Max Bell was very excited to see Tech N9ne at Paid Dues.
Until recent, I thought that Gwinnett County-bred Rittz was just a rapper who looked like a hairier and thugged out Steven Wright. I had no idea he was the guy ripping Yelawolf’s “My Box Chevy Pt. 3” or that I’d completely slept on his White Jesus tape, which you definitely need (see interview here). Then Jeff put me up on Rittz’s latest single. As of today, consider me among the converted.
“For Real” is the first single off of his upcoming label-debut, The Life and Times of Johnny Valiant, which drops on Strange Music at the end of April. It’s just over three minutes of the most energetic and technically sound auto-tuned trap rappity-rap that you’ll hear today. Motor-mouth syllables stack like bricks at the most well-supplied stash houses. The beat will test the sub in the back of your Caprice — sparse and haunting piano keys are backed by menacingly booming bass and sweeping high-hats that sound like they’re trying to keep pace with Rittz instead than the opposite. And the hook, while simple, is catchy as hell. Spelling four letter words with an asthmatic-like cadence is apparently both fun and frightening.
As far as the visual is concerned, it’s less entertaining for the jaw gymnastics and Rittz’s hair and more for the fact that he raps on a busted speed boat in a junk yard. It’s not a gimmick. That’s just the Slumerican family way.
If you asked me for more words about Rittz or some comparable rappers, I’d say that Rittz is the rapper you would get if you combined Yelawolf and Tech N9ne: the speed and technical ability of both mixed with the skin tone and general content of the former. Thus why Yela’s putting Rittz on, and Rittz’s signing to Strange Music both make perfect sense.
Presuming all of the above sounds like your brand of country fried speed rap, both editions (the original and the redux) of White Jesus are below the jump. There are features from Yela, Big K.R.I.T., and 8Ball, and songs about drugs, life, love, and everything in between. Whatever the subject of discussion on the track, know that Rittz can rap his ass off and his beat selection is almost always on point. And, as far as I can tell, the only tenets of White Jesus’ religion are that you open your ears, mind, and lungs. Not too much to ask from a guy giving away so much quality material for free. Church.
Listen:
Watch:
Download:
MP3: Rittz – “For Real”
ZIP: Rittz – White Jesus (Left-Click)
ZIP: Rittz – White Jesus: Revival (Left-Click)
ZIP: Strange Music 2013 Sampler (Left-Click)
