Dallas artists Pat Ron and Coach Tev team up for their collaborative EP, Shut Up & Rap. Straight RAPS, like real raps with flow, diction, content, confidence, competitive demeanor and progressive intent. Storytellers, but they're athletes with it, almost like they're playing 2v2 basketball. Both their crafts individually are amazing, but together the game is incredible from assists, individual plays and putting on for their home city. Athletic raps, if you will. Whole tape feels like behind the back passes & alley-oops - like watching an AND1 game but you're listening to two artists express it as rap, rapletes. All the tracks on the EP are hybrids of sorts too, they hold/create a space where the chill and smooth delivery of their raps does not alter the the height of the energy expressed in each song.
In all honesty, this EP is FULL of bars, wit and memorable lyrics. I'll highlight a few below from the beginning of Shut Up & Rap but the best ones you'll find when you listen to it in entirety.
One of my favorite lines by Pat Ron in the initial song, "When In Rome,"
"The juice, the sauce, the drip... whatever you call it/ these niggas do not be on shit they just wanna be seen, these niggas ain't artists"
And if we're still thinking in terms of basketball "When In Rome" serves as the 3-pointer off dribble after tip-off - an obvious moment that boosts team morale. Then Coach Tev makes a huge contribution on the song, "Shut Up & Rap,"
"I ain't buddying up with niggas, that shit overplayed/ I've been skipping out on group projects since like the 7th grade/ rap God veteran, coaching and I know the game/ I can tell your future shit ain't fuckin' with my throwaways"
Shut Up & Rap has no fillers every song is intentional and concise, although my favorite is "B Roll." Pat Ron's delivery in "B Roll" is reminiscent of the puncturing tone of rappers in South Central in the '90s - precise, intentional with a commanding tone and a story to tell. And when it comes to the the way Coach Tev delivers his raps - I always envision him in the Wild Wild West and just every time he draws his gun he's just slinging words, phrases, wit that are deadlier and more precise than a bullet.
Shut Up & Rap is an amazing project that I'm sure I'll be spinning for the rest of the year and beyond. If you get a chance to listen give it a spin too!
Comments