After going viral with his first few diary-like singles—2022’s “Due Time” and “No Bonnie N Clyde”—balaclava-clad Sydney rapper KAHUKX managed to release his debut EP while still just 18 years old. Here he maintains a tricky balancing act between sensitivity and brashness, echoed in the delicate samples he raps over with such emotional intensity. Observe the gauzy synth tone repeated through the venting title track, and the warbled soft-rock melody of “No Next.” While KAHUKX still shares more about his relationship woes than about his personal background, he does mention his French and Māori heritage on the increasingly aggro “Turn Me Up” and raps partly in French on opener “Hate Me or Love Me.” But it’s more often sordid tales of courtship and revelry that dominate this EP: “1Hunna” sees the rapper celebrate his booming streaming numbers with Scotch in hand and “Fake” details fresh romantic wounds with a cracking voice. Working against sparse, cyclical backdrops that leave the field uncrowded for his words, KAHUKX establishes himself as a stormy young voice in Sydney drill.