Sleepy Hallow – DON’T SLEEP (Album Stream)

On the night before Halloween, Brooklyn rapper Sleepy Hallow dropped his debut project, DON’T SLEEP and despite having only commercially released two songs prior, the album is sitting at #11 on Apple Music’s Hip Hop/Rap charts. Similarly to his childhood friend and rapping cohort, Sheff G, Sleepy kept the creation of this project close to his chest; he used in-house producers and chose to feature only Sheff G and ABG Neal as the guest features in lieu of creating a splashy debut.

The result is a case study in the quickly changing sonic palette of Brooklyn’s drill movement, of which Sheff and Sleepy are known as progenitors. Staying a step ahead of their peers, Sleepy and Sheff are transitioning into a more melodic version of the sub-genre, embracing more live instrumentation sounds and playing with different beat patterns. Remaining constant, however, is that signature NY cockiness and front-and-center lyricism.