Review Summary: Taking a small bite out of the Big Apple.
There's always something to take back from venturing travels to certain, glamorous cities from excursion. Whether it is the food, the culture, or the lifestyle, it is always something that resonates within and to take back from after that venture. In Chicago rapper Rockie Fresh's case, he's taken the tones and flair from the cities he's been to and implanted those in his variant compositions through his "The Night I Went To..." mixtape series. If it wasn't the vintage, down-trotting sounds that spoke to the bustling, yet uncertain feels of Chicago in "The Night I Went To... Chicago", it was the gritty, sun-bathed, polished vibes in his venture to the West Coast in "The Night I Went To... Los Angeles". Giving each mixtape a sample of the immersive atmosphere and typical rap sound each city conveys, it gives the instant impression that you are literally in that very city, whether LA or Chicago. In the latest entry of his mixtape series, Rockie Fresh takes his travels to the East Coast - to the nostalgic, awe-inspiring metropolis of NYC in his overnight excursion in "The Night I Went To... New York".
With every nightly excursion taken to the various metropolises the Chicago-born rapper flaunts, it takes a bite out of the Big Apple, speaking to the city's context and feels of being in that city itself. That is classified in the glistening, neon "Thank You", fitted elegantly with emotive violins and Motown-esque pianos, matching to the silky background vocals that hum seamlessly in its vintage premise. An ode to the past of Rockie and musical success, and when he blissfully enters, Maybach Music Group's "boss" Rick Ross', their blending chemistry screams exponentially with elegance and power. Rockie's metaphoric, gauging lyricism fits well to the braggadocio, richly tones that Ross empowers the track with, having Rockie with lines that speak to his success like "I used to stay up late and debate/now I'm up late counting this cake". Fit that with richly, brightening lyricism and the raw power of Ross, and you have yourself a blend of both grit and wealth fixated together in a urban, flavorful piece. Divulging deeper into the night, piecing together an abstract, subsonic composition in "Too Long" speaks of his musical absence until his mixtape series debuted, stringed together with artsy synths and upbeat bass. The exotic vibrancy of this track gives off the feeling of visiting the trendy, modern foundries of both SoHo and Chelsea, speaking diversity and cool, brushed hues painted into its evening premise.
As the overnight excursion into New York comes to an eventful end, this new entry in the "The Night I Went To..." series ends abruptly with a sheer lack of more content, which could've spoken more musically and further diversify with the various sounds that the corporate city and its other boroughs could bring to light. However, the premise of this mixtape series has always left us with only giving us a hint of what the metropolis felt like in a musical sense, never the full course. With plain, yet cool artwork that indirectly leaves you what the feel and grip of the content will be, "The Night I Went To... New York" is a glitzy, first-class sendoff of the series that completes the variant differences in which each city musically conveys and delivers. Garnished with both the East Coast-influenced sounds, and the smooth, metaphoric lyricism and gauging flow from the Chicago-born rapper, you are left painted with a pretty decent canvas of the grip and sublime essence that the Big Apple exhausts out into the mind of dreamers, and travelers alike. That small sample will only sound better when you are literally immersed into the craziness and business of the Big Apple itself.
