“Took to many L’s, it’s only wins here / Don’t speak about the hood if you ain’t been here” spits OG Cuicide in one of the more memorable lyrical excerpts from his new single “Keep it G,” his words echoing much of the weightiness audible in the bass part in the mix. This track, which features AD in a killer guest appearance, features some of the most well-purposed attitude I’ve heard from a Cali rapper out of the underground in some time, and if you’re a listener keen on the slick sounds of a new wave of indie hip-hop, it needs to be a priority listen.
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There’s a lot more to this single than its blistering lyricism – right off the top, the beat presents itself as smoldering and withholding an anger that will only come forth later on in the track. The grooves are unpredictable, and while the rhythm is unfamiliar and not sourced from another song scaling the charts at the moment, it doesn’t feel woefully avant-garde, either. It’s a thin line between experimentation and standard alternative fodder in our contemporary music world, but I get the feeling OG Cuicide is a player who likes to live in the aesthetical margin between.
You can tell the chemistry between OG Cuicide and AD is unforced and completely real in “Keep it G,” and I like that they intentionally kept the vocals as crisp as clear as possible over the instrumentation to demonstrate their relationship in high definition sound. They don’t need a lot of standard-issue embellishments for this jam, and though I wouldn’t say it feels like an improve piece, I do think it’s obvious how many sparks would fly from these two getting into an impromptu battle, regardless of the location or specific context of the rhymes.
This track has a very simplistic production style that I don’t often review due to the dry sonic textures it frequently yields, but for what OG Cuicide was trying to accomplish, it was absolutely the right fit. There isn’t any room for error on the part of the players here, but considering their precision as rappers, they show us that they’re more than able to work with a more abrasive, anti-melodic backdrop and still end up sounding like mainstream harmony-makers who can rap as easily as they can produce beats. It takes moxie to make a single like this one, and they’ve got it for sure.
OG Cuicide is an indie staple-maker who has been recording music and making his presence in the industry known for almost ten years now, and this most recent release is probably the strongest crossover he’s cut with or without a collaborator. The last few years have been transformative for the genre he’s devoted his professional life to mastering, and with a little more exposure from mainstream outlets, I think he’s going to finally get a cut of the primetime spotlight he’s been trying to win since first dropping his debut album Wonder Why all the way back in 2012.
Troy Johnston