Roc Marciano Continues His Winning Streak

This article appears on 90s Hip Hop Junkie.

Roc Marciano isn’t just a rapper with a “90s aesthetic” trying to appeal to hipsters and old heads; he is a 90s rapper. Literally. Anyone familiar with the NY hip hop scene knows Roc’s bio, but for those who aren’t, he began with Busta Rhyme’s Flipmode Squad, then left in 2001 to form the UN with three other NY underground rappers. Throughout the 2000s he had some scene stealing appearances with the Wu, and in 2010 he released his self-produced debut solo album Marcberg. He hasn’t looked back since.

Rakeem Calief Myer aka Roc Marciano

In the past two years, he released two excellent albums, Rosebudd’s Revenge and Rosebudd’s Revenge 2: The Bitter Dose, possibly the best albums in a catalogue with no misses. Roc is back with a quickstrike EP called Warm Hennessy, a collection of 4 loosies with several remixes and instrumentals. A lot of fans may have already heard most of the verses on here, but the remixes are different (and good) enough to enjoy this as a fresh release. Former UN member Dino Brave, along with frequent collaborator Hus Kingpin and others, join the New York legend on the mic, while the Arch Druids provide the beats, and J-Force and others deliver the remixes.

In typical Roc fashion, the EP is grimy yet lush, cold as ice but perfect for summer nights on the stoop. The album cover features what looks like a vintage picture of New York City, with the Empire State Building centered prominently. It perfectly symbolizes what you will experience once you pop in the cass…um, the mp3s. Or cop the vinyl on bandcamp.

Although Roc follows a winning formula, his style doesn’t get stagnant and he never wallows in shallow nostalgia. Instead of forcing you to try to feel something of a 90s NY vibe, Roc is firmly in the present; he has simply been molded and defined by a certain era, an era that many hip hop heads wish never ended. An era captured by the cover art. An era that many newcomers (and even veterans) try to emulate yet most merely imitate.

Roc’s longevity and adherence to his singular vision allows him to find a sweet spot between nostalgia and living in the current moment. Much like fellow NY artists KA and Westside Gunn, Roc has created his own aesthetic. If he was a movie director, he'd be called an auteur. Not one to follow trends, even the ones he started, Roc slightly switches up the sound on this EP. The Arch Druids worked with Roc before on Emeralds, Here I Am, and Marksmen, and they have added a few more street bangers to their mutual collection. With typical (but not tired) rap drums, there’s more percussion than recent Roc releases, but he delivers his expected wit and wordplay over the gritty soundscape. All of the guests contribute solid verses, in particular Hus Kingpin on the title track, and the horns during the chorus on Bo$$ Material feel like a guest verse on their own.

Since 2010, Roc's career has emulated that of his namesake: he’s favored to win, he should win, and he does win. It's good to switch up the formula a little, which Roc does here, but if the overall formula works this well, there's no need for drastic changes. After all, Rocky Marciano was 49-0. Although it lacks the cohesiveness of his albums, and it doesn’t reach their heights, this EP is another notch on Roc’s championship belt.

Rocky Marciano would be proud

I Love You All...Class Dismissed.

Life Lessons with Louie

In the last few days, I've been holding a personal Louie marathon on Netflix. I just reached season three's two-part episode, "Daddy's Girlfriend," where we meet Louie's version of the manic pixie dream girl. In one scene, they walk past a homeless man. She stops and talks to the man as Louie begs her to just keep walking. After hearing the man's story, they take him to a pharmacy to get his medication and then set him up in a hotel. It was a great episode of an off-kilter, sweet, bizarre, and sometimes mind-blowing series.

A few weeks ago, I went to New York City for dinner and a show with my lady. Soon after arriving in the city, we parked and walked towards a restaurant. We weren't in a rush, but we had to be aware of the time to make the show. As we walked down the busy street, an apparently homeless woman was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, in front of a large skyscraper in one of the richest cities in the world, begging desperately for help.

She looked at us as we passed by and said, "Help me, please."

I briefly looked at her, then looked past her and kept walking. Just like everyone else.

To anyone who frequents New York City, or any big city in America, this is not an unusual scene. Unfortunately, homelessness and poverty are all too common in our excessively wealthy country. It's embarrassing, really. But this isn't a post about the failures of our government, which would be extensive, it's a post about how we treat each other as individuals. How have we evolved to the point where it is socially acceptable, indeed socially expected and proper, to ignore pleas of help from another human being? How has our natural inclination to assist those in need completely disappeared in some situations?

I've seen countless homeless people in various states of coherence and sobriety and desperation. I sometimes give spare change when I have it, and at the very least I try to be respectful. Mostly, though, I try to ignore them. It's too depressing to look at them and think about their situations. I'm trying to enjoy my night out on the town and escape my own problems for a while, I don't want to face someone else's problems, too.

What a shitty way to think. But it's what gets us through. It's still shitty. Helping each and every homeless person you encounter in NYC would be impossible, though, and honestly, it wouldn't be so bad if we just did a little more overall: push for legislation that addresses poverty and mental illness, give more of your money to charities, volunteer some of your time to others instead of spending every night entertaining yourself. Solve the problem as a whole instead of treating the symptoms, or even worse, ignoring it.

As I said, I've seen countless homeless people. This woman struck a nerve, though. Her plea was so urgent and insistent. She didn't look physically hurt, so it didn't seem like a physical emergency. In that case, I (probably...hopefully) would have helped, at the very least I would have called for help, but this seemed to be a case of a mental breakdown, and that's just too scary to deal with (to be clear, it's not the people themselves that scare me, it's mental illness/disease/deterioration itself that terrifies me). In the brief instant I acknowledged this poor woman's existence, I envisioned what helping her (truly helping her) would entail, and I knew I wasn't capable. She needed more than a few spare dollars.

The scene from Louie flashed through my mind as I walked past her (it was a very quick mental association I made; I didn't even consciously remember that what I had envisioned was from the show until I viewed it again recently) and I knew I wasn't capable of providing that kind of assistance. But Louie is a show. An absurd (yet awesome) show, and that episode in particular is absurd and most likely an extended dream/fantasy sequence. The woman Louie is dating is too good to be true. Nobody goes out of their way to help others like that, that is why she was so special. But in actuality, we don't have to go to those lengths to help people in need. There are some people that need professional, sustained assistance, and we should do our best to provide that, but I'm talking about things we can do every day.

Maybe the homeless woman would have benefited from a friendly conversation, a kind gesture from a fellow human. Or maybe she was waiting to scam the first sucker to stop and offer her help (I've encountered enough con artists to instill in me a hearty sense of distrust). Or, more than likely, she suffered from some type of mental illness and needed psychiatric and pharmaceutical help. And that's not something you can offer when you're just visiting for dinner and a show.

But we shouldn't get caught up in the things we can't do for others, we should focus on the things we can. People appreciate the smallest things. Minor gestures have major impact. I've mentioned before how many people Kevin Briggs has saved simply by talking with them and genuinely listening to them. DMC of the legendary Run DMC decided to not kill himself after hearing the Sarah MacLachlan song on the radio (you know the one) and turned his life around after meeting her. There is an endless amount of stories about people doing small, generous things for others all the time (click those links, it will make your day!) and those small, unsolicited gestures bring the greatest pleasure to everybody involved. Enough people doing enough small things leads to big things. It's cliched, it's simple almost to the point of naivete, but I'll be damned if it ain't true.

As a prophet once said, "Be excellent to each other." It makes all the difference in the world.

I Love You All...Class Dismissed.

This is How To Do a Rap Show

Last night I went to Webster Hall in New York City to see a rap concert entitled "Run the Jewels". Run the Jewels is the moniker for the hip hop super group consisting of Killer Mike and El-P. Opening for the show was rapper Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire, followed by rapper/entrepreneur Despot.
Here are their stories *dongdong*














Here is Despot leading the group in aerobic exercises. Health is wealth!


































 



I Love You All...Class Dismissed.