Beat Gaud strikes a nerve with new single “Disrespect”

Beat Gaud’s new single, “Disrespect,” featuring Lil Reese, is here to shake things up and be unapologetic about the natural, which shouldn’t be seen by society as the disgraceful mess that is the state of this world. It’s a bracing, reflective song that wears its heart and its hustle on its sleeve. “Disrespect” begins with a growling, bone-shaking bass line, and cinematic synths so atmospheric they are almost cinematic themselves. This is a full-body experience.

The production is hypnotic, with the luring pull of moody textures, while the beat is kept grounded in something raw, unmistakably street. The sound design on its own earns it a place on any serious hip-hop or trap playlist, but it’s the lyricism that really takes it over the top. Beat Gaud raps with hard-hitting flows and gritty, thoughtful bars that cut with surgical sway. He doesn’t romanticize the struggle, he tells it. There’s a pulse-riding energy that keeps the groove skittering, this is a thing that comes from frustration and experience and needing to have your voice heard intact.

“Disrespect” has struck a nerve because Max Kay’s lyrics are honest. It’s passionate but never dramatic. Gaud captures that staggering between strength and openness, pride and painful defeat emotions any person who’s fought for their place can get viscerally. It’s a track that reflects the culture because it comes from within it. There’s a kind of quality to “Disrespect” that’s remarkable, it’s a banger for the whip and earworm for long after the beat drops out. It is a record that demands attention without shouting for attention. With this release, Beat Gaud is cutting a lane. “Disrespect” does not seek validation.