In these days of ever-blurring genre lines, Subway Rat comes roaring in with "Rick Ross," a scrappy, brash coalition of alternative hip-hop and indie rock that does not make any polite requests for your attention but takes it. The lead single off his soon-to-be-released third album, "King David," "Rick Ross," is both a post-breakup resurgence anthem and a daring artistic reincarnation. This is the first real excursion into alternative hip-hop for Subway Rat, but you couldn't tell from how self-assured it sounds. His delivery of gruff, unapologetically macho, soaked with attitude, taps into the kind of mid-2000s throwback flavor we didn't realize we'd been missing. It's 50 Cent attitude with downtown NYC grit, all wrapped up in a post-punk, DIY aesthetic that manages to be both street-savvy and stylishly unkempt.
The beat hits hard, with exploding kick drums and stacked indie guitars that curl and weave like subway tracks running through Brooklyn. Paco Lee recorded it at his home and mixed and mastered it at NYC's Lounge Studios. The song tiptoes between basement-bred edge and radio-ready sheen, and that's intentional. It's the bedroom punk equivalent of a Top 40 hit, a bridge between rebellion and accessibility that feels distinctly Subway Rat. "Rick Ross" is the storyline beneath the surface. Driven by NYC's pop culture self-assurance and the pang of a broken heart, Subway Rat turns pain into power, lacing his bars with sly references. There's even a Jay-Z and Beyoncé name-drop that nods to personal history and bigger icons.
Mastered by Solange's go-to engineer, Blue, the track is polished, but the shine doesn't obscure the grit. This is catharsis on wax. A hungry, young artist busting out of his own walls. On "Rick Ross," Subway Rat not only wades into a genre, but he owns it. If this is the tone-setter for "King David," fans better brace because it seems like he is set to drop a project that packs a punch, screams at the top of its lungs, and refuses to stay in any one lane. Subway Rat is here again, and this time, he's the boss.
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