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.