Yesterday Bay Area rapper Roach Gigz, a man not yet 25, released an excellent tape that anticipates his forthcoming first actual album Therapy Sessions. We would and should have said so sooner, but there's a lot of and about it to digest, perhaps because being young and thankful, having born a child and become determined to feed and raise that human isn't a stagnant project. We assume it involves actively pushing against some desires, on the other hand opening up to expressing and making good on others that Roach enumerates here: the want to live, to procreate, to know how to bring out the freak in you, to zone for a long time. On Roachy Balboa 2 Gigz raps methodically, not exactly with based-style heavy tongue stream of thinking, but tumbling from one thing quickly to another with easy precision. So it's a rap fan's record, but at the same time sure-candy for Taylor Gang palettes, once and future middle-schoolers that laughed out loud at the skits on The Slim Shady LP, or grown men who feel breezy in big white-tees, feel themselves. One time we went long-haul canoeing in a real choppy river and got demoted to the middle seat, the wobbliest and most helpless part of a boat. Our friend told us not to grab onto anything when things got unstable, to instead feel loose, ride it out. At this point, Roach's bank account may not be where he needs or wants it to be, but on "Chances" he confirms that if you actually have a heavy brain and sense of purpose, its okay to not grab for safety, that "the game is won when you play it dumb." It's a compelling argument for light, no seat belt living that doesn't come off narrow or uncareful. Hear "Can I Rap" mixed into Lykke Li and Jamie XX on the FADER Issue 71 Podcast and read our interview with him in our magazine that you can buy for you hands or mobile device.
Download: Roach Gigz, Roachy Balboa 2 Mixtape