Milwaukee, Wisconsin is famous for the Green Bay Packers and cheese – not hip-hop. That might change, however, with the emergence of a new and promising duo called The Cranberry Show.
The Cranberry Show is made up of two childhood friends, Arcane and Young Focus.
Other than the music, what instantly sticks out is the name. In an interview with DonutsAndMilk the two explained the origins of the name The Cranberry Show by saying:
“Well, cranberries as a fruit clean out your bodies system. So we thought to clean out the system of hip-hop with fresh innovative music. And the “Show” is just because we’re wild and crazy.”
The other thing that stands out about the two, of course, is their music. The Cranberry Show usually rhymes lighthearted, lowbrow rhymes over heavy, almost theatrical-sounding beats.
The Cranberry Show have been grinding in the local Wisconsin scene for years. Things started to pick for the group in 2010 when they released their debut album, Sex and Pencil Shavings.
From then on, the duo put out numerous mixtapes that usually connote some kind of holiday, like their Halloween Webtabe in 2012 and their Regular A*s N*ggas mixtape that dropped on Christmas of that same year.
After building a crazy local buzz, the two are proving that they’re ready to make national splash with the release of their second album, Paranormal Karaoke, which dropped last month and which you can download for free on their website.
We’ve given Paranormal Karaoke a full listen, and we can officially give the album the GlobalGrind seal of approval.
The sh*t is dope, especially when you compare it to some of their earlier work.
The duo’s rhymes are much more polished, and the beats are full of detail and large sounding. Production on the album was done by Smash Boiz, Klassik, Plaga and Dylan Thomas.
Since the album has been released, The Cranberry Show have already performed at the legendary S.O.B.’s.
And next week, the two will be hitting the stage at the SXSW Festival in Austin. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.
If you haven’t heard them yet, check out their site and give their latest album a spin down below!
