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If the song’s video-less YouTube video is any indication, “Suicide City” consists of a hodgepodge of skyscrapers a la the backdrop for Last Week Tonight. More likely it is Los Angeles. More specifically it is Long Beach, the city from which Namebrand hails.
The song follows themes that’ve been expressed by many Long Beach residents throughout the city’s rich musical history, meaning it depicts the harsh realities of the world that lies beneath the facade of sandy borders and ocean waters. Namebrand tells smart tales of life in that place, replaying the scene of his cousin’s murder and questioning everything without being preachy or even claiming to be directly involved.
On Schoolboy Q’s Juan Epstein episode, he talked about how authenticity is always in the details. Anyone can rap about shooting a gun, but if that’s something that you’ve actually done then you should be able to describe it with more specificity than the generic ways many rappers do.
On The G.R.E.A.T. Tape, NameBrand smartly puts himself in a good-kid-mad-city position, admitting that he’s not waving bandanas but he’s still examining it all. He’s an outsider on the inside, simultaneously close and distant from what he’s describing. Those distinctions often characterize great storytellers and definitely do so here.
It’s also refreshing to hear Namebrand talk about the things he talks about without the in-your-face allegiances touted by many rappers in Suicide City (and used to sell either red or blue merch). Production on “Suicide City” as well as a large chunk of NameBrand’s forthcoming The G.R.E.A.T. Tape 2 is handled by Seige Monstracity, a producer with an ear for making Namebrand’s grit sound crisp and clean. The producer was also responsible for introducing NameBrand to Sha Money, who recently signed the rapper to Epic Records.
NameBrand’s placement on a major label does seem like a sensical move, especially in the hands of someone like Sha Money. Namebrand is neither as menacing nor as charismatic as 50, but the two do share a melodic flow, knack for hooks and an ability to make darkness sound strangely upbeat and fun. There are many more differences than similarities between the two, but Seige Monstracity’s production style is reminiscent of the mid-2000s Interscope days when lyrical street rap was pop rap, too.
“Suicide City” is also a slight departure from the songs found on The G.R.E.A.T. Tape, Namebrand’s first project. On that (pretty good, maybe not great) tape, Namebrand’s style could’ve more easily drawn parallels to Lupe and Kanye, the two artists he names specifically on “Melo” in an attempt to distance himself. Namebrand raps over Miike Snow on one song, and he cites Toro Y Moi and Little Dragon as influences. None of those influences are as easily detectable on “Suicide City,” but the fact that they’re there hopefully means Namebrand is carving out a lane that pays respect to his Long Beach lineage and a broader range of artists in equal parts.
Whether or not he finds that type of formula, the major label powers and producers behind Namebrand’s sound should help elevate it beyond the sandy borders of Suicide City.
