Edgar Sarratt III started this year sounding like a scared kid on the bus, unsure of what the future held for him. “I’m twiddling my thumbs, don’t know what comes next,” he sang waveringly on the opening line of “Final Breath,” the stunning highlight off his SUMMER03 mixtape released back in March. The song’s breezy emo guitar strum, throbbing digicore bass, and heart-pounding drum sticks captured the racing thoughts of the 18-year-old hyperpop breakout; it was an outpouring of self-doubt that zoomed by at breakneck speed.
The South Carolina born, Indiana-raised Sarratt (who goes by midwxst) has become one of hyperpop’s most promising young upstarts. A charismatic vocalist and producer with the ability to fully execute his vision, midwxst has been adept at threading the needle between Juice WRLD-styled emo trap and bass-blasting maximalist pop in the 100 gecs tradition, underlining hyperpop’s indebtedness to Soundcloud rap in the process. While other ascendant hyperpop acts like Glaive have already begun to buff out their songs to the point where they don’t sound terribly different from, well, pop, midwxst has pushed his sound in new directions (even after getting picked up by a major label). On his new EP, Back in Action, he sharpens his flows and trims some of his noisier production back, while still managing to capture the volatile energy that makes him such a compelling voice.
midwxst always feels most at home on candy-colored beats that let him flex his inner nerd. Nowhere is this more obvious than on “Tic Tac Toe,” which comes complete with Super Smash Bros. sound effects and goofy lines like, “Got that yellow on me like I’m Pikachu/And that choppa be blowing like it’s a flute.” midwxst has never hidden the fact that he’s an excitable band kid who was raised on Roblox, and his best tracks course with the kind of nervous excitement you get from cracking the top 10 in Fortnite. “All Talk” ping-pongs about like Bubble Bobble marbles ricocheting off the wall, with midwxst deftly switching between his usual triplet flows and a breathless double-time bridge, even dropping a house bassline in the middle of the verse as if it were nothing. It’s such pure fun that you might not even notice the crushing doubt that seeps into midwxst’s voice halfway through the song: “Never fit in, don’t fit in the classroom; remember hiding from class in the bathroom,” he belts just a moment before singing about hopping back in the Benz for another joyride. In midwxst’s hands, his vulnerability becomes his greatest strength.