Roddy Ricch is a name I’ve seen around for years but never checked out until his publicist hit me up. I didn’t miss much. This is exactly the kind of melodic Hip Hop Product™ that’s been making my skin crawl for two decades now, but the craftsmanship is top notch. I was curious enough to spend an hour & change perusing his catalog, and he definitely stands first among 99.9% of his peers. My problem is that I cannot shake the visceral certainty that this entire subgenre is dogshit.
His pen game is a saving grace. There is a tremendous weight & clarity to the testimony beneath all that Antares algorithmic noise. This is a Young Thug style audio visionary with a much more sober approach. Where Thug wanders between genres & styles mid-track, young Mr. Ricch is focused on delivering tightly produced songs. This is admirable.
“Survivors Remorse” is a prime example. Produced by Turbo, one of Atlanta’s many go-to contract killers, this is a whumping, fully-realized gospel trap ballad. The low end sounds amazing, but considering this is coming out on Warner Atlantic, it fucking better. But in this case, the sound quality is downstream of the producer’s musical OCD, not the label’s money. Turbo is one of Young Thug’s most influential co-conspirators, too. When you’re truly good, you’re always in demand.
The video is an equally clean piece of work, with notably better set design, camera movement and color grading than most of the label product I’ve seen this past year. Props due to Spike Jordan for doing an outstanding job. (That’s also a pretty dope name.)
So I can’t hate. Especially on a beautiful sunny Friday. Apparently this is the lead single for a landmark comeback project addressing rumors that Roddy Ricch has fallen off. Boring. If he had better management he wouldn’t even be addressing that; this is basic Art of War shit, but nevermind. Armchair coaching is a lost cause. Besides, anyone beefing with Lil Uzi Vert has already lost the war. Maybe I can hate, after all.
Still: despite all my weary loathing of this computer rap glossolalia, there is no honest way to rank something this earest & polished lower than averagely average. This is an outstanding mediocrity. Three Dickies.
