In the space of just a year, genre-defying artist midwxst has gone from leading the digicore/hyperpop explosion to signing with a major label and positioning himself as a name to watch in the US rap scene.While the glitchy video game sounds of his earlier releases ‘SUMMER03’ and ‘Secrets’ remain, the South Carolina-born, Indiana-raised teenager (real name Edgar Sarratt III) bridges the gap between hyperpop and hip-hop more than ever before on his new EP ‘Back In Action’. Featuring collaborations with Slump6s, KASHDAMI and BabySantana across its eight sonically heavy tracks, moshpit-ready singles like ‘Made It Back’ and ‘All Talk’ showcase his penmanship as much as they do his flow.Compared to the more braggadocious rappers out there, midwxst’s wide-ranging lyrical content is refreshingly honest, open and playful: the hook on ‘Made It Back’, for example, is about wanting to make his mum proud, while ‘Tic Tac Toe’ is about Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb. “A lot of people expected me to be a trapper, rapping about guns and all the generic mainstream stuff,” he says. “But when I talk about how your own mental health and emotions can be the most dangerous thing you possess, especially as a teenager or a young adult, people get such a different vibe from me – and that is what I strive for.”