Review Summary: Spaceghostpurrp blends an odd assortment of 90's nostalgia into a unique futuristic baby-making masterpiece!
In case you don’t know, Spaceghostpurrp is a Miami based producer/rapper who’s slowly building a dedicated following in the internet’s shadiest annals of underground rap discussion (Sputnikmusic.com/forums). He’s definitely a member of the new generation of rappers and producers who are testing the boundaries of the genre by warping them instead of extending them. And like his contemporaries, Purrp’s created a blend of normal influences into a style all his own.
Purrp’s flow combines Waka Flocka Flame’s simpleton street rhymes with some of the absurdist flavor that triggers Lil B’s chant songs, creating a series of hypnotic off the wall macho boasts covering money, lesbians, and drugs, specifically southern custom Purple Drank (“For The Love of Lean”). The closest thing Space really gets to anything resembling a Drake level of relationship advice is taken care of in the first line on “Spaceship” (
Spaceship, Spaceship/Bitch fu(i)(/i)ck relationships ). His voice is in the same pitch area that Lil B’s is, but his delivery lacks much of the Martian confidence Lil B wields, and instead sounds like a hungry rapper who still has time to trip. As a rapper, Space is no Shabazz Palaces. But on the best tracks his vocals flow seamlessly into the beats as if they’re another piece of the instrumental.
Which brings us to the beats, which, to be frank, fu(i)(/i)cking slam. They’re murky and lo-fi, but it’s for no aesthetic. These beats were made for a mix far beyond Purpp’s means back in 2010, but as it stands, the lo-fi sound gives the crunk and R&B styled samples a grimier feel to them than some of his contemporaries. The samples call back to mid 90’s Three 6 Mafia (one of Purpp’s biggest admitted influences), late 90’s R&B., and 80's soul. Perhaps most important are the excellently placed bass and drum patterns that elevate the songs into instant head nod euphoria, and owe a great debt to the late DJ Screw’s primordial Chopped & Screwed tapes. The bass drop in “Friday” can shatter your eardrums under headphones, and the car stereo rumble that “Sex, Money, And Drugs” pumps could fuck up your girlfriend’s favorite dubstep producer and make her cum on the seat.
The overall end result is a hypnotizing sound that oozes a woozy enchanting funk. The music itself has fucked me up before-being already fucked up actually focuses the music and puts your body into a sonic numb. Purrp utilizes fade-ins and fade-outs, obviously a cheap effect, but it’s a beautiful one when the spacey “Spaceship” slides into focus, amidst a melodramatic cloud of horns, silky keys, and grainy Mortal Kombat samples, which pop up everywhere on the tape.
In short, if you’re looking to get fucked up without medication, download this album. If you’re looking to elevate your medicated high until you can’t feel white anymore, download this album. Or if you just want to ****** out in your bedroom (kudos Steve Albini), download this album. SWAG.
