Art via Evan Solano
Donald Morrison is bringing back foh because “a lot of y’all need to leave. By force.”
My YouTube algorithm has turned into a revolving door of “freestyle” series, whether it be the On The Radar series and its hanging mic-type beat extended universe or the new and strangely compelling acapella series based in NY’s Chinatown. It’s become the new go-to way for a rapper to plug their latest project. There’s so many of these “freestyle” series – which often end up just being a rapper performing a new single – that even rappers themselves are getting tired of the forms predictability.
Leave it to Kodak Black to rejuvenate a dying medium. RapTV brought on Kodak and his two friends, Guwop Reign and TTO K.T., to perform three new songs in one take. He takes his shirt off for the second song and ends with a gigantic fur-hooded jacket that obscures his entire face. Kodak has been rapping since he was 12 years old. He’s 28 today, having already released more classic music than most rappers do their entire career. And yet it seems the Pompano artist is about to go on one of the the most interesting runs of his entire career. Perhaps this will be the beginning of Kodak finally shaking off the stench that years of disturbing behavior, dubious politics, and media scandal brings.
The “Media Day freestyle” is a masterclass in showmanship. It’s a macro-dose of everything to love about Kodak: a visual display of the unique way he carries himself, the jeweled grill, the blinged-out chains, the almost possessed way he performs his raps into the microphone, closing his eyes and reciting from memory. Guwop Reign almost sounds like Future on “Lookin For Love,” quickly finding his way around the beat in a different, yet complimentary way to Kodak.
On “Forget about it,” Kodak feels himself enough to remove his shirt and go bar for bar with TTO K.T., which provides the most fun moment in the entire video. Their whole performance seemed so live and off the cuff that I’m wondering if it’ll ever be turned into a song or if it was an actual freestyle in the traditional sense? Either way, it’s what keeps the middle half exciting and justifies its eight-minute long runtime.
The final song, “Another Day,” is the clear stand-out. It’s Kodak proving he’s technically just as skilled as any rapper out there, who just also happens to be possessed with an inimitable voice and presence. Despite the indefensible actions of the past, there is real-life genius to his artistry, and it’s exemplified in heart-breaking, vulnerable songs like this one.
Joey Fatts, a blog-era legend from coast-to-coast, uploaded a new video to YouTube for the first time in more than three years this week. The production, provided by jack-of-all-trades BLXST, is soulful and bouncy, hard enough for Vince Staples to proclaim on wax that he’s going to let it ride a minute before starting. And when he does, the verse shows Vince at odds, guilt-ridden by his success, saying he “sheds tears for my set, you can see it in my eyes lately.”
Vince never misses on a guest feature, and often shines brightest next to artists he came up wit – like Joey Fatts, who has mastered an effortless cool from his days hanging with A$AP MOB, and came back to apply it to his natural habitat of Long Beach. The result is a deceptively easy listen and a poignant song.
“Woah Buddy” is the type of song your overly-online rap friend would enthusiastically show you halfway through a smoke sesh in high school. It’s nearly five minutes of strange and wavy bars, both confounding and hard at the same time, like telling his opp he “ wouldn’t harm a duck,” and that it’s “crazy I been through the mud, and I do the mud.” RX Papi is also so great at sprinkling in intimate details about his life, like exact names and street corners, that really bring his scattered stories to life. It’s like listening to the one dude in the pre-trial holding cell who isn’t too nervous to freestyle tell you his whole life as if you knew enough about him to connect the dots. Luckily, RX Papi is a good enough story teller that he leaves you enough clues if you listen closely.
At this point I’d love to see a travel vlog with Big Sad 1900. He’s done “Midnight in Seattle,” and has referred to the Pacific Northwest as a second home. He’s shown a clear affinity for trips to Miami, and who can blame him? Everything and everyone is there, and, if you’re Big Sad 1900 or perhaps anybody with a pint of lean, Sean Kingston will magically appear in your DM’s or luxury AirBnb. Some of Big Sad’s best music comes when he’s harnessing the energy of wherever he’s recently vacationed or gotten a gigantic check. “Biscayne Bay,” with Dray Day, is meant to capture the vibes of one of the most famously beautiful stripes in Miami, where the skyline is often interrupted by the tops of yachts and the distant sounds of revelry. The song mostly succeeds, and reminds me I didn’t get to Miami nearly as much this summer. Although my version of The Magic City is a little less glamorous than Big Sad’s.
The beat for “Peekaboo” always deserved more. It seemed to be the type of beat that should instantly inspire every rapper with an ounce of competitive spirit to present their best 16’s. We’d be in a better world if this was the case, but perhaps the risk isn’t worth the reward when the original song is so good. Then again, where’s the fun in that? Wynne and her Dame D.O.L.L.A. took a swing this week, each delivering verses that kept the fun and unserious nature of the original intact. Wynne is great at the type of clever bars old heads salivate over, but is also blessed with enough swag and cultural cache to captivate a younger audience who might otherwise be more primed to listen to someone like Jorjiana. Call me crazy, but I think there’s room for both and I’d love to see them on a song together. Gender aside, there aren’t many rappers doing it as well as Wynne right now, which is proven twice over by the love she gets in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. It’s evidenced by the appearance of Dame D.O.L.L.A, also known as Damian Lillard, who has a day job as a point guard for the Portland Trail Blazers.
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