Treece is back again this time for his 5th edition of Rap Up, introducing you to his favourite new wordplay since the beginning of Lockdown. If you missed the last edition, he reviewed Future’s contemporary classic; ‘High Off Life. This time round, heading back to Memphis, a city currently going through a renaissance and outputting some of the bust rap music in the world, he had to shout out another Paper Route Empire release: ‘Key Glock Son Of A Gun…__‘Son Of A Gun’ is Key Glock’s second mixtape of 2020, coming only a few months after; ‘Yellow Tape’ and his collaborative release with his Cousin & amp; Paper Route Empire CEO Young Dolph, at the tail end of last year (I was lucky enough to catch the Manchester leg of the tour and it didn’t disappoint). His prolific workrate not only echoes the ethos of Paper Route Empire (a label staying true to the idea of southern independence, with a ridiculously quick release turnaround) but it’s propelled the young 22 year old from being known as ‘Dolph’s cousin’ to a Memphis veteran capable of selling world tours. This tape is 15 tracks of hard hitting, straight forward thinking Trap music: no features, just an isolated Glock giving his fans what they want pre-Lockdown summer.
The album starts with a bang, the title track ‘Son Of A Gun’, features the relentless and always impressive ‘Bandplay’ on production duties (who already caught my attention earlier this year with his executive production on Big Moochie Grape’s ‘Eat or Get Ate’). The track slaps from the get go with Glock’s skippy Memphis flow dancing all over the classy backdrop of orchestral strings and punchy 808 kicks. For me, the project’s highlights are ‘Gucci Sweatsuit’ and ‘Cops n Robbers’, not only because the production on both tracks is flawless, but they also show the diversity in Glock’s style and delivery, specifically how he can make complex flows seem effortless. Here, the sonic landscape of the tracks stay true to that Memphis sound by being unmistakably dark, yet what you hear in Glock’s vocal performance is an artist who thanks to his label has the freedom to just have fun with his music.‘Son Of A Gun proves Glocks staying power in the rap game and his ability to churn out tape after tape. Although in terms of the whole the release he isn’t as consistent as hes previously been, it’s a good place to start if you are new to Key Glock or Paper Route Empire (A Label I really couldn’t shout about enough). My main criticism is that there could be more diversity in the lyrical content: although family and youth are both major themes throughout, the money talk is most prominent and does get quite old for me, but that’s what the fans want and Paper Route’s loyal fan base just keeps growing with each release. Support the artist as always and buy their music.
Key Glock’s music is undoubtedly contemporary, written and packaged with a modern mindset, yet the self stated ‘90’s baby’ is no stranger to honouring the legends of the game, on this year’s ‘Yellow Tape’ the Memphis youngster showed a distinctly individual ability to fuse old and new influences in a original manner, specifically on the track ‘Dough’ which was effectively a current day re-rendition of Snoop Dogg’s ‘Gin & Juice’. On ‘Son Of A Gun’ you find ‘Cream’ which is a nod to Staten Island’s Wu Tang Clan, its one of the best tracks on the tape and a statement from a maturing artist that isn’t going to take his foot off the pedal anytime soon; _“Cash rules everything around me, Money is the root of all evil, demons round me, Livin like a king, fuck you mean? Tell em crown me, They say time is money, I say, well, look at my timepiece.”_ FYTB is also one of the best tracks on the release it features a sing along hook that will definitely go down well in a live setting.; _“__I had racks on me then, racks on me now, yeah, I was strapped back then, still strapped now, yeah, Your bitch seen Glizock and she damn near blacked out, Yeah, I really live the life these n\*\*\*\*s rap bout, I aint wrestling with my mouth, no, I dont rap battle, young n\*\*\*a came from shit, but I didnt tap out, Have you ever spent the night up in the traphouse? Huh?__”_
Key Glock Son Of A GunProduction: Bandplay, Sosa 808 + moreLabel: Paper Route EmpireCity: Memphis
Treece is back again this time for his 5th edition of Rap Up, introducing you to his favourite new wordplay since the beginning of Lockdown. If you missed the last edition, he reviewed Future’s contemporary classic; ‘High Off Life. This time round, heading back to Memphis, a city currently going through a renaissance and outputting some of the bust rap music in the world, he had to shout out another Paper Route Empire release: ‘Key Glock Son Of A Gun…__
‘Son Of A Gun’ is Key Glock’s second mixtape of 2020, coming only a few months after; ‘Yellow Tape’ and his collaborative release with his Cousin & amp; Paper Route Empire CEO Young Dolph, at the tail end of last year (I was lucky enough to catch the Manchester leg of the tour and it didn’t disappoint). His prolific workrate not only echoes the ethos of Paper Route Empire (a label staying true to the idea of southern independence, with a ridiculously quick release turnaround) but it’s propelled the young 22 year old from being known as ‘Dolph’s cousin’ to a Memphis veteran capable of selling world tours. This tape is 15 tracks of hard hitting, straight forward thinking Trap music: no features, just an isolated Glock giving his fans what they want pre-Lockdown summer.
