Image via DB.Boutabag/Instagram
Donald Morrison is pitching on three days rest.
Over the last dozen years, the Vancouver-raised, Compton-realized Jay Worthy has consistently dropped dazzlingly crafted lifestyle raps backed by the most sought-after producers in rap music. A brief list of collaborators includes Harry Fraud, Mustard, The Alchemist, DJ Muggs and his long-time partner in LNDN DRGS, Sean House.
P Worthy has always made the type of rap that goes down smooth. It’s unfussy, meticulously produced, and engineered for long coastal drives as the sun sets on your droptop Benz. You can zone out at any time, and then be suddenly zapped back in with a witty line or hard beat.
But Jay’s rapping has never sounded better than on “Choosing Shoes,” a collab with Boldy James, and the first single off his forthcoming debut. “Shoebox money and sweatsuits for the whole week, don’t talk unless it’s back to me, that’s how my hoes speak,” he begins.
Boldy James, who has been on a classic tear run since recovering from a near-death car crash, easily matches Jay’s calm villainy (“Still skimping, from my accident I’m still limping, when your bitch look me in my eyes, she recognize some real pimping.”)
The production is near-perfect, sounding bright, soulful, like something that could have been made by Madlib for Freddie Gibbs circa Pináta. Jay’s formal debut is rumored to be a return of the double-album, a nod to records Jay grew up loving, like Biggie’s Life After Death. Boldy James is just the first of what will be a wide array of characters and guest features on Jay’s more-than-a-decade in the making star turn.
It’s not that Rio’s return from prison after a nearly five-year long bid hasn’t been celebrated, but I just don’t think people appreciate exactly what he’s done. First, he was able to record enough music to keep people happy for nearly half a decade, so it hardly felt like he was gone. Second, the post-prison music he dropped in the weeks after his release was extremely impressive. Not a lot of rappers can maintain a buzz after this long of a sentence, let alone return to society as if nothing happened, even boasting that he was still on his cell phone and drinking lean while in prison.
“Great Day” is one of a recent slew of singles slated on his next project. The music he dropped after getting out of prison was immediate, but “Great Day” is a true return to form. There’s an attention to detail that quickly elevates it to the pantheon classic Rio songs. We get quotables like “the first time I shot a gun, I was a sixth grader,” and “I just checked my bank account and did jumping jacks.” The beat is dark and moody, perfectly matching Rio’s matter-of-fact way of casually doling out sage wisdom.
“Not At Home” is a welcome change of pace for Bay Area’s resident money collector DB.Boutabag. It’s not a song meant to turn up to, but I wouldn’t blame you for doing so anyway. The beat is classic West Coast, added with heavy bass and fast drums. Almost no rapper in LA right now sounds better on a track like this than Big Sad 1900, who gives probably one of my favorite feature verses of the year so far. He ends the song with a line convincing the listener that he’s been accepted by his new girl’s family, but still, don’t test him. “I got the .40 in the party, I wish they would trip’, yeah I know her brothers, it’s her mother that I’m good with.”
Tr3yway6k is still managing to release music while in the middle of his six-year prison bid for charges related to shooting someone in the ass on camera. His latest, with Drexthejoint, shows his ability to turn a funny line into an hilarious hook. I may never look at this infamous Rick Ross ad-lib the same ever again. “Turn to Rick Ross, watch him ‘Huh’ when we spray,” he says excitedly. Drexthejoint sounds refreshingly aggressive production that sounds like knock-off Dr. Dre, but not in a derogatory sense.
There’s a new Sheriff in town. His name is Ralfy The Plug and he’s intent on enforcing his own disjointed sense of justice. On “That’s The Law,” Ralfy displays some of his best rapping in memory, reminding me of his late brother’s singular way with words, saying “I could get you nailed to the pavement, I know carpenters, Bob The Builder, he got all the tools, check his arsenal,” and “anyone could have an opinion, but who are you though?” The song is off the deluxe version of “Old Man Ralfy,” which came out last week and adds another 21 songs to the original. I don’t understand why he doesn’t just call it “Old Man Ralfy Part 2,” but certain genius isn’t meant to be questioned.
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