socially defined mainstream, you might feel oddly betrayed. Like they left you behind. This feeling of betrayal could come from the fact that this artist suppressed their original sound, or toned down their image, all with the intent of widening their appeal.
But the last thing OsamaSon is here to do is appeal to any wider audience. The fans love him because they feel they can’t lose him. He is not sacrificing the sound, the image, the likeness, the aspects that got him his support. Doubling down on what he built and not looking to move. His third studio album coming at the height of his popularity could have easily featured a bunch of contemporary mainstream artists and played it safe.
Lil O keeps pushing and stretching out defines a ‘rage’ anthem. Layering manic bursts of energy back into the composition. He’s consistently redefining madness in his sound – and somehow it makes total sense.
We got an album that was fresh. Unpolished by design. Alive, jagged, and to the point. Sharp, catchy, gritty, rough, piercing, and gross. Every sound feels alive and one with the angry symphony. It’s an album that screams questions back to the genre instead of following the manual.
Choosing straight authenticity in sound even if it’s rough or unrefined. That’s how you achieve originality in the modern day.
There is no doubt that they are pulling heavy inspiration from Playboi Carti, Chief Keef, Uzi, Future, Young Thug, Lil B, Speaker Knockerz, Trippe Redd, an assortment of punk rock/metal, etc. But nothing in this world is truly original. Someone is pulling something from somewhere and hopefully trying to make it their own.
Open your ears to a record like psykotic, or REST IN BASS, or Unmusique, or Glokk Files, or Funhouse Deluxe, or Sayso Says, or Diafora, or The Cure. Listen to new stuff. Or don’t, just my opinion at the end of the day.
“If the music too loud, you’re too old” – Lil O