Rosebudd's Revenge (studio album) by Roc Marciano

Roc Marciano has to be one of the most overlooked hip hop artists, not only by the mainstream audience, but also by underground standards. His body of work is impressive. Most -if not all- of his albums are above average and this one is no exception - by the way, I was listening to UN or U Out for my 2004 team and comparing it to this, they are both great but different, his development over time is qute interesting, it's definitely worth cheecking it out. Anyway, this is an album that delivers on pretty much every aspect. The production goes for a wider range of sounds than his previous albums and for the most part they work, maybe a couple of missteps, especially towards the end of the album. The instrumentation is great and provides much needed energy. His rapping might not be that spectacular or charismatic, but it at least has a distinctive style that stops it from being dull. Even though there aren't many guests -only 2 actually-, one of them is Ka ("To our production, much destruction for our appetite With steel fist, if meal missed wasn't for lack of might We been bingin, we purgin dividends with snub nose My bud's rose, my service citizens Cain and Abel, my rappin' plight, wrote on same table they packaged white Ain't wrapped this tight if catching stripe and ain't actin trife"), who steals the show in a typical fashion. The lyrics are multidimensional and probably the best part of the album. On the one hand, they portray vivid images that would feel right at home in a crime movie ("Ten bricks of raw under the floorboard My nigga check the scoreboard I'm official across the board We headin toward the morgue I fled to Ecuador", or "The first chain I ever owned I stole a Herringbone (Herringbone) The end result: I boned a yellow bone Back when I was peddling blow in the red zone I can see me in Venezuela in dress clothes"). On the other hand, they are full of memorabe punchlines ("Look what I did here with a book and pen Might stomp you, leave a Gucci footprint They groom the pimp to Bergdorf Goodman", or "I paid a lump, the table spun I dip my blunt in angel dust The gauge pump, turn your brain to mush The slug'll make your potato bust Imagine what that Draco does Give you a halo, while i'm sniffin' yayo off of J-Lo butt It made a playa face go numb Beefin' with me and mine'll lead to E.Coli You're not bonafide, them hoes I just bone and slide I had a moment, sky open").

From Skinny 02/28/2017 19:56

He now sits comfortably in my top five of all-time. This, Reloaded and Marcberg are all masterpieces. Album of the year.