KXLLSWXTCH

Kxllswxtch fuses rap with rock idioms such as grunge and emo across selections including the 2020 track “Crying in the Club,” 2021’s “Waste,” and 2023’s “SOS,” along with the albums Disorder (2021) and The Walls Have Eyes (2023).

Jonathan Whitmer, raised in Orange County, California, turned to music as an outlet while navigating a difficult home environment; his grandparents brought him up, yet early experiments with drugs and alcohol produced arrests and a period in rehab. Nirvana’s direct three-piece rock drive and Future’s hazy rhythmic phrasing stood out as his chief inspirations. After achieving sobriety, Whitmer began issuing material under the Kxllswxtch name in 2017, moving from the sharp trap edges of “CameToKillShit” to the near-screamo delivery of “Skull Crack” and the subdued guitar-and-vocal lines of “Gravel.”

Empire signed him in 2020; the ensuing EP Kill! favored brisk beats and rapid rhymes on cuts like “Exorcist” and “Raditz.” Later projects Disorder and The Walls Have Eyes balanced those approaches, spotlighting widely streamed numbers such as the acoustic “WASTE” and the trap-leaning “COSMO.” The 2023 single “SOS” tightens this mixture further, shifting between bright pop-rock refrains and flashes of accelerated wordplay.