Alright, so Primitive Radio Gods are certainly not the most interesting band. Back in the late 90's they had a hit single in the song "Phonebooth" (full title is really long) and, as far as I'm concerned, it's a masterpiece. One of the best songs I've ever heard. They also started off as a band called the I - rails so that's cool I guess. That being said, if you want to know their history, then you can look it up. I'm here to promote different aspects.
That being said, their album that they made for it wasn't exactly spectacular. Probably a major disappointment. I don't really care for it, but then they followed it up with this amazing piece of work. Had this been the album with "Phonebooth" on it, then it'd be pretty close to perfect. At times, the songs are very soft and nice listens ("ghost of a chance", "Fading out"), which I always enjoy, sometimes they're just plain out catchy and cool ("Gotta Known now"). That being said, this would be a great album to compliment that perfection of a song known as "Phonebooth".
Anyways, the first time I found them was when I was randomly looking through 90's songs and found "Phonebooth". I proceeded to listen to the album, but it wasn't exactly making expectations, so a few years later, I remembered the song and decided to check more out by them. I couldn't find anything other than this album, but it didn't matter. I love this album. it's filled with masterfully created soft tracks which just make me relax. They kind of experiment with this album, though nothing which goes extremely out of the ordinary. overall, just a really nice listen. If you haven't listened to it, you can find it on grooveshark.
Alright, now that is said. Here comes a bit of "track by track" review (in quotes because not actually, just me picking my favorite tracks and explaining why I love them).
"Gotta know now" is a really catchy track which starts out with an awesome acoustic guitar rift. It's followed by a rift from some instrument I don't know the name of (sorry if you wanted to know, I'm at a loss)! That is probably my favorite part of this song. It just comes off as this really cool and catchy type song with great rifting, and when that instrument comes in, boy does it make me feel like singing along! The lyrics are pretty well written too.
"Fading Out" is probably my favorite song on the album. Such a really nice rift, the song is reminiscent of their hit "Phonebooth" (especially the drum beat), and the singing goes very well with the song. Overall, just one of the songs on the album that fit in well when I feel like relaxing. Great stuff.
"First alien photo" isn't exactly the song I want to speak about. The next song "Wayward pilot's session" is a great softer track which is lead up to greatly by "First alien photo". A great two song type thing. Anyways, that's basically all I have to say about favorite tracks
That being said, overall, a great album, perhaps not for everyone, but it's something I feel more people should listen to. I love it
Not too big on White Hot Peach, after just a listen though. That one and only listen is enough for me to know Re-Loaded is not going to lose my vote to an album that I found overly OK but not very tasteful to my ears.
I genuinely believe that, as of right now, Roc Marciano is the best rapper in the world (if you want to know the rest of my current Top Ten, they are Freddie Gibbs, Kendrick Lamar, Action Bronson, ScHoolboy Q, Danny Brown, GrandeMarshall, Blu, Nas, Drake, in that order, with A$AP Rocky, Sean Price, Gunplay, Ab-Soul and Quelle Chris making that list up to fifteen, for good measure. In case you're wondering, everyone's favourite messiah Kanye West is hovering somewhere around #30, behind Big K.R.I.T., Juicy J, Chance The Rapper, Jonwayne, Killer Mike, billy woods, King Louie, KA, Pusha T, Andre 3000 (only so low because of how infrequently he drops a verse), Chief Keef, Lil B, a few others, and this homeless dude I gave a cigarette to outside the pub the other night). I mean right now. Not living off past glories (I'm looking at you Jay-Z/Ghostface Killah/Big Boi/T.I./Prodigy). Roc Marci is the rapper who drops the best verses with the highest level of consistency. His writing is the best, his delivery suits said writing perfectly, and if I had to bet my life on somebody spitting a dope verse it'd be Roc Marciano.
Reloaded is my favourite album of the decade so far. It's harsh and cold and gritty, and lots of other adjectives used to describe great New York street rap (see: Deep, Mobb; Tang, Wu-; Ox, Cannibal). Oh yeah, it's cinematic too (see: Linx, Cuban; Infamous, The). OK, I think I've covered most of the cliches there. So, hopefully anybody with any sort of grasp of hip-hop gets the idea. We're talking poisonous darts from the crime side, The New York Times side. This is winter in Brooklyn shit. Except it isn't. For a start, there aren't really any drums. I mean, there are drums, but never on a NY street rap album have drums featured less prominently. On a couple of the tracks they're right there, in the foreground, boom-bapping and such, acting as old friends to cling onto and feel comfortable around, but mainly they're hidden low in the mix, bubbling beneath the surface, barely audible. It's a brave move, and one that gives the whole album a downright sinister feel. It puts the listener ill at ease. Where are the hard drums? Where are the crisp snares and hi-hats, you know, the ones you try and replicate when you beatbox to yourself? Pete Rock once said that once you get the drums right, you're 90% there. So what happens when you take away that marker? Well, Reloaded happens.
Now, before any prudes get all offended and shit, hip-hop isn't real life. Rappers create characters, wildly varied from person to person, and they're usually an artist's unique selling point. Jay-Z is 'The Hustler', a suave ex-crack salesman able to "sell water to a well". MF Doom is 'The Villain', a twisted genius trying to take hip-hop back to its roots, annoyed that he can't tell "rhymers (from) strippin' males, out of work jerks since they shut down Chippendales". Kanye is 'Yeezus', an imbecile with a God complex. Roc Marciano is 'The Pimp'. 'The Pimp' is, by and large, an extravagant character in hip-hop. Too $hort is loud, lewd and obnoxious; Snoop Dogg is larger-than-life, attracting attention wherever he goes; Pimp C is so crude he could make a pornstar blush; Suga Free... well, Suga Free was actually a pimp, and as such seemed as though he'd just walked out of the documentary American Pimp. Roc Marciano turns all of that on its head. Whereas most pimp rappers simultaneously water down their content for mass consumption whilst also playing up the theatricality of the role, Marci gives you the nitty gritty. He raps in hushed tones, and without what you would think of as a 'rap voice'. You imagine that his voice on record is no different from his speaking voice, even down to the lack of projection. The language he uses is an impenetrable cloud of slang and abstract metaphors, and he seems totally uninterested in making it any easier for the casual listener. Whether or not he speaks to you, or you even understand a word he's saying, you have to applaud him for not trying to cater to any form of mainstream audience. Roc Marciano is a rapper's rapper, the rapper for whom RapGenius could've been invented.
At the end of the day, Roc Marciano doesn't need your praise. He'll continue to go about his day regardless. This is a man who treats Lamborghinis like bumper cars. He lights the chronic with the flame from a comet. He pisses on the city from his skyscraper. He's got a Rolls Royce driver named Coleman. His jewellery is handmade. His tears are champagne. He rolls doobies in his jacuzzi (after movies). And he does it all in an discomfortingly quiet voice with an immaculate flow over haunting, drum-starved beats that immediately place you into Roc's world - a world where mobsters who rock alligator shoes live just blocks from the streets they grew up hustling on. Anybody who says he's just a '90s throwback/Mobb Deep rip-off is missing the point. This is a man who treats his art like art should be treated. There's not a line out of place, not a beat that doesn't completely suit his entire aesthetic. He is the single most captivating rapper alive right now. He watches the city while he's fucking. He's such a glutton.
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