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12/27/2019 0 Comments Roddy Rich is ExcusedOn March 31st, the West Coast lost a major figure in the rap game but more importantly in the streets. Nipsey Hussle wasn't just another rapper getting his money, he was a man from the hood giving back to the hood. Giving young people the tools they needed to be successful on their own. Never took any handouts, and never gave any handouts. Just a guy displaying what it truly means to help the people in his community. But his loss inspired many young people to be better in everything they do. Especially young rappers from the west coast.  Roddy Ricch Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial December 6, 2019 When Nipsey Hussle got Roddy Ricch to be featured on his hit "Racks in the Middle," it felt like the beginning of something big for this kid. The track was released just one month before Nipsey's death, and was the last single he would ever release. Roddy Ricch has done nothing but make Nipsey proud with the work he has done in 2019. His feature on Mustard's major hit "Ballin'" played through everyone's speakers for the entire summer, catapulting him to his first certified Gold track of the year. Both of these songs are nominated for Grammy's. The kid continued to build upon his work by ending 2019 with his debut studio album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. Roddy didn't just pop up out of nowhere. He dropped mixtapes Feed the Streets and it's sequel in 2017 and 2018, which can be found on all streaming services. Anybody who listened to these mixtapes could hear the potential, but there was still something missing. It could have been the hunger to be great wasn't quite there yet. Or maybe he didn't even know the potential he could reach. But this debut album shatters all expectations anyone could have had of him. Similar to Luka Doncic coming into the NBA and taking over immediately, this kid has already cemented himself as a major player in the game. This single "Big Stepper" was the first to be released off of the album in early October. The video displays Roddy in all black in the middle of the night, in front of a dark horse. A lot of undertones of Halloween mixed with the dark nights in his streets of Compton. In the hook he states "I was taught to never show no love." Which just encapsulates everything needed to know about this track and where his mindset was while creating this album. This track was the big step to get him to where he was trying to be when dropping this album. The buzz was just beginning, and was only going to grow. He decided to keep the ball rolling when he dropped "Start Wit Me" just a few weeks later with Gunna. Once again dressed in all black, like he's going to a funeral. Only this time, it is daytime and he's surrounded by those dressed in white. There's a bit of ironic humor in this track when he says "I'ma hang with the gangbangers. He only hang with the feds and the rats and the mice." As Gunna was just caught up snitching a few years back on a crime television show. But this track displayed what we could come to expect from Roddy. It has all the makings of Future's DS2 mixed with his west coast sound. As with many of the songs on this album, you can make many comparisons to that classic from Future. But not only the music, but there's a lot of similarities in how this album will effect his career. After Future dropped DS2, every album after that came with major expectations. Roddy Ricch came with the heat on his first album, and anything less from now on will be a disappointment. After his second single, he revealed the release date of his debut album. With much anticipation, Roddy dropped one final single before the album "Tip Toe" featuring A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie. And I had the strap when I caught my case Everybody knows the best weed comes from Northern California, even those from Los Angeles know what's up. But that case he's talking about is the only time he's ever been convicted of a crime. He was charged with domestic violence, when an argument between him and his girlfriend turned physical. Neither of them needed medical attention thankfully. Here's a bit of advice for many of you young men out there. It's a real simple thing: Don't put your hands a woman. Just don't do it. You'll ruin her life, your life, and it's a really tough reputation to shake. So I hope he learned his lesson when he posted his $50,000 bail. And hopefully men wake the fuck up and stop with this shit. It's flat out stupid.  The album is a hit. The perfect way to bring in the new year with some good music.
But with talent comes lofty expectations. A young man with all the talent in the world can blow it a million different ways. And I'd hate to see it blown due to domestic violence. The substance of there album carries a lot of weight for a few reasons. He can carry on a legacy of knowledge similar to that of Nipsey Hussle, or he can limit his growth by simply putting out what everyone wants to hear. I don't believe that he's actually antisocial, that doesn't really make sense for someone who decided to become a famous rapper. Reserved would probably be a better word to use, but that doesn't sound as relatable to the kids. Regardless of the choices he decides to make in his young career, he'll always have this album. And he'll always have 2019 as a stepping stone to build off of.
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12/13/2019 0 Comments We, We, We Love FridayOne of my first jobs ever was at a minor league baseball stadium as a cook. My boss was pretty cool and let me play my music to get through our work day. The playlist was mostly pretty good, had some throwbacks, but mostly new music. Everybody was usually pretty happy with my song choices, I didn't have too many complaints. There was one song however that was polarizing. I would either see a huge smile on my coworkers faces, or I would hear loud grunts followed by "This song again?!" But no matter how much they complained, every Friday right before the gates opened, I would blast this one song and sing it at full volume. As time went on, I got a lot of my coworkers to sing along with me. It was a way to get everyone excited for work, and people still tell me to this day that they remember hearing that song every Friday and actually feeling a certain nostalgia when they think about it.  Rebecca Black "Friday" 2011 Social media was still in it's infantile stages, so going viral really meant something different. When you went viral, you were the only thing everyone was talking about. And even though Rebecca Black's "Friday" came out in 2011, it still remains one of the most viral moments of the 2010's. This was full of bubble-gum lyrics, and sounded like something you freestyle with your kids when you're trying to get them ready for school. Yet, those lyrics captivated people for the whole decade. Helping her to 140 million views on YouTube, and who knows how many plays on MySpace in its day. We're going to rank those squeaky-clean lyrics because it seems like the right thing to do. I'm sure you guys have heard the song by now, but if you haven't here it is. It's Friday, Friday This is a fact. Who isn't ever looking forward to the weekend? Even if you work on the weekends, there's just always a lot more going on during the weekend. But especially for a 13 year old kid. High school is probably the last time you really had little to no responsibilities, so the weekend was literally all you were looking forward too. This is probably the actual best bar of the song because you could see this being used in any huge pop song. A song based around Friday's could easily be a hit if some mainstream pop singer like Drake made it. I see my friends First of all, you're going to take whichever seat is available. If you have people in the front seat, you're getting the back seat, unless you just bully someone out of that front seat. And that would be fucked up, because that's your friend. And it just reminds us how indecisive teenagers are. They can't even choose a damn seat in a car that has one seat available. So damn spoiled. In the video, she makes her way to the back seat and rides in the middle. Which brings us to the next best line. I got this, you got this Probably the most empty lyrics of the song, yet they still somehow carry an immense amount of weight. First of all, what is it exactly that I am supposed to have got when she says that we got this? And why must she repeat it? She says that I now know it, but I don't know what the fuck she's talking about ten years later. Then she says that her friend is by her right. She's not wrong, but I thought her car was full of her friends. Why is just the one girl sitting next to her the only one she is shouting out? Fun, Fun, Thinkin' bout Fun WHAT DO I KNOW?!  We, we, we so excited I just want to know why they felt the need to speak with such improper grammar in this instance. They could've easily said "We're" instead of "We." But I guess if they did then "We" wouldn't be talking about it. 7 am waking up in the morning We all remember what it was like getting ready for school. Especially on a Friday in high school. You had to make sure you looked good and was as she says "Fresh." But the hardest-hitting, most relatable line in the song is "Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal." The fact that she had to let you know the bowl comes first should tell you how serious she takes her morning cereal. She has one specific bowl that she uses for cereal, and she gotta have it. Cereal goes hard at any time of day, but the fact that she had enough time before going to school to eat her cereal should tell you how excited she was to wake up that Friday morning. Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday Here we are. The best line of the song.
I really don't know where to begin. The fact that they had to clarify the days of the week leaves me astounded to this day. Unless you're a two year old listening to this song, then you know the days of the week. The whole damn song is about Friday. We know it's Friday. We know the days of the week. Yet this line may have been the one that really pushed this song into it's viral holiness. It really just goes back to how pure and clean this song is. It reminds us of everything that is good in the world. A kid who loved Friday's so much that she had to sing about it. My whole goal in life is to love anything as much as 13-year old Rebecca Black loved Friday's. As much as people loved to hate on this song and this kid when the song came out, everyone knew the words. Not that it was hard, but they still knew them. It was catchy, it was fun, and totally encapsulated a typical Friday for a young teenager. A certified viral banger. |
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