The White Mandingos Embrace Hardcore in ‘The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me’ – Song Premiere
The White Mandingos are an aggressive, confrontational combination of rap and gritty punk – and with their pedigree, it makes total sense. They formed when Darryl Jenifer from Bad Brains linked up with Los Angeles rapper Murs and Sacha Jenkins SHR, cofounder of the influential hip-hop magazine Ego Trip, to find an intersection between their different genres. On their new track “The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me,” the trio layer disorienting reggae vibes over Murs’ viscous flow, and later slam down sudden guitar crashes and tongue-in-cheek calls for “swag.” It all goes to hell by the end, though, as the song morphs into an sudden burst of hardcore punk energy.
“This band came together the way Henry Rollins-era Black Flag came together, only Murs is from the West Coast and me and Darryl are from the East Coast,” Jenkins tells Rolling Stone. “Being that we all hail from different parts of the country, we’re definitely in a great position to talk how the ghetto might be trying to kill us.”
“The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me” is on the White Mandingos’ forthcoming record, The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me, out June 11th on Fat Beats.