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Harley Geffner has been known to start altercations at Barney’s.
LPB Poody – Solitary Konfinement
Orlando’s Lpb Poody is a colorful storyteller who takes joy in sticking his tongue at everyone. There are a bunch of “run that back, did he really just say that?” moments on his new project Solitary Konfinement. Look at Violation, which was one of my favorites off the tape. In just over two and a half minutes, he threatens to send his wolf to blow down your shelter, says he’s still packing because “probation just a word,” and forces someone to get on Obamacare.
There’s this slightly sinister glee underlying everything he says. He talks of having a masterplan to get out of the streets like he’s some omniscient figure, smiling at the rest of us who haven’t figured it all out yet. He’ll touch on something like having to steal phones and purses, but doesn’t make it a somber struggle tale. It’s just that, as he says, he found another play.
The production all through Solitary Konfinement stays true to Poody’s Floridian roots with jumpy fairy tale keys and bass hitting every wall of a bouncy castle. It’s fire through and through.
Playboi Carti – “Molly CDQ”
There’s a weird guilt associated with listening to leaks in today’s music economy. Given what we know about how much it hurts artists and their whole production teams, I debated whether or not I wanted to promote a leak in this rap up. Jai Paul just wrote a heartbreaking letter explaining how much pain the leaks of his 2013 album caused him. He was constantly asked about whether he did it himself and said that not being allowed to say anything made him feel like he lost his agency. Only with the help of years of therapy could he finally get back to a place in which he felt comfortable making music again. Young Thug had the infamous leaks of over 100 of his songs in one dump, which his engineer Alex Tumay explained as heartbreaking too. About 30 more Thug songs leaked this weekend, probably messing up his plans for his next album, goldmoufdog. Carti saw 5 tracks leak in CDQ this weekend too.
But these Carti leaks are out and there’s no putting them back in the lamp. I don’t think writing about his kid cudi snip or CDQ leak would have been immoral given how widespread it was, so here we are with Molly. The song was first snipped from a live show in Seattle in November, 2018. Of course it blew up, because what atmospheric carti fragment with the baby voice isn’t going to blow up? It may have spread too far for it to end up on Whole Lotta Red.
But this song is crazy. Atmospheric / Baby voice Carti turns us all in to sentient levitation memes. The Arthur one where Binky puts on the headphones and is transferred to a trippy astral plane. Shaq floating too. But of course, the only promises in life are death, taxes, and Carti faithful telling us the low q snip was better. And I hate to admit it, but they’re right.
YG – “Stop Snitchin Remix (ft. Da Baby)”
It made too much sense for Da Baby to get on this song. I saw a tweet last week that said Da Baby makes music for security guards and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. The pace on this YG track is perfect for Da Baby’s spastic flow and he just went viral for beating up a dude who pressed him in a Louie store. In the music video, him and YG take turns slapping people and then take their shoes. Security guard music.
Gawd – June (Deluxe Version)
Virginia-born producer GAWD makes music for celestial cyber-stunting. Listening to any GAWD tape or mix feels like slow-motion drag racing in VR with an old Chevy across Saturn’s rings. The low-q bass reverberates through your whole body and gives you this disconnected-from-reality feeling. It’s like an elementary picture of lucid dreaming, where the soul floats out of your body while lying in bed. Or like Jerry from Tom & Jerry’s soul floating up the golden escalator. But you won’t be floating up the golden escalator listening to GAWD. It’s more like you’ll be hydraulically boosted up, one step at a time. GAWD’s squawking vocals are certainly an acquired taste, but once you get the itch, it’s a done deal. Peep the deluxe version of GAWD’s new tape, June. The Carti influence is clear too.
BigBabyGucci – “Change Your Mood”
BigBabyGucci is versatile as hell. According to a Twitter comment that was RT’d by Gucci, this is a sample from Jazz guitarist Grant Green (I can’t ID/confirm the sample myself). The FOREVERWORLD affiliate from Charlotte pumps out everything from heavily distorted skull crushers to smooth R&B cuts like Change Your Mood. He said he’s been sitting on this track for a year because of “old label problems,” and that they might delete it soon, so listen while it’s still up.
‘LGado – “Pretty B*tch”
There’s so much good music coming out of Chicago right now. Polo G has been written about in the last three Rap Ups straight, so I’ll let someone else heap praises on his new album (and it is very praiseworthy). But ‘LGado is a Chicago vet who’s been simmering beneath the more mainstream figures leading the charge out of the city. On Pretty B*tch, his confidence shines through as he stomps around a park showing off his teeth, and tries to get himself a pretty girl. He’s rocking that vintage Raptors Vince Carter jersey that every NBA fan alive has been begging to see in the finals. I’m bumping this all through game 5 as a good luck charm.
