PILF: Album Review

For those who don’t already know, PILF is a group of four Argentinian teenage rappers, Stiffy, Agusfortnite2008, Zell, and Turrobaby, who began their careers around 2022. Until now, their names have been built through solo work, each dropping their own albums over the past couple of years. Coming from Buenos Aires, a city with a small but growing underground scene, their shared influences and vision led to their first collaboration in December of last year on “Babasonico,” from Stiffy’s solo project. The track remixes Playboi Carti’s “Death in Tune/Money Counter,” alluding to the nostalgic U.S. trap influence that defines their style as a group.

What makes this fascinating is how PILF, an Argentinian group, have absorbed and reinterpreted this sound into their own context. It’s hard to say where this niche of throwback underground trap and drill influence came from or how it reached Argentina, but it’s definitely a nod to the research these boys have done in cultivating their sound and swag while carefully devising a place for themselves within the current underground rap ecosystem. Each song features all four members, whose styles blend seamlessly while pushing one another to experiment and grow.

In short, PILF is one of the most exciting acts in rap right now. They know exactly what lane they occupy and use it to their advantage. In this era, it’s fair to say that international rap might just be more interesting than what’s happening in the U.S. today

Rating: 8/10