Wynne Is a Sharpshooting MC Coming Straight Outta, Um, Lake Oswego

She's gone viral twice. But Wynne is more than a gimmick—and she’s getting the chance to prove it.

10 (tie). Wynne (28 pts.)

SOUNDS LIKE: A sharpshooting MC coming straight outta, um, Lake Oswego?

NOTABLE VOTES: DJ Klyph, rapper Tope, Portland Mercury contributor Jenni Moore.

Wynne went viral twice in the past two years, and she has two things to thank for that.

The first is her ability to deliver mile-a-minute rhymes in a dizzying array of flows. The second is the way she looks. Twenty years after Eminem invaded suburban CD players across the nation, it's still a shock to see someone with blond hair, blue eyes and legitimate rap skills. As Wynne herself said in one of those viral videos, "They can't let it go that I look like I came out of Frozen."

But Wynne is more than a gimmick. And she's getting the chance to prove it.

"When that video went viral," she says of the clip, uploaded last August, of her freestyling over the beat to 21 Savage's "Bank Account," "my world changed, and a lot of doors opened up. I fly down to LA every few weeks and have started working with a bunch of different producers."

While simultaneously studying music at the University of Oregon, Wynne—who grew up in Lake Oswego, perhaps the diametric opposite of a rap hotbed—is currently trying to hone her craft beyond freestyling, and admits that "writing full songs and thinking about song structure is something I'm getting more accustomed to."

That learning curve accounts for the yearlong gap between Wynne's most recent non-remix, a track called "CVTVLYST," and her newest freestyle, over Lil Pump's hit "Gucci Gang." She promises more original material is on its way shortly—plus some other things she's not yet at liberty to talk about.

"I'm mostly just putting out new music, seeing where that takes me," she says of her plans for the next year. "Trying to reach as many people as possible, and introducing the world to what I do."

Best New Band Intro | No. 1: Sávila | No 2: Black Belt Eagle Scout | No. 3: Frankie Simone | No. 4: Amenta AbiotoNo. 5: MaarquiiNo. 6: Brown CalculusNo 7: SunbatheNo 8: Blackwater HolylightNo. 9: AutonomicsNo. 10 (tie): Public Eye and WynneWho's Got Next? No. 11-20 | The Complete Ballots

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