When 2hollis opened a portal through New York’s Terminal 5 in August, teenage hotheads rejoiced, locking limbs as his synths blared from cavernous speakers. Ken Carson’s Chaos Tour was a breakthrough for the bleach-blonde rapper-producer as he brought the angsty dance-pop of his June album boy to life. 2hollis opened every night of the tour’s American leg, conducting juvenile mind control through synth passages and FL drum loops. “gold,” his first single since the summer, showcases the high-octane theatrics he might have picked up from Ken.
The start of “gold” mimics that feeling when the rollercoaster hums awake and creaks forward: a pang of irresistible anxiety. “Ain’t no point in waiting,” hollis chants as the shriek of scraping metal grows louder and more enticing. Then the track explodes into bone-shattering 808s, rickety hi-hats, and jerk-adjacent claps, drawing from the raucous appeal of A Great Chaos, as 2hollis wades between whispers and agonizing yelps. “Backseat I ate it in my gold teeth,” he spits, before jumping out of his skin. “Backseat I wanna see you touch me!” Underneath his voice, metallic wails coil into crooked melody.
Self-produced alongside Jonah Abraham, the unsung architect of Whole Lotta Red’s “Rockstar Made” and “New Tank,” “gold” is violently exhilarating by design. Over the track’s beaming gabber coda, 2hollis strains his voice like a bomb is strapped to his torso. It’s chilling; something’s brewing post-Chaos.
