Jay Hound

Jay Hound is a chief purveyor of Jersey dark drill, an offshoot of drill music that meshes New Jersey club music’s frenetic drums with low, sinister tones. That sound is reflected on standout tracks “I Like To Party” and “Ukraine”, where his gruff vocal delivery imbues producer DoubleM’s dark sonics with a distinct menace. Born in 2004, Hound grew up in Harlem’s Douglass projects, where he befriended fellow rappers Sdot Go, NazGPG and Zy Blitz of the SweepersENT music collective, with whom he frequently collaborates. Hound says he started rapping for fun after watching his friends in the studio, and eventually took the craft seriously. After finding his sound, he broke out with 2023’s “Neaky”, which fuses pulsing kick drums with an ominous horn sample, giving Hound a quintessential Jersey dark drill anthem. And though he predominantly chronicles life on the rough NYC streets, he also diversifies with songs like “TELL the TRUTH”, which samples Nelly and Kelly Rowland’s “Dilemma” and picks up on their romantic vibes for a new generation.