PFOS: VOLUME 7
Happy Friday and welcome back to Pocket Full of Stones. Rap music is a vital resource for many during quarantine, so let’s talk about it...
ALBUMS
Producers: D33Gotti, LLB, Ronny 808, Static6ix, Tip12lve, YG Beats
Label: Warner Records
Standout Tracks: All of them
After cultivating a local fanbase as the hook-man for Baltimore rap trio Peso De Mafia, Shordie Shordie blew up nationally in 2019 with his bawdy solo hit “Bichuary” and became the first rapper from Baltimore to bring home a platinum single. On his second solo project >Music, Shordie sounds more comfortable than ever with his smoke-serrated voice, refining his knack for brisk melodies and delivering an immersive piece of paranoid party music.
One thing that stands out to me about Shordie Shordie is his romantic streak. Instead of leaning on perfunctory cliches about “fucking your bitch / this bitch”, Shordie writes with candor and heartfelt specificity about the women he’s involved with. As the legend Sep Zomorodi put it to me over text, “My favorite element of Shordie Shordie’s music is the raw transparency of his romantic thoughts. At times he’s spiteful, other times he’s sweet, other times he’s obsessive.”
On “L.O.V.”, Shordie gets frustrated because his girl leaves him waiting outside for an hour while she watches Power. On “Two”, he juggles two lovers with opposite personalities and lavishes the loyal one with sappy Cinderella imagery. Shordie’s lovesick inner monologue is brought to life by his inimitable voice, which cracks and cascades with feverish emotion.
Producers: 80Apes, AceLex On Da Track, Day Six, Dmac, Drell On The Track, Drum Dummie, LC Beats, Lilkdubb, Mook On The Beats, ProdBy AKel, RellyMade, SonoBeats, SpeakerBangerz, Tahj Money, TnTXD, Tre Gilliam, Trillo Beats, Yung Tago, Zypitano
Label: Alamo Records
Standout Tracks: “Pray 4 Love”, “Fuck The World”, “Thief in the Night”, “Thug Life”, “I Remember”, “Roaming”, “The Greatest”, “Thug Motivation”, “Dark Clouds”
St. Petersburg rapper/celebrity therapist Rod Wave is back with his third LP in the past ten months. When I first heard Pray 4 Love, I worried that Rod’s single-minded focus on his misery was becoming played out. But on repeated listens, the 20-year-old phenom eroded my skepticism with his sublime voice and vivid penmanship.
The vocal performances on Pray 4 Love are as stunning as ever. Whether he’s cooing softly or belting from his chest, the melodies are rippling with tension and emotion. For all Rod’s songbird prowess, his writing is what makes this project stick. On the album’s most morbid track “Roaming”, he articulates a worldview hardened by suffering with chilling clarity: “We probably all in hell already, how the masses ain’t know it? / Everybody’s kissing ass to get to heaven and ain’t going”.
Producers: Flex on the Beat, Helluva, Southside*
Label: 4PF / Collective Music Group
Standout Tracks: “Y&T 2”, “Not A Rapper” ft. Lil Baby & Yo Gotti, “It Get Deeper”, “Been Turnt”, “Hard Times”, “Turnt Bitch” “One of One” ft. Babyface Ray, “Palm Angels In The Sky”
Detroit rapper 42 Dugg arrived on my radar via Lil Baby, who recently signed him in a joint partnership with Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group. The motor city’s rap scene is thriving right now, and Dugg has cut through the noise with his uncanny nasal timbre and a steady stream of riveting music videos.
On his latest project Young & Turnt Vol. 2, Dugg puts a fiercely charismatic spin on the age-old dealer-turned-rapper story. Over production that ranges from Southside 808s (“Not A Rapper”) to 80s teen movie style keyboards (“Hard Times”), Dugg paints an unvarnished picture of his journey from gram-bag hustler to Lil Baby prodigy, relishing the highs and taking care not to spare the gory details.
*I couldn’t find the full production credits for Young & Turnt Vol. 2. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to find liner notes for albums this popular. If there’s a semi-comprehensive resource for production credits that I’m sleeping on, please let me know…
SINGLES
TeamLilStraw - “Reason” (prod. TNTxD)
For the past year, Nashville teenager TeamLilStraw has been quietly putting out scorching singles on the YouTube channel of director and fellow Nashville native BJ Productions. On his debut EP Cautious, LilStraw raps in fiery three minute sprints with an off-the-cuff delivery that belies the complexity of his countless flows.
Over TNTxD’s dewy instrumental on “Reason”, LilStraw cycles through twisty cadences and turns of phrase (“Bitch I’m in the party, got that glizzy in the party / N***a wanna play he get left dizzy in the party”) with effortless grace. When the beat finally cuts out, Straw cracks up laughing, like he’s marveling at the magnitude of his gift.
Hotboii - “In A Cell” (prod. Nolinski)
Since linking with ascendent Florida-based management company 100k, Orlando rapper Hotboii has asserted himself as one of the sunshine state’s most promising young artists. He’s been on a creative tear since last summer, and “In A Cell” is a shining example of what he does well.
With so many of today’s rappers straining to affect a singsong delivery, it’s always refreshing to hear a rising star with a naturally harmonious voice. Over a sunny Spanish guitar loop from fellow Orlando native Nolinski, Hotboii sing-raps with bluesy conviction about the devils he can’t shake. “Crackers let me off of papers and they still watching / Perky got a n***a real nauseous”.
Lul Smoove - “Freestyle” (prod. TNTxD)*
Lul Smove is a 17-year-old Oakland native with a nimble flow and R&B-ready singing voice whose recent mixtape Takeover was criminally slept on. The tape’s highlight is called “Freestyle”, and I commend Lul Smoove for choosing such a generic, SEO-unfriendly song title.
Memphis rapper YNC Capo already used this TNTxD instrumental for his excellent regional hit “Q 50”, but Lul Smoove makes it his own. He improvises a multi-part chorus, flips it in five different directions, and squeezes in verses so catchy they sound like extra hooks. The lyrics are full of youthful confidence and concerns, but they’re nothing to take lightly: “It could get tragic, your brother in a casket / And now he on a t-shirt and your family know what happened”.
Meize Bentley - “16” (prod. Fuurgg)
16-year-old Meize Bentley went semi-viral on one of his first tries with “First Day Out”, a hard-as-nails video celebrating his release from juvenile jail. That song’s resonance was no fluke - Meize has continued to cultivate an audience for his ice-cold brand of knotty street rap via YouTube.
Meize’s Texas twang makes his double-time flows sound conversational. On recent loosie “16”, he tosses off intricate clusters of wordplay like idle musings: “I got the strap all in VLive / Plus I’m with 10, send his ass a bullet like Eli / ‘Trouble Man’ bitch, ain’t no T.I. / Lil n****a play in this bitch and I swear he gon’ DI...E”.
Dej Loaf - “Bubbly” (prod. Derrick $horter)
Detroit legend and melodic rap pioneer Dej Loaf recently parted ways with Columbia Records - the label that signed her off the strength of her timeless hit “Try Me” in 2014 - and “Bubbly” is her first official single since going independent. Dej sounds emboldened by her newfound autonomy, and the warm, unhurried Derrick $horter production on “Bubbly” provides ample space for her silky vocals.
The song has no discernible hooks or bridges, it’s just one long freewheeling verse. Whether she’s making threats (“Keep thinking with your dick and we gon’ put it on your head”) or gently crooning pop-culture punchlines (“I’m the biggest joker need a bitch like Harley Quinn / Ain’t fishing for no bitches, I’m like Nemo with more fins”), Dej’s train of thought remains clever and colorful.
REQUIRED READING
Philly rapper and model Chynna dies of accidental overdose at 25 - Valarie Russ, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Rising Rapper, Shoreline Mafia Associate Mac P Dawg Shot and Killed - Patrick Johnson, Hypebeast
Paying Tribute to Chynna With Five of Her Essential Songs - Mankaprr Conte, Pitchfork
MAJOR IN HISTORY
Tate Kobang - “Bank Rolls Remix”
To end this issue where it began (Baltimore), here’s a 2015 dance-rap classic from hometown hero Tate Kobang, who also happens to be Shordie Shordie’s cousin.
PLAYLIST
As usual, a fresh batch of recent raps is linked below the jump.
I wish you all good health and some peace of mind, wherever you might find it.