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If there was one criticism about Roddy Ricch’s debut album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, it was that so much of it sounded like it could have come from someone else. He didn’t mind flaunting his inspirations on his sleeve. Whether he sounded like Young Thug or Lil Wayne, much of Antisocial was the sound of an artist who’d reached the pinnacle of rap stardom — thanks in large part to the dominant single “The Box” and his collaboration with Nipsey Hussle on “Racks In The Middle” — but was still trying to figure out who he wanted to be.
Not only is he a year gone from his debut and the uproar that surrounded it on his new album, Live Life Fast, but he has also had a year away from the rhythms of life, like many of us. He’s had time to reflect on himself, his newfound celebrity, his place in the world, and the consequences of the horrors he described throughout the majority of that record. That kind of self-reflection is uncommon among artists of Roddy’s stature and trajectory, and the results are fascinating to listen to.
Without a single as immediately explosive as “The Box” from Live Life Fast, the new album is more likely to be a slow-burning hit, one driven by multi-layered songwriting and production that inspires repeat listens rather than the massive success of one or two singles that strangle radio and playlists for months on end. Throughout the new album, he still alternates between the yowling, yelping, strained vocal delivery and the clipped, terse rhythmic one, but he has some fresh things to say.
Time and struggle have a way of changing your viewpoint, but we don’t normally receive that much of it all at once in hip-hop. The result is a more introspective Roddy on songs like “Crash The Party,” where he rhymes, “The tour life got me in light so I can see / I ain’t never choose this shit, it came to me.” When the song ends on a contemplative recollection of a low point in his life walking through some of Compton’s most dangerous hoods (if you know, you know), he truly conveys the sense of how far he’
Rather of emulating his influences, he pays tribute to them while attempting to establish himself as his own distinct artist. On the album opener “LLF,” which borrows the hook from Rick Ross’ “Live Fast, Die Young,” and the prelude to “Slow It Down,” which features Jamie Foxx reprising his monologue from Kanye’s “Slow Jamz,” he wrangles the track to his own will, resulting in a better drill track than most New Yorkers have managed in the past two years.
Rather of emulating his influences, he pays homage to them while attempting to establish himself as his own distinct artist. On the album opener “LLF,” which borrows the hook from Rick Ross’ “Live Fast, Die Young,” and the prelude to “Slow It Down,” which features Jamie Foxx reprising his monologue from Kanye’s “Slow Jamz,” he wrangles the track to his own will, resulting in a better drill track than most New Yorkers have managed in the last two years.
All of this development, of course, runs the danger of alienating fans who were hoping for more dramatic production in the spirit of “The Box” or Antisocial’s closer “War Baby,” or lyrics that echoed the previous album’s itchy, anxious feeling. Instead, they’ll hear Roddy’s opinions about maturing in a relationship, becoming a father, and having true prosperity without the risk of going to prison that characterized his early work. To such admirers, I’d recommend giving Roddy’s latest a chance; it just might alter your mind as much as the process has changed Roddy.
