Sach O is the human bong.
I continue to prefer Rick Ross to most contemporary rappers. While the man’s penchants for self-parody and high comedy have already been firmly established, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that he’s actually developing as an emcee. The rumors of ghostwriting that popped up after Deeper than Rap’s lyrical-leap may or may not be founded, but if Ross is buying rhymes, at least he’s keeping some talented motherfuckers on retainer. Personally though, I’m beginning to think that like the fine wines he name drops, the Bawse just improves with age.
In any case, some of his recent material clearly leapfrogs cheap laughs territory landing squarely in the realm of quality Hip-Hop. “Knife Fight” is a classicist New York banger complete with imitation Premo chorus and a blazing Kool G Rap verse. Incredibly, the song actually makes sense musically, feeling like the natural conclusion of a good idea rather than a hackneyed attempt to drum up east-coast support. Rawse and G Rap’s tense crime-related boasts are nothing new, but no one is asking these guys to rhyme about the 718th digit of Pi here: a few bars about drugs, a few bars about avoiding the law (try not to giggle) and a few references to expensive products and we’re done. There’s a lot to like and little to be mad at: G Rap gets a check, Ross actually catches wreck and I get a rap song without autotune, references to how much fame sucks, sad sack romance or rhymes that sound like they were conceived by the mentally disabled.
Ross’ freestyle over Erykah Badu’s “Window Seat” is even better, so much so that it’s now pegged to be the song’s official remix. Maybe it’s hanging out with Diddy or maybe it’s the aforementioned ghostwriters but Ross pulls off a fairly convincing Biggie impersonation here, embedding his boisterous fat-gangster routine with more aplomb and nuance than usual. Matching ?uestlove’s beat for sheer smoothness, Rawse transforms the sunny R&B track into one of those post G-Funk mid 90’s moments that were slammed for being soft at the time only to seem like genius ideas in retrospect. Claiming to “always be the owner of the watch you want to borrow,” it’s clear that the laid-back pimp vibe the man brought to Super High is here to stay and I for one am glad: anyone claims to be “the human bong” while kicking off his Clarks in rhyme form is alright with me.
Download:
MP3: Rick Ross ft. Kool G Rap- “Knife Fight”
MP3: Rick Ross – “Window Seat Remix” (Left-Click)
ZIP: Rick Ross – The Albert Anastasia EP (Left-Click)
5 comments
hl says:
June 8, 2010 at 5:06 am (UTC -7)
I told ya’ll…In early 2009 or so Ricky learned how to rap really well.
Jay Deff Kay says:
June 8, 2010 at 8:33 am (UTC -7)
Nice review. Cosign on Ross’ steady improvement. Deeper Than Rap was one hell of a pleasant surprise so I’m looking forward to Teflon Don.
I think the weirdest thing about ‘Knife Fight’ is that Kool G Rap doesn’t totally murk Ross, which is what I think most people expected. I actually prefer Ross’ verse over G Rap’s. (I especially dig “they nailed Jesus to the cross / my jeweler nailed the piece/ 30 gs for me to floss / Lord forgive me I’m a sinner/ still smoking by the paper, revelations getting thinner..”)
Also, Biggie samples continue to sound more gutter and grittier than entire rappers’ careers.
RNC Chairman Michael Steele says:
June 8, 2010 at 5:35 pm (UTC -7)
Good stuff. It’s not like street cred ever mattered in rap anyway. Ask Dr. Dre.
DV says:
June 8, 2010 at 11:02 pm (UTC -7)
Dude has a really great ear for beats. As an MC, he’s still rarely goes above very competent but he knows his lane. Something to be said for knowing your own limitations.
smallpro says:
June 17, 2010 at 5:42 pm (UTC -7)
wow i never heard the window seat remix…this is flamery