Don't Sleep | RoQy TyRaiD – Space Ghost's Revenge
Don't sleep on this new album from RoQy TyRaiD. It was released on October 7th this year. RoQy TyRaiD is an MC who I discovered through his work in Mega Ran's Writer's Guild group. The dude has a really unique, relentless flow that I love. I actually think he might be the best rapper in the Writer's Guild, which is saying a lot because Mega Ran is a legend at this point in my eyes. I've never heard a verse from the dude that didn't impress me. I was really excited to check out this album because I'd consider myself a big fan of him, despite this being the first project I've ever heard from him. It thankfully didn't disappoint at all.
Since this isn't really a full review I'm just gonna write about a handful of my favorite highlights. The first track I wanna tell y'all about is called BIG O.
This track may be familiar to some of you because it was featured in my playlist of the Best Songs of February 2022 when it was released as a single. Spoiler alert: it's gonna be on the playlist for the best songs of October as well. This shit is fucking crazy. Nameless' production is dynamic and chaotic, and same goes for RoQy's flow and vocal delivery. This track is pure energy. There are multiple beat switches, which I'm thankful for since the track is 6 minutes long. Not a lot of artists can pull a track like this off. This thing is a behemoth. There's an album's worth of substance in this song alone.
I peeped your music, it reeks of hubris
I treat your food just like a eucharist
Feed the students, reap the fruits
RoQ's a botanist, plants are in need of prunin'
You movement stagnant
You'll boost your status alluding trappin'
I work information tech
I know all about movin' packets and traffickin'
What the hell is goin' on with St. Louis activists?
Coincidental suicides and accidents?
Anyways, I'm bitter though
Imagine dreams you envisioned as a kid dissolve
Some veteran nigga you consider close
Intentionally wouldn't put you in a position to win as if it eclipse their glow
Knowing it restricts your growth
And apathetic critics consider lyricism niche, and so you're pigeon-holed
Tried to block my blessing, but we pick & rolled and swished the goal
I feel like the song just gets better and better as it progresses. There are like 3 beats here from Nameless, and RoQy kills all of 'em.
I sent hella records to several legends
Like garbage credit checks, they all rejected of course
They sense my predator aura, it's like the KonMari method
Motherfuckers start foldin' when I step through the door
I love everything about this track. It's easily one of the best songs of 2022 to me. I can't praise it enough. It's dope af. The next highlight I wanna talk about is called BEERUS. This one's about 7 minutes long lol. I don't know who produced this one, but I really love the melodic beat. Honestly… This song might actually be better than BIG O. I don't know. I love both of them. I'm gonna have a really hard time choosing a favorite track from this album. RoQy fucking annihilated this track though. There's no hook on this one; he's just rapping relentlessly the entire time. It's crazy. It would be one thing if he was rapping this long without saying anything substantive, but that's not the case at all. There's not a single filler bar in this track.
Fuck Aryan pride, indigenous genocide, whites feel more enlightened
Out of spite they killed their bisons and then tainted their food
When the fuck did our flag ever play by the rules?
Slaves in a noose, IBM extermination of Jews
I know active serviceman who agree with me
They shippin' home bags in a box like P&G
I wanna blast Arvo Pärt in the Aegean Sea
You ain't got that powder on lock, this ain't GNC
Congress making cons from contra
CIA experimented on runaways with DMT
Fuck with me
You see what they did to the niggas out in Tuskegee
How come George Bush Jr. ain't in custody?
"Weapons of mass destruction," that's kinda sus to me
They treated Middle Eastern people so disgustingly
One thing I appreciate about RoQy TyRaiD is the fact that he's so outspoken and never afraid to get political. I think he's an activist outside of his rap career anyway, so it makes sense. But yeah. This song is amazing. He fucking killed this shit. Fuck. Okay, forget what I said about BIG O being on my playlist of the best songs from October. This track might be a better fit despite the fact that it's even longer. The beat doesn't even really switch up on this one, but it doesn't ever get stale. I was hooked by RoQy's lyricism throughout this entire track. The song is dope af. Track 9 is called Cornered, and it features a rapper named Medaforacle. I'm not very familiar with his work; the only other time I've heard him was when he was featured on Mega Ran's Live 95 album in 2021. He was good on that track though, and I also enjoyed him a lot here. Anyway, I love how weird the production on this track is, especially at the beginning. This track might actually have my favorite beat on the album. I don't know. It's hard to choose favorites. This shit is fire though. Needless to say, RoQy TyRaiD murdered the first verse.
Undisputed, I'm named; the most grueling, I've trained
They wanna know who's gonna take the weight like Kool & the Gang
So once the rules are explained, an ensuing "ding"
He's outmaneuvered and accruing pain as soon as he drew in range
Basically, he's rhyming about participating in a boxing match. Or maybe it's a UFC fight or something. I think it's a boxing match though because he compared himself to Ali. He rhymed his ass off on this track.
If I don't send him to his seat depressed
Fatigued and leaking flesh, his team will need to dress
With swelling to keep compressed
Then I won't leave with a ten
That line where he's like "what I do to his face, you'd think he made Kiss from a Rose" was crazy. Medaforacle raps from the perspective of RoQy's trainer, and he does a really good job as the supporting act. RoQy is the star of the show here though. He murdered this track. The song's dope as hell. The next song is called Fly by Night, and it's got another really great instrumental. The hook on this track is pretty solid too. It's really the verse that makes this song stand out so much though. He flowed his ass off, as always, and the lyrics are great.
I'm more Farrakhan than Americana
Cops backs have more lithium in them than a song by Nirvana
I don't call officers "your honor," word to Eric Garner
They only care about their martyrs, our Pearl Harbor, Tamir & Sandra
This song just has one verse, but it's fire. It feels relatively short, but by universal standards it's the average length for a song. It just feels short because other songs on the album almost reach 7 minutes in length. Overall, I think it's dope as hell. The last song I wanna talk about is the penultimate track on the album, Gumbo, which is produced by Nameless.
The production is pretty good, but, once again, it's RoQy himself that pushes this track to the next level for me. This man fucking snapped on this track. I love his flow, and the lyricism is top notch.
Suffocated over loosies, bigots shooting church, black students merked
Life is a Martin Scorcese movie, we just moolies, incongruent worth
Seldom see the credit, this shit push me to the edge, but this ain't Uzi Vert
I also love that line where he's like "you have a better chance of hitting a homerun with a bowling ball and a wiffle bat." That was crazy. I don't wanna spoil too many of the bars, but all of them are fire. I love this track. He fucking killed this shit. The song's dope as hell.
This album is exceptional. I've been waiting for an album from RoQy TyRaiD for a couple years, and this one did not disappoint at all. I love the way the dude flows, and he's thankfully got the bars to back it up. He's not one of those rappers with a great flow and bad lyrics. I love how he's not afraid to get political in his music too. I can tell he's a good person outside of rap. Every verse on this project is monstrous. He's also uniquely talented at making long songs that are worth sitting through. I'm lovin' this project like McDonalds. There's not a single track that I don't like. Don't sleep on this shit. It's really dope.
Favorite Song: BEERUS
Least Favorite Song: B.S.E.
Medaforacle
RoQy TyRaid
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