| Reloaded but Not Rehashed: The Return of Roc Marciano | December 3, 2012 |
Craig Jenkins delivers like an 80-lb. baby. You’ve probably read a heap of prose glowingly anointing Roc Marciano’s Reloaded as one of 2012’s best hip-hop releases (true) but quietly intimating that this was achieved in part by Roc adhering to a style and standard of rap whose last hurrah on terrestrial radio was 1997 (not […]
| MobbDeen: Rap Geniusing 103 — Roc Marciano’s “Thread Count” | November 19, 2012 |
Deen has yet to record a shirtless “freestyle.” So I’ve been listening to this new Roc Marciano album quite a bit. It’s quite good. I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll be reading a review around these parts soon enough. Just not from me. I’m lazy and lack the depth required to reflect on rap […]
| Action Bronson & Alchemist Design Rare Chandeliers | November 15, 2012 |
Mandatory for anyone who likes Saved by the Bell, Blaxploitation films, Dolph Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, whip gymnastics, lamb with fennel, fresh suede shoes, Abalone, Cannelloni, professionalism, holidays in Arizona, foreign trucks, Polo robes, Ivan Llendl, the Knicks, saucy automobiles, scholasticism, the Maury show, cargo shorts, free range piranhas, rap music. Review coming later. Download and […]
| Alchemist is on a boat. Or yacht. Also on a roll. | October 31, 2012 |
Son Raw has sea-legs. At this point, I’ve run out of ways to express surprise at just how much Alchemist is killing it in 2012. Of course, he’s always been sick, but Boom-Bap producers aren’t supposed to deliver their best work 15 years into their careers, if only because they run out of samples. I […]
| Roc Marciano: The Streak Continues | October 24, 2012 |
You can tell Max Bell is a pimp by the way his shirt fit. Roc Marciano is never going to scream over a beat. He hardly ever gets above a whisper. There will be no “Backseat Freestyle.” Maybe you don’t like. Maybe you want harder drums and catchier hook. But Roc Marc doesn’t give a fuck. […]
| The Iron Age Starring Ka & Roc Marciano | October 15, 2012 |
Ka and Roc Marc rap in black and white. You are fam or foe. Weight is moving or it’s not. Struggle. Street politics. The pen keeps scribbling. Together, they are De Niro and Liotta in Goodfellas—before the fall, of course. They are camo shorts and crisp black and white tees. It’s the anti ‘bubble-gum backpack […]
| Roc Marciano, The Break Runner and King Killer | September 28, 2012 |
Time for some Roc Marciano to poison the palate. As always, there are too many quotables to list without rewinding two dozen times. Yes, he did say that he runs the break like Dave Wingate. Roc remains more vicious than an unfed Hoya. I can’t spot the sample so anyone with deeper crates should tell […]
| The Roc is in the Building | August 23, 2012 |
Winter encroaches whether we want it or not. Roc Marci understands this, so Reloaded stabs on November 13 just in time for the ice and tar to congeal in your lungs. At this point, the ex-U.N. member might be the most consistent rapper breathing. If he breathes. You get the sense that breathing would make […]
Max Bell is everywhere, July 2012. I have my pineapple haze stashed in the Batcave. My oil paintings are perfectly placed over my fireplace. And my Gucci’s with the red and green laces are on point. I am Roc Marciano. That was actually a dream I had — a movie I wish I starred in. […]
| Stained Glass Thoughts from Has-Lo | July 23, 2012 |
Like Ka and Roc Marciano, there’s a patient painstakingly assembled quality to Has-Lo’s music. If you listen to it only once, you might even find it a bit boring. Has’ rarely modulates his voice, opting for a cool detachment, the lucid narrative eye triumphs over the bloodied combatant. It initially seems like aloofness, but upon […]
