Marijauana XO and Joe Pablo “Window Service 1&2”

When it comes to Milwaukee music, lately I’ve been hearing that everybody sounds the same. The Mil is known for “dumper music” in a rap scene that’s heavily dominated by males. Fans feel like a lot of our artists rap alike or talk about the same things, and I agree to an extent. But within the large ocean of Milwaukee rappers, even those who stick to the shallow side of music,  I’ve discovered two sharks. MarijauanaXO and Joe Pablo, in my opinion, are Milwaukee’s best rap duo right now. After the release of “Window Service” in 2021, they had us in a chokehold. From “Shake Back”all the way down to “Half a Book”, most of us had this album on replay. “My Brother”became one of the top songs in the city. Again….CHOKEHOLD! 

“Take the phones, it ain’t none call me when you get yo self together. If you got half I got half, we can split whatever. And if I got it then you got it, we in this sh*t forever. Get on his a** if he slacking but it’s for the better.”

I damn near started rapping as I was typing, literally. This past May, they dropped “Window Service 2”, a highly anticipated sequel to the first. My favorite song on this one is “Keep Grindin” or “Fire Brings Ice”. “Make a left, I just seen em at the lights, gotta make it home. Say my prayers every night, in that cell you on yo own so you better get it right. But i’m like how the f-in hell did this fire bring me ice?” When we talk about rap as a genre, some of the most important things that determine your success are content, rhythm, rhyme, cadence, tone, etc. Joe Pablo creates the cadence with his melodic rapping style, his hooks are always catchy. XO comes in on the verses with a completely different sound than Joe Pablo, but he always matches energy with whatever verse he spits. “They telling us to move outta town if we wanna make it, too many n-ggas that’s around that be slick hating. Told my brother watch my back hope he don’t stab me in it…” .“Quit Perpin” and “9 Times Outta 10” are the best examples of this rhythm and synchronicity between them. 

Granted, we all can’t relate to everything they talk about. We can’t relate to a lot of stuff that our favorite rappers talk about. But the thing about good music is, even if you can’t relate, you can understand. And if you’re anything like me, when you really “get in mode”, it doesn’t matter if you can relate or not, you’re gonna sing it like you do! Moral of the story, Milwaukee music has something for everybody. Tap in with XO and Blo! Let me know what y’all think! 

/Pam from CW