Just wanted to belatedly throw this up real quick because I’ve got about 10 new songs by Rio, RMC Mike, ShittyBoyz, Big Fenc, etc. that I want to get to posting…

Also be sure to check out Ray Garraty’s Rio da Yung OG compilation with 79 assorted songs, loosies and features from him; it’s a library of a legend.

ShittyBoyz x Rio Da Yung OG  x RMC Mike – Jackie Moon 

Allow me to paint a picture of perfect serendipity here… you’ve been bumping Rio da Yung OG and RMC Mike all month… You see the holy trinity of Crimedawgbylaw, The Martorialist, Ray Garraty, all rocking with a new artist/group (in this case Shittyboyz)… you dip your toes in the water with ‘Spirit Bomb’ and ‘Simba’ and grow increasingly into what you’re hearing… and then… you see that Rio and Mike linked up with said new artist to collaborate together on a new joint.

(Side note, when you see a formidable triumvirate like Martorialist, Crimedawgbylaw, and Ray Garraty all talking about an artist, you almost feel like it would be foolish not to give them a listen. It would take a greater fool than I.)

It’s sometimes hard to live up to the expectations when you see a song combining two artists you’re feeling and all too often the collaboration falls flat but not the case at all here – this Jackie Moon song is hard as fuck. The beat is nice and sinister and serves as a great backdrop for these guys to trade bars over.

BabyTron acquits himself nicely here, keeping up with one of the best lyrical rappers in the game in Rio and not being outclassed at all. This kid has punchline after punchline in every song I’ve heard so far. I really liked the “That’s a jurassic kill, that means I turned him to a fossil. I’m in church banging this I’m like fuck some gospel” line and the “I’m in both conferences, went to Florida with my Rockets, feel like Jackie Moon I’m in Flint scoring like the Tropics” line. It’s hard to make something about the goofy Will Ferrell character from the forgettable (to put it kindly) Semi Pro movie sound cool but these guys basically just pulled off the impossible. Stan Will also represents himself well; “We on a different wave, Feds tried to hit me with the book we on a different page.” (I love the Avenged Sevenfold tshirt!)

Rio comes out swinging as always; “Flint niggas but we fucking with the ShittyBoyz, 4 Hellcats back to back we the kitty boys, you say you’re dropping who when you see who? You a silly boy. Fuck it I’ma scam a rich bitch I’m a city boy.” I’m not entirely clear on Mike’s ‘I don’t go to sleep when it rain I make rain sleep’ line but I don’t even care because it sounds badass and is exactly something wildly over the top that I’ve come to expect from Mike.

Rio and Mike look like they could be the ShittyBoyz’ muscle. What kid from their high school is going to fuck with them when they see RMC Mike posted up with them?

This run that Detroit/Flint rap is on right now is crazy; every time you think you’ve heard it all and think you might start to get bored someone completely new comes out of the woodwork and gets you excited about it all over again.

Rio da Yung OG & RMC Mike – Let it Breethe 

I wrote last week about Rio Da Yung OG’s over the top, imaginative take on street rap, and what Ray Garraty described as his inventive and playful approach to familiar themes like drugs and street violence. ‘Let it Breethe’ with his frequent cohort RMC Mike is another great example. He and Mike are like the devils on each shoulders, bringing out the worst in each other (and by worst I mean best) and pushing each other to come up with even wilder and more aggressive lines. When working together, these guys take on an almost Joker-esque love of depravity and chaos.

RMC Mike: “Big bro just cooked a brick but we gonna wrap it later, cuz just bought a new Benz that’s voice activated, bought a zip of uncut soft and sold half to the mayor…Told my mom I sold my first brick she said congratulations, plug pulled up with some Ac in a glass container, took a trip to Texas with big cuz he tried to whack a Ranger”

I love how evil the Ranger line sounds it gets me every time. From what I’m hearing here and in other songs by these guys, Big cuz is a problem. You can’t take this guy anywhere he’s a total wildcard.

Rio: “My Mexican got caught in West End and got his ass deported, I caught a body out a Trail Blazer and took my ass to Portland”

This beat is just so cold and so clean and serves as the perfect blank canvas for these two to paint their wild pictures over. Mike and Rio are like a pair of supervillains ready to sack Gotham.

ALLBLACK & Offset Jim ft. Capolow – Fees

Ah, reliable old ALLBLACK, clocking in as the only non-Detroit rapper to make it into my rotation this month. And in fact not even only non-Detroit, just the only rapper outside of this seemingly colossal orbit of Rio da Yung OG. If it wasn’t for him and also for ShittyBoyz this would have certainly been my top song of the month and when I go back for my year end list this will certainly be on it.

The homie of impeccable taste Onmin Ernstig showed me this one and I’m feeling it. The hook from Capolow is so sick. I want to hear more from this guy, he almost sounds like a reggae singer here. Maybe one of my favorite hooks of the year.  According to Onmin Ernstig this is produced by P-Lo of Same Squad fame, and he’s producing a whole ALLBLACK/Offset Jim collaboration EP, which I can definitely get behind.

Dare I ask if P-Lo one of ALLBLACK’s “Cambodian niggas that’s blacker than Barack Obama?”  Just look at ALLBLACK and P-Lo strutting down the street together with the bikers @ 1:53. I’m not at all surprised that ALLBLACK is down with the BMXers I can see him moving comfortably in that crowd.

P.S. take notes on the sage advice from ALLBLACK at the beginning of the video.

Oba Rowland x ShittyBoyz – Stranger Things

I remember this dude Oba Rowland rapping ‘I’ve got diamonds in my Cardis, my girl looks like a Barbie’ from his song ‘Lifestyle’ from five or six years ago kind of before this current tidal wave of newer Detroit guys currently taking over. ShittyBoyz are doing some serious networking (is it just me or does Oba look like he could be their security?) and they’re linking up with him here to rap over some dope freestyle type production.

I actually didn’t even know what freestyle was or that it was a whole genre (I used to hear the word freestyle and think of like Reed Dollaz) but that Crimedawgbylaw post gives a really good description of it and how it’s seeping into the current Detroit sound. Also check out his mix of freestyle classics. I would have never went out of my way to listen to any of this stuff without his recommendation and now I’m loving it. This beat is sick, I think it’s at least loosely sampled from that Amber ‘This is Your Night’ song that goes ‘Da da da da, dit dot delay, dit da delay’? But I could be totally off on that because I have a terrible ear for that. Even if this isn’t a freestyle song per se  I feel like it kind of fits into the same landscape production-wise.  I would love to hear Rio da Yung OG and RMC Mike glide over a beat like this I feel like they would absolutely kill this.

I love Oba Rowland throwing up his hands at 0:53 during Stan Will’s voice like ‘Hey, I didnt’ say it’. Also on that part lmao @ the sheer unnecessariness of ‘Like a fat Japanese nigga you know I keep the chop.”

BabyTron is just so shameless and brazen with the scam talk! “Scammed the coach that’s really when the sports stopped.”

ShittyBoyz BabyTron – Spirit Bomb 

This was the one, from Crimedawgbylaw, that really got me into ShittyBoyz and BabyTron. Admittedly, I was a little skeptical at first just based on the name and the picture of BabyTron in the picture for the video (no offense to big Tron but I was just like who is this guy? Lol). But I’m grateful I trusted the Crimedawg’s taste and gave it a listen because I was blown away. Just punchline after punchline over the unbelievable Shana-sampling beat. Maybe one of my favorite beats of the year. It’s just so dreamy and ethereal and he floats over it. “Tryna scrap? I let the chop do the spirit bomb. All I fear is God and my drip? That shit Fear of God.” So many other sick lines in this; “Jumped in the deep end I ain’t scared of pihrannas”, “Got this shit on lock threw the spare key in the garbage”.

I love BabyTron’s disrespectful attitude that he displays in song after song whether it’s about being rude to the waiter at Ruth Chris or smacking the chef for fucking up his lamb chops or “take those shoes off your feet and throw them far as fuck” here.

Rio Da Yung OG – Duhh 

Ever since Ray Garraty’s post about him a couple of weeks ago I’ve been bumping a ton of Rio Da Young OG. He goes to the same tried-and-true well of streets- and drug game- type subject matter and imagery as other rappers but he just puts such an over the top and almost fanciful spin on them with his boasts and brags that he makes it all his own. (i.e. “On my way to my other crib I just hit a deer, pistol in my hand while I’m rapping, shoot the engineer” from Crystal Clear or “I’m backwards, I’ll take the pint bottle and pour a Sprite in it, just stabbed a nigga in the club and broke my knife in him” here, or “My granny’ll still pop a nigga and she 89, I guess it’s in my jeans, you’ve got a 10 in your safe, that shit in my jeans” on Headache. Or how about “Just got a whole Hellcat wrapped in carbon fiber, niggas better chill before the carbon fire, killed 4 niggas in the whip and set the car on fire” with Peezy (!!!) on ‘Fire’.) I agree 100% with Ray when talks about how Rio’s ‘playfulness’ while sticking with the facts sets him apart and his comparison to Rio being like if MIKE started doing street rap based on his free-flowing, formless stream of consciousness song structure. He hits the nail on the head with his observation that “I think the last time somebody was playing with raw materials of the drug-selling business with such inventiveness was Gucci Mane in the mid-2010s.” This comparison is really apt; I think of even earlier Gucci Mane not just talking about how bright his diamonds are or reaching for an obvious, easy metaphor but talking about how they’re white like Santa Clause’s beard, or instead of just bragging about how much money he has, talking about how ‘white folks think he’s playing for the Falcons.’

“I woke up Friday morning mad, like ‘who I’m shooting?’”

“A nigga wanna ride this wave he need a huge boat. Heart cold, it’s 98 degrees I got on two coats, one day I was finna break down and cry, I was too broke.”

“I’m a grimey nigga, in a rental by myself I don’t ride with niggas. I’m really one of a kind, I ain’t lying nigga, Peezy came to Flint dug up some dirt and found a diamond in it.”

Rio da Yung OG – Legendary

Probably Rio’s most popular song to date, and not a bad choice. Another fine effort by Rio as always, and a perfect beat for it. Rio showcases how he’s really taking these themes and bars to a whole different level on ‘Legendary’ – “My Glock like a bad ass little kid, I put a switch on it” or “Stomped on his head off the yellow xans that’s what I call bar hopping.” I also like how instead of like other rappers just talking about that they’ll shoot you etc. he adds his own flair into it by adding a twist of paranoia and distrustfulness into the equation; “Paranoid; I shitbagged a nigga and fucked his stomach up, oh his car was right next to mine? I thought he was running up.” Interestingly, Rio also admonishes his peers that are rocking too much ice and too much designer clothing, making themselves sitting ducks for the powers that be.

As a side note, that Thrasher hoodie and Detroit Pistons hat is kind of a dope combo.

Rio da Yung OG – Ghetto Boy 

Rio continues to artfully hone his craft and further stakes his claim as one of the nicest in the game on his new release ‘2 Faced’, for example on ‘Ghetto Boy’. Free Peezy!

“I’m a Ghetto Boy baby, free Big P,

I’m quick to chase a nigga down I’ve got big feet,

The SK will turn a nigga’s engine block to swiss cheese,

these ain’t no Puma runners baby these some Big B’s”

Rio throws haymaker after haymaker on every verse. I need Rio and Cash Click Boog to link up and make a song (or a whole tape) where they just trade bar after bar of pure griminess back and forth.

Bandgang Lonnie Bands x ShittyBoyz – Simba

I knew that this ShittyBoyz run was here to stay when I saw The Martorialist was rocking with Simba. I’ve always loved that ‘YAAAA SA-VENYAAA!!!’ thing at the beginning of Lion King; it’s just fun to yell and it’s about damn time someone sampled it. Everyone is linking up with ShittyBoyz right now. Lmao @ Lonnie Bands talking about stealing an old lady’s whole pension and his voice when he says ‘Told that bitch I work for State farm my name Jake.”

Rio da Yung OG – Clear 

One more highlight from Rio here and then we’ll call it a day because I’ve got to go to work. I love the lo-fi production here as well as Rio’s inventiveness with lines like ‘On my way to my other crib I just hit a deer.’ Has anyone else noticed that Rio seems like a total threat to engineers and producers?