I'm going to write something a little in depth on this, because I feel it merits that.....
I didn't grow up the same as Payroll, with his family deep in the game like that, but I was in it young, I am maybe 2 years older than Payroll. I was like 16, with a knot of greasy ass wrinkled 20's and 10's, 5's, and 1's, stuffed in and coming out of my pockets. Bagging up on my yearbook, powder all over the blue cover, going downtown to grab o's like 2 times a week, just feeling that stack of money and the SMELL of fishscale all in my hands and nose.....Hiding money under my mattress and stashing my bankroll in my sock, when I left the house because I couldn't even hug my Mom, it was so far out of my pockets....just kid shyt to me, straight coke money.
And years later, I can see, even more clearly, how normalizing that so young fukked me up in so many ways, I still am trying to correct, but at the same time, that was my life, and that game shaped me. So, music like this is like therapeutic in a sense, all the rap I really loved is, my favorite album is probably In My Lifetime Vol. 1. Payroll approaches the subject with the kind of flashy style, but intelligence and gravity, that anyone who really lived it will connect to. The highs and lows, the paranoia, he does it all over classic timeless, funk and R&B influenced style production, with elegant, reflective raps.
'So Young', sums up a lot of what I talked about in the first paragraph, I remember the biggest dope boy I knew way back then, and watching him whipping a BMW and Navigator, he was a legend to us, now he's just an old snitch, who is still in the feds. '10 Years 1 Summer', is the kind of non preachy, cautionary tale, that most rappers never really showcase as a reality. Those dudes that ended up getting 90 months sentences for a 2 year run, just all the failure and loss that comes in the game. The way it's romanticized, and glamorized, when its really dark, an addiction, like an infection that you can't cure.
The harmonizing at the end of "My Lifetime", the homage to Jay, the silky, smooth beat, that manages to sound classic and contemporary at once.... This is just timeless music. Jeezy wrecks "Dopeman Dreams", but Pay is who really kills the verses...."Chills" and 'Deep" underscore the life, from the perspective of maturity and reality, "I know some with the bag that's not real at all, I know some 100 cats with no scrill at all", "Kill you for crumbs, or kill you for fun, or control of the slums". The delivery and lyrics are straightforward and conversational, Payroll makes it all sound effortless.
Like, how can I listen to a Drake, at least his rap shyt, when this music speaks to me like that.....I guess Drake speaks to another demographic, and they feel the same way. But, the music was always supposed to be about the struggle, the street, whether you were actually in it or not. This is a perfect example of music from the heart, that reminds you of yourself, and childhood, but also what always drew you to the music.
Edit- release date jan 26th..itunes preorder available and tracklist
