maq 22’s latest compilation of tracks, MUNINN, sees the experimental rapper and producer push his sound into bold, uncharted territory, weaving mythology, memory, and personal reflection into a rich, genre-defying tapestry. With its fusion of Electronic Rap and Hyperpop, the EP unfolds less like a linear narrative and more like a dream cycle, fragmented, evocative, and charged with a sense of ritual. It is both cerebral and visceral, demanding active listening while rewarding immersion.
The opening track, ‘Burn The Sigil’. sets the tone with a ritualistic energy, invoking the idea of casting intentions into the universe. The track functions like an invocation, part warning, part release, establishing the EP’s thematic depth from the start. What could have been a mere aesthetic choice instead becomes a statement of purpose, a merging of spiritual metaphor with raw sonic intensity.
Much of the project’s power lies in its collaborative foundation. Russian producer Tiresss helms five of the six tracks, offering a soundscape that feels futuristic yet rooted in the urgency of club culture. maq 22’s vocals, at once sharp, distorted, and elastic, respond instinctively to these beats, blurring the line between freestyle spontaneity and deliberate composition. On ‘Europa’, the sole track produced by Hellnah and Pastelfuneral, icy textures and celestial metaphors echo the EP’s broader themes of hidden life and self-discovery.
MUNINN, wrestles with existential fear, longing, and the turbulence of the subconscious. maq 22’s delivery is urgent yet vulnerable, often layering distorted flows over production that teeters between chaotic and ethereal. His references to mythology, particularly Odin’s raven Muninn, the embodiment of mind and memory, are never surface-level. Instead, they become metaphors for the artist’s own journey of recollection, self-confrontation, and reclamation. Importantly, maq 22 makes space to disavow the far right’s misappropriation of such symbols, recontextualising them within his own narrative of resistance and reimagination.
By its conclusion with ‘Glass House’, MUNINN feels less like a collection of tracks and more like a psychic map, a charting of desire, dread, and transcendence through sound. In just six songs, maq 22 cements himself as a fearless voice in the experimental rap landscape, unafraid to collapse genres and blur the boundary between myth and memory. It is a project that doesn’t simply ask to be heard, but to be experienced.