Japanese media nicknamed Michael Jackson “Typhoon Michael” during his string of 13 sold-out shows following the 1987 release of his seventh studio album, Bad. His first night on tour drew a crowd of 38,000 to Korakuen baseball stadium.
“Even if I don’t understand the lyrics,” Ikuko Yamamoto told the New York Times, “His melodies go right to my heart.” She was 18 years old then, an age most kids want to find the faces of their, not their parents, generation.
Roddy Ricch, born Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr., was 19 when he was interviewed by Passion of the Weiss following the release of his 2018 mixtape, Be 4 Tha Fame. “What made you start taking music seriously,” asked Nick Nukem. “I went to jail,” replied Roddy, “I went to county.”
Their conversation continued, and as the Compton rapper explained that rap was just fun for him, what’s impressive is how fast his buzz accelerated once fun became full-time. Not in the sense of 40-hour workweeks, but he claimed to be doing 5 to 6 songs a night in 25 to 30-minute windows. So it’s no surprise that his mixtape, Feed The Streets II was released five months after his P.O.W. interview.
What drew me to Roddy Ricch is what drew Ikuko Yamamoto to Michael Jackson: The melody. Melodies and lyrics have always determined which songs I remember. I care for beats, but production doesn’t have the same hold over me. Feed The Streets II kept me captive for weeks. The songs were like Tracy Mcgrady’s jumpshot in 2003. Roddy, like Tracy, had the form and felt ready for a championship run.
Roddy was. His debut album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, was released in December of 2019, a few weeks before Christmas. Hitting the Internet how Bad hit Japan. Earning the newcomer his first No.1 and arguably the last album, surely the last debut, to be a sensation before the pandemic.
Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial was certified the longest-running number-one debut rap album in the US since 2003 after topping the charts again in its eighth and tenth week. Such numbers spoke to a new shift occurring. With a new decade comes new crop of fans looking for the star of their time. Jack Harlow says he wants to be the face of his generation, but I always thought it would be Roddy.
Right before he could go outside to sing the hits on stages that would make Roddy an American idol, life came to a standstill. It would be two years, his longest gap between projects, before Live Life Fast, Roddy’s sophomore album, would reintroduce him. Not quite the artist he was before.
Live Life Fast begins with a monologue, the first Roddy project where he speaks before he sings. “I’ve realized I’ve lived fast, I wanna take my time,” he says. “Time is the most expensive luxury in the world. It’s something you spend and never get back, but you never know how much you have left.” Then he goes into a Ty Dolla $ign supported run of Rick Ross and Kanye West’s “Live Fast, Die Young.” It’s a thoughtful start. Sobering even.
Critics didn’t respond favorably to Live Life Fast, the first Roddy album to be met with a lukewarm response. Critics never get the final say. Time determines how music ages, but the fanfare wasn’t high either. Compared to his initial offering, the reaction just didn’t have the same surge or suddenness. No one ever explained why it didn’t hit the same. So it wasn’t until watching the music video for “25 million” did I see my opinion of the album come to life.
The opening scene begins with Roddy laying down a briefcase as a morning cup of coffee is placed on his table. He’s in a suit. Properly tailored, ironed, and steamed. Next scene places him behind a desk in an office space. It’s all very business-esque until the cut to the boardroom meeting where it’s starts to be NSFW.
Even with the gyrating girls mixed into the fray, the tone doesn’t shift much. The scenes continue to show him moving through the awkward office, being greeted with applause, and eventually a gold bottle of Ace of Spade. The champagne is popped to commemorate a celebration that’s never explained. The rapper appears to be the cause of all the commotion, but his face doesn’t reflect any real elation. As if he entered a theme park and suddenly realized that he hates roller coasters.
Musically, across Live Life Fast, he seemed ready for business, but in the wrong building, or maybe the wrong suit. Some of the songs may improve with distance, but something about them seems stalled in something that is much harder to describe. It’s not a question of quality, but choices. The beats he picked, the flows he chose, the order of these records all seem off in contrast to all the times he’s been on.
And I think, ultimately, that’s the hardest part of being a serious artist. When music is a full-time way of life, you have to choose again, and again, and again. Right or wrong, you get paid to decide. It’s all gambling. Picking and praying. The price doubles when you pick the hits. Triples when the melodies are magic. Michael had the magic, and I think Roddy has some too. Only time will tell if he has enough to be a typhoon.
by Yoh.