Late stage capitalist. White collar gangster rapper. Evil incarnate.

 

Sly deSilva is The Bad Guy. Drawing on, and twisting hip-hop’s rich tradition of villains, Sly is portrayed as the ultimate man-behind-the-curtain, the puppetmaster who pulls all the strings, from the highest government office to the lowest street corner. He approaches themes of greed, corruption, oppression and injustice with a smirking, braggadocio style, gleefully appropriating genre tropes and hip-hop culture along the way. His mix of clever lyricism, dark humor, and sobering reality marks him as a distinctive voice in hip-hop.

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In 2016 Sly released his debut EP, The Bad Guy, followed by a commercial release on Ghost Money Records in 2017. The EP features the white-collar crime anthem Crime Pays, which was released as a music video in October 2017. This was followed by the release of a collaborative mixtape with fellow Ghost Money artist Jagger James, called Trillions, in November 2017. It includes the hustle-themed track 24/7, which also released as a music video that same month. Operating out of Seattle, WA, Sly is currently hard at work on his next commercial release – a mixtape entitled All American Villain Vol. 1

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More relevant than ever in the current political climate, Sly deSilva’s cutting social commentary makes clear who the real gangsters of the world are. As the dark reflection of an unjust society, he is a somber reminder that in real life, it’s The Bad Guy who wins.