Posted: by The Editor
There was almost a 100% chance I’d click on a song as abstrusely-titled as “Are You Going to See the Rose in the Vase, or the Dust on the Table?”, but man am I glad I did. A contemplative, honestly raw track which captures the quintessential melody of contemporary hip-hop, the intimate and contemplative lyrics (“I was always told that boys don’t cry, why am I so broke inside?”) complement an appositely complex beat. The song develops elegantly, managing to sneak in some clever bars: “stashed thirty thousand in a freezer / feel like a crooked Congressman,” “I’m tryna win this war on drugs / but I lost the battle callin’ up the plug.” It ends pensive, with looping lyrics to reiterate the overthinking and depressive spiral the $uicideboy$ capture very well.
Juxtaposing the first selection is “Us Vs. Them,” an acidulous anthem that could’ve been ripped straight from the vintage ScHoolboy Q catalog: a trouncing jaunt over a barebones beat of drums and piano. Within, the Boy$ dispense grimy vocals, sing-song at times, truly reminiscent of Oxymoron-era ScHoolboy Q, eclectically emulating cantankerous West Coast swag. The song ends amicably, auguring a potential AOTY candidate-the-making.
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Hanson Egerland | @pseudodiscourse
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