Royal – Summer on Main St
Royal goes for a hard, uncompromising style with “Summer on Main St”. With a raw, gritty flow Royal’s rapping harks back to an old school hip-hop style. His storytelling ability runs through the whole of the album with each track building off the last. Akin to chapters in a novel everything explores a life lived to the absolute fullest. Samples get chopped up, stretched, and distorted beyond belief resulting in a virtual funhouse of mirrors take. Electro, trap, even elements of ambient come into the mix. Production goes for a nimble, dexterous approach for everything twists and turns in unexpected ways.
Things open up with the dazed haze of the opener “Still Here (feat. Hickey Boy)”. A bit of tenderness comes into focus while things unfurl. Physical basslines roll through on the languid grooves of “Trappin’(feat. Cru)”. Kaleidoscopic swirls and dark vibes emerge on the ominous cloud of “Around Me (feat Letthabeatroc)”. Swagger and a swinging, jazz-like atmosphere takes hold with the elastic rhythms of “On Command (feat. Cru)”. With a nostalgic sample that seems taken right out of Board of Canada’s early output, the yearning of “Letter to Cecil” serves as one of the main highlights of the album. Unhinged party vibes define the wild “Soy Mexicano (feat Nicko Rodriguez)”. Saving the best for last, the true highlight ends things off with the colossal “Occupy Cypher (feat. Taylo, Ty Bugatti, Watty 4rm YE, Blanco Bull, Cru)”. Flows go for the energetic to the introspective.
With “Summer on Main St” Royal crafts a unique universe, featuring a rapping ability that has few peers.
Link to album( Summer on Main St)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5Kd0JyKiibfgdKaAA1uQwS
Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/summer-on-main-st/1431997336
Other Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theofficialroyal/?hl=en