Art via Evan Solano
Donald Morrison aka Donthany Morristano here, the internet’s most chopped music nerd.
I’m a recovering heroin addict, a victim of the American opioid epidemic that occurred as a result of the FDA colluding with the pharmaceutical industry to deem OxyContin “an unaddictive medication.” I entered high school right as opioid pills flooded into the country, but that’s another story.
OT The Real brilliantly captures the hopelessness endemic to the late 2000s in “FISHTOWN,” presumably an ode to a certain section of Philly impacted by the opioid epidemic, which currently takes the form of fentanyl-addicted junkies nodding off and often dying.
OT avoids cliche with excellent, heart-wrenching writing. Lines like, “He just couldn’t get it together, eating the kind of drugs you just shouldn’t get from whoever,” and “the pills were a lot of people’s Kryptonite, the pills made a lot of people rich for life.” It’s an excellent way to succinctly describe how The Sackler Family and Purdue Pharma made their billions by making available through dubious means addictive pills to vulnerable populations.
He ends the song with some advice for anybody still using in today’s Russian-roulette-like state of recreational pill use: “When you go to heaven, you can’t take your gun, so take your pills, just be careful who you take them from.”
Skrilla has become a national phenomenon after the now infamous “6’7” meme exploded in popularity in a way no one could predict, culminating in a South Park episode mocking the trend, and Kim Kardashian saying it on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The astronomical rise of an artist like Skrilla makes me wary, though, because usually when someone rises this fast their downfall could come even faster. With more eyes comes more scrutiny, more money, more problems, etc. Luckily, as this blog has been extolling for months, Skrilla seems to have the goods to back up his sudden ascent.
Within all the hoopla surrounding “6’7,” and the physical appearance of a usually masked Skrilla himself, the self-proclaimed Mayor of Kensington has been dropping features and new singles that rival some of his best work. One of those tracks is “Storm Catchers,” with Millyz, a Cambridge Massachusetts-raised rapper who’s been around for years. He’s clearly a great lyricist but has never been able to turn his technical prowess into a decent project. However, his back-and-forth with Skrilla is one of my favorite moments of the past few months. Both artists are rapping over a haunting sample as if they just left the funeral of a loved one, and harness their pain into a category five event.
This unexpected collab ended up being one of the best tracks off BFB Da Packman’s latest head-scratching record, Raising Kids Rap Real Estate. Big Sad 1900 comes in with a subtle verse that easily melds with KT Foreign and BFB’s effortless pimping, saying, “Gave me all her money, now I’m smiling’ like I’m Meech, got a skinny bitch bringing sand to a beach.” But it’s BFB who steals the show, once again proving he’s far from a gimmick with nonstop barrages of quotables, like “locked my heart in the hustle, then I throw away the key, baby listen when I speak, he gon’ trick or he’ll treat,” or “fuck, you just poured a one? That’s lighter than OT7Quanny.”
“OLD DAME” is one of those songs that I immediately regret not having this summer. The sunny, breezy beat is a slight departure from the more aggressive and hard-nosed production one has come to expect from Damedot, a Detroit legend who’s been around for nearly two decades in one form. His latest, KING OF DETROIT, is one of his best in years, and certainly gives Peezy and Veeze a run for their money in terms of who actually runs Detroit at the moment. The synths on “OLD DAME” have been stuck in my head for days and shows no sign of abating.
It wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t get a replay-ready posse cut out of Michigan before year’s-end. This one comes in the form of an old meets new approach, with veterans Kash Doll, Cash Kidd and BabyFace Ray teaming up with up-and-comers Babyfxce E, Baby Money and Loni B. The beat is chaotic, like when your drunk friend convinces you he’s fine to drive and then halfway home you’ve realized you’ve made a terrible mistake. Each rapper shows out in a way that never makes the track lag or feel boring.
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