On Staying In My Lane

Not long after I started writing seriously about popular music, I encountered the following phrase: stay in your lane.

Back then I considered myself a generalist, with deep knowledge of and curious interest in a variety of genres and subgenres. Slightly older than most of the other music journos and critics in my social media orbit, I'd already amassed a lot of data and formed opinions across that range. That foundation and my flexibility allowed me a range of opportunities at a variety of outlets, hustling bylines the way a capable freelancer in the 2010s ought when rent is invariably due on the 1st.

You could find me defending Travis Scott or lambasting Iggy Azalea in the digital pages of Complex and Forbes, interviewing Geoff Rickly or Daniel Lopatin over at Pitchfork and Vulture, or reviewing albums by Eminem or Slipknot in Crack and The Face. I weighed in on (Rap)Genius's battle with Google for Spin and Latin entertainers using the n-word for the New York Times' Op-Ed page. Shiiiiiiiit, I even had a monthly column about Latin trap in Vice, which I parlayed into multiple pieces about Spanish-language music for Rolling Stone. (If you were an editor or reader looking for a thinkpiece called IS BOBBY SHMURDA THE NEXT TRINIDAD JAMES?, I was your man.)

By contrast, my beginnings as a music critic were inherently underground, writing reviews for a website whose founder insisted that the only new records we couldn't cover were the ones put out by major labels. That early experience informed the creation of CABBAGES some six-and-a-half years ago, dedicating myself (and corresponding podcast) to covering independent artists and labels as a solo corrective to the corporate music media ecosystem.

Though this newsletter project has since calcified my public-facing position as a "veteran" hip-hop/rap writer, staying in one's assigned lane really only came as a result of COVID-era media collapse. People who know me from CABBAGES would likely be surprised that I had a formative run at a heavy metal blog, and vice-versa for those who recall my extensive Q&As with the likes of Mike Patton and King Buzzo. I've lived a lot of lives in the two-and-a-half decades or so I've been doing this work.

Still, I've found that singular dictum–stay in your lane–both highly restrictive and oddly alluring at the same damn time.

Even as I've developed a certain reputation for genre expertise (grooooan), limiting myself to hip-hop can feel stifling at times. A lot of what does get covered these days includes topics I'd frankly not address at all. I don't want to write about Ye's limp apology-cum-comeback tour. I don't want to spotlight the audacity of Tyga's AI tomfoolery. I don't even want to wax poetic about the state of music criticism. However, I do respect those who do. But you won't find me in the courtroom, virtually or otherwise, for the Lil Durk trial or any other such business. That's not what I came here for.

Simultaneously, there is something unique about hip-hop journalism and criticism that makes this lane the one I'm happiest operating in. I've gotten to sit down with rap legends and underground talents and help share their stories. I've issued scathing rebukes of records by Drake and Jay-Z while praising under-appreciated ones from lesser known artists and misunderstood stars. I genuinely love approaching this culture for the music it produces, far more so than the antics debated on gossip pages and content farms.

I can't say definitively how long CABBAGES will last. (Paid subscriptions certainly help.) I'm firmly middle-aged and I recognize that anything can happen, truly. But for as long as I am able and interested and excited, I will continue to write in a way that focuses on the artists and the works created by those artists. That's a pretty decent lane to be in, I'd say.

Rent Moneyy, Rentrification

(buy it / stream it)

Those paying attention to Teller Bank$'s current run have come across Rent Moneyy. The two Des Moines-based spitters share more than just a city, as evidenced by their standout synergistic collabs on the former's acclaimed albums like DRUG$$$ and Hate Island. With the Philly-centric $$$ Productions crew overseeing the music side of Moneyy's proper debut Rentrification, he now delves further into the rich, oft left-of-center sonic miasma that elevated Bank$ to greater prominence in the hip-hop underground. Fittingly, the album begins with a solid track from the duo, the well-calibrated two-hander "MC Breed," before fully ceding the mic to his less-known-but-not-for-long rapper. From his flows on "Bagna Carta" and the absolutely banging "Stop It Bitch," one can suss out that he's previously spent some time navigating trap beats. Still, that rasp-infused cadence and his subtly grizzled lyricism feel at home–restlessly so–on Killer Kane's "Hair Of The Dawg" and Ayashi[!]'s "Thun." His as-yet obscured skillset seeps through in even more interesting ways as he effortlessly steers into the beat switch skid on "Forex" and hints at latent Griselda-esque sensibilities on "Mr. Him Sir."

Defcee & steel tipped dove, We Will Be Brief

(buy it / stream it)

Chicago-area heads and a respectable subset of discerning indie rap fans know Defcee for the work he's been putting in. Yet perhaps this album with the NYC-based steel tipped dove for Fused Arrow makes the best argument for his name to feature more prominently in the broader conversation. Sure, We Will Be Brief boasts an impressive selection of guests, including billy woods, Nappy Nina, and both of the ShrapKnel emcees (albeit on separate cuts). But as much as those names might draw listeners in, it's the seasoned spitter's own bars that will hold their attention. He fills the two minutes of "Ahem" with a litany of them, seeding autobiographical details into the vivid imagery. His apparent distaste for wasting musical space persists throughout the project, paying no mind to the gaps on such engrossing songs as "Heat Check" and "Last One Before Bed." Furthermore, the detailed, even confessional nature of "Flat Circle" and "Young Oldhead" open up dove's wondrously ornate beats in ways that most other rappers either wouldn't or just plain couldn't.

Three new tracks to snack on...

Starker, "Untitled (feat. YL)"

The Koreatown Oddity, "Yahtzee"

Fuego Base, "Make Them Pay"