Was giving DJ Harrison’s new album a listen preparing the interview. I’m sitting with the tracks, getting a feel for the album’s pulse, when “Seek God” comes on. Fly Anakin steps into the beat with that effortless Richmond control that comes from years of sharpening steel with steel.
Right then, the notification hits. Pitchfork’s 40 Best Rap Songs of 2025.
There he is. Fly Anakin at No. 3. And right beside him, Big Kahuna OG and $ilkmoney, formerly of the breakout group Divine Council. A whole Richmond lineage sitting near the top of a legacy publication’s year-end list. For those of us watching this city closely, it just confirms what we already knew. Richmond continues to produce some of the most inventive voices in rap.
Pitchfork frames “My N*gga” as an all-star showcase. $ilkmoney opens with his signature controlled chaos. Big Kahuna OG follows with humor and grit in equal measure. Then Fly Anakin locks into his verse with a calm precision that has become his trademark. Quelle Chris ties it all together with a last verse and the hook that carries both weight and warmth. It all works because it sounds like community.
Anyone who has followed Fly Anakin since the early Mutant Academy tapes has seen this rise coming. Back when we first profiled him, he was working out of small rooms across Richmond, building his sound bar by bar. His new album, The Forever Dream, shows him loosening up a bit. Laughing in the booth. Leaving mistakes in the mix. Trusting the team around him. It feels lived in, and it’s one of his strongest projects yet.
So yes, seeing Fly Anakin, Big Kahuna OG, $ilkmoney, and Quelle Chris land at No. 3 on Pitchfork’s Best Rap Songs of 2025 matters. But it isn’t the beginning of anything. It’s a checkpoint on a long road Richmond has been paving for years.
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