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Upon realizing that the wind was bound to slap me in the face last night when I left home to buy groceries, I tightened my hooded sweatshirt, put on my big puffer coat, and pressed play on the music of Roc Marciano. Yes, it is the season of winter, where your hands tingle by way of the low temperature. This also means that it is Roc Marciano's season of drug talk, Black nationalism, mafia references, and expensive clothes and dinners. Marciano, or "Roc Marci" for those in the know, is a Long Island (Hempstead) rapper who functions as a specialist for New York hip-hop fans. He is an expert in the lush-sounding, lyrical coke-talk that has permeated in New York for my entire lifetime.
However, it would be a mistake to lump Marci with the rest of the old-soul rappers that are nostalgic for Prodigy. He's much more disruptive than that. First off, he spent decades being underground with Busta Rhymes's collective Flipmode Squad before breaking through without compromising any of his original ideas. Here's the difference between Roc Marci and the traditional boom bap: he is the bridge between generations. He has the flow of Kool G Rap, the ability to be cold and cool at the same time, the grit of Prodigy, but he also has the no-drum and laconic production of Cloud rap geniuses like Lil B and current rappers like Xaviersobased. This is not an annoying kid who talks your ear off about old school hip-hop; this is a sincerely cutting-edge rapper that was able to create something new and brilliant from an already-established style. (The rapper Ka, who died in October, was a frequent collaborator of Roc Marci's. Check him out too).
There's nothing like listening to Roc Marciano in the winter time. His voice is grotesquely seductive, as if he is intimidating you and whispering at you at the same time. See "Wheat 40's", where he flows over a Blaxploitation beat, and starts the song with "I have no home, I'm a rolling stone/Life's one long road, God lighten my load/On the low I might need lipo, white sold underneath the light pole/I believe police might know." Do you hear that? It is the sound of a God MC, taking what I heard growing up, and putting his own self-destructive spin on it. He has more songs that match that vibe, pure id while maintaining a veneer of style and glamour. He's a hero. So much rappers -- even rappers I adore like Conway the Machine -- took his style, and then added their spin, but it was never as good and intricate as his work. Roc Marciano is rap music. He's a trip to Brownsville while wearing a mink coat; he's a trip to the heavyweight match at Madison Square Garden in a polo jacket; he's a Five Percenter who could have been a romantic interest on Golden Girls. (Maybe that's why I connect with his music so much. That's what my vibe is, or at least the vibe I want to convey at all times).
Roc Marci is cool, in an era rappers where rappers are losing their cool by either being insular, emo kids (Nettspend is a star but the music is brain-dead right now, sorry not sorry), or they're weirdly collaborating with Trump and the right wing for more fame and clout. Start with 2010's Marcberg and 2012's Reloaded --- for my money Reloaded is one of the five best rap albums of the 2010's --- and then check out his new album, The Skeleton Key, which comes out this Friday (it is produced by The Alchemist).
ROC MARCI, I LOVE YOU!
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While Hip-Hop aficionados laud Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) as one of the most talented MCs the genre has ever seen, Bey has seen little appreciation among PEOPLE I KNOW IN REAL LIFE. I chose to EXCLAIM that because I know that Mos Def still remains firmly ingrained in the minds of many people to this day; however, for as much critical and fan attention as this man gets, I simply do not think it is enough!
Why am I bouncing on Beyâs balls so brazenly? Thereâs not many albums that I consider to be genuine 10/10s. Many come close, but the weird little Anton Ego goblin inside of my head who tells me that everything in the entire world is garbage always has something to bring up that often ends up in whatever album Iâm listening to falling short of the fabled Ratatouille Realm.
And then there was Black on Both Sides.
Almost everyone Iâve met that has listened to this album in full has great things to say about it. So many back-to-back bangers that youâd think you were watching Human Centipede. Fresh production combined with witty lyricism and more flows than a leaky diaper make this album truly one of a kind. Actually, I suppose every album is truly one of a kind so this doesnât really mean anything. How about I just say that this album is a masterclass in Hip-Hop as a poetic art form? Delivering powerful political messages in a way that doesnât bore the listener or feel overly preachy is always a difficult task, but Bey steps up to plate and knocks that shit into the stratosphere. Itâs not just stuffy politics either; Mos Def knows how to have fun. Itâs rare to see such a blend of characteristics in one rapper, especially during a time in which many Hip-Hop artists drew from a limited pool of subject material and remained confined to the styles of their predecessors (aside from notable mavericks such as Kanye West and MF DOOM).
If you call yourself a Hip-Hop enjoyer or just want to find a new album to listen to, please consider checking out Black on Both Sides by Mos Def.
Jan 27, 2025
bronson is the GOAT of the "rappers who just be saying the darnedest things" genre
some examples:
- Please Lord, donât put your fucking hand near the cheese board (donât!)
- Leave you laying in the lazy river
- My horoscope said to get more cake
- Mel Gibson gave me COVID at McGregor vs Poirier three (that bastard!)
- Bitch took a bump / started backflippin like Catwoman
- Albanians, Italians (both of us!), simultaneously wildin' on any land we touch
- big guns, came with the instructions (Can't fuckin read this shit)
- before forty, I'm tryna be ripped as FUCK
- Life is a game, when I wake up I hear "SEEE-GAAAA"
and lastly
- High in green Jaguars drivin (Uh), he wouldn't take money
So I gave him the gold watch (Alright), some fresh-baked focaccia (Uh)
And a nice plate of meats cheese and olives (Beautiful)
Jul 11, 2024
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The Jay-Z that we now know â the one who makes shady and feeble NFL deals, the one who is essentially a house husband to Beyonceâs breadwinner, the one who looks like Basquiat if he had a 401K â pales in comparison to the Jay-Z that my older brother, older cousin, and I were obsessed with growing up. Shawn Carter was once a force of nature on the mic, and transformative as a rap star. No one knew much about his personal life that wasnât in the music, but they knew he came out with a crew of dogs ready to unleash at a momentâs notice. (This Diary of Jay-Z from MTV is a good example). He was adept at making you feel the snark and the bite in his music, lifestyle, and persona, but also being in control of his behavior and narrative. Thereâs never a time, except when he struggled with a Mannie Fresh beat, where Jay-Z isnât in control while he is rapping; itâs arresting to listen to him jab and swing with his flow and words without ever losing the rap pocket. For example, a song like âStreets Is Watchingâ, when he says âitâs like a full time job not to kill niggasâ, is so raw to me. He truly means that. He wishes he could smoke everyone. It is hard for him to keep control of himself when he wants to lash out. But he has to do it anyway because violence costs too much. For any Black kids in NYC, and especially ones who are outgoing and enjoy the limelight like me, who are trying to make it happen, listen to late 90âs Jay-Z. Itâll make you more focused, stronger (notice how Jay-Z is never focused on women, in fact he rejects them if they annoy him) â and more aware of the possible snakes around you.
Oct 16, 2023
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I'm often accused of being an "old soul", a categorization I vehemently dislike because it pretends as if my taste is because of nostalgia, as opposed to what is actually cool and compelling. (If something cool comes out now, I enjoy it, but we're in a down period when it comes to culture). But, something old about me, is that I do not care at all about TikTok ending, if does happen. If Elon takes it over from the Chinese, you might as well leave anyway, but I'm just worried at why this is a huge deal for people. It's just an app. Another one will be made. TikTok is not culture, it directly flattens culture into these ten second clips that take music, movies --- things that you need to process --- into something that is now consumed by everyone at a rapid pace, not allowing for the nuances, the style, the aesthetics to sit with us.
I have never watched something on TikTok and thought that this is something in that pushing American culture to deeper heights. I am sorry. Now I am sure they're good stuff on the app, but it's not really a necessity. Whenever I hear the words "it's blowing up on TikTok", my mind immediately growls.
I understood why X becoming overrun with Elon bots and right wingers is a big deal; X actually created things, made careers, made American life, and American events available to be seen by everyone. However, TikTok is a corrupt fantasy, chopping at the wires that make physical connection important.
Read a book! Go to the movies! Go to the restaurant of a cuisine that is unheralded, go to a baseball game. Who cares about TikTok?
Jan 14, 2025
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There's something quite startling about Martin Scorsese's 1980's period compared to the rest of his decades as one of America's greatest filmmakers. In the 80's, he was weird, strange, and making weirdly manic films that feel more New York than even some of his movies about the mob. They're movies about characters who aren't glamarous people that they want to be, but rather, are losers who can't seem to correctly fucntion in normal society. They're non-violent sociopaths. I saw The King of Comedy at Metrograph recently, and it's exhilarating, hilarious, manic, and scary. With Jerry Lewis, Bobby De Niro and Sandra Bernhard, Scorsese was able to create a world where incels who are bad at comedy are wishing for fame. Sound familiar?
This is a great movie. In 1983, it was a box office flop. But in 2025, it is magical in how it's telling the future. A future of scam artists who don't want to work to get there, and don't want to sit in their mediocrity: they want to steal to get their fifteen seconds. Go watch this masterpiece.
Jan 28, 2025
It's a perfect movie. It's almost too perfect. The fashion, the look on Cate's face when Theresa (Rooney Mara) is walking to her at the end, the line reading of "ask me things, please"; the fact that men are the joke throughout the movie.
It makes me wonder about representation and the limits of it because of how womanly and queer this movie is, despite the fact that it never feels like a movie made for women. It's just a great movie.
Feb 13, 2025