Review Summary: The White Gucci Mane with a Spray Tan strikes again.
After two long years and numerous delays, Riff Raff a.k.a Jody Highroller a.k.a The Neon Icon a.k.a The White Gucci Mane with a Spray Tan has finally dropped his second proper LP, Peach Panther. Is Peach Panther Riff Raff's magnum opus? Will it cause you to fall into a dream world full of Versace rainbows and codeine trees as far as the eye can see? Is Riff Raff human or is he dancer? All will be answered in this track-by-track review of 2016's most important musical release.
1. "Peach Panther (Freestyle)": Good lord does this do a good job of setting the tone for this album. The intro is a completely bizarre rant about how mankind is abandoning one another (complete with robot vocal effects!), the lyrics are funny as all hell and the beat is an absolute banger. If I were to pick a song from this album that encapsulates everything that Riff Raff is about, it would be "Peach Panther (Freestyle)".
Best Riffism: "Bring Bring, Who Is It? Collect Call from Bruce Jenner"
2."Carlos Slim": This *** is old news since it was released as the album's first single back in early April, but it still goes hard as a mother***er. Riff Raff flows like the god damn Nile and drops non-stop lyrical bombs over this majestic, subwoofer-assaulting beat from Cash Fargo of 808 Mafia. One of Peach Panther's clear standout tracks and an instant classic for The Neon Icon.
Best Riffism: "Codeine Castle got a pool full of mermaids"
3."Only in America": Peach Panther's early hot streak continues with a song that should be the United States' new national anthem. Jody Highroller spends the entirety of this track boasting about the joys of living in America including eating duck sauce, installing Codeine water fountains next to your swimming pool and teaching your children how to become professional Snapchatters. Riff Raff is a real American that fights for the right of every man and don't you ever forget it.
Best Riffism: "Only Americans eat duck sauce"
4."4 Million": I love it when Riff Raff is in full preacher mode. This glorious, high-energy trap sermon is about how Riff Raff only made $4 Million last year. If you thought he was balling when he was raking in couch cushion money, wait until Jody Highroller starts making real mogul money. He's going to *** around and buy a unicorn or some other magical ***, and it's going to be the most amazing to happen to the hip-hop world since the release of Shaq Diesel.
Best Riffism: "I don't ever ask for help/Shot more jumpers than Tony Delk"
5."Chris Paul": This is a decent little pop rap tune that gives Riff a chance to show his competent singing voice on the hook and drop as many references to players on the Los Angeles Clippers (the basketball team that Paul plays for) as humanly possible in 3 minutes. My only issue with the song is that he shows that it was recorded a while ago by referencing Matt Barnes,who got traded to the Memphis Grizzlies immediately following the 2014-15 season, in his parade of Clipper name drops. "Shooting 3's like Wesley Johnson or Jamal Crawford" may not have the same ring to it, but at least it would've highlighted the shooting prowess of a player that actually played for the Clippers this past season.
Best Riffism: "Tint darker than coffee/my mouth look like ice hockey
6."Syrup Sippin Assassin": Of course Peach Panther's first real misstep has to be the song with the best title on the whole album. "Syrup Sippin Assassin" wastes a great beat on a song that features the same two sets of lines repeated for three minutes and literally no rapping from the Neon Icon. This is essentially Peach Panther's "VIP Pass to My Heart" and I really wish Riff Raff would stop trying to pretend to be a T-Pain clone once every album.
Best Riffism: N/A
7."All I Ever Wanted" (feat. Dolla Bill Gates): The momentum killed by the awful "Syrup Sippin Assassin" isn't really regained here. This is pretty much a throwaway song with no real standout lines, a mediocre chorus and below average guest verse from Dolla Bill Gates.
Best Riffism: N/A
8. "I Drive By" (feat. Gucci Mane and Danny Brown): The expectations I had for this song were unholy high. Riff Raff, Danny Brown and Gucci Mane on the same track is a gift from the hip-hop gods and it would be an unforgivable sin if this holy trinity failed to deliver a masterpiece. Thankfully, "I Drive By" managed to live up to its heavyweight billing. Riff spits nothing but certified Versace-tinged flames, Brown delivers one of his most frantic and inspired guest verses to-date and King Gucci drops a hook so beautiful it will make every bird currently living on Earth sing. It'll be a grand-scale travesty if this doesn't become the club anthem of summer 2016.
Best Riffism: "Cutting through the traffic/limousine Inspector Gadget"
9."Mercedes" (feat. G-Eazy and J.Doe): Well color me shocked this song is actually pretty damn good! The chorus from J. Doe is really catchy, the beat is a hardcore banger and best of all, G-Eazy-who is usually about as lively as a marathon of Antiques Roadshow- manages to be tolerable for once! Riff's merely decent verse is the only thing preventing this from being one of the album's standout tracks.
Best Riffism: "High School used to play sports/then I got fat and lazy/And luckily my pockets did too"
10."I Don't Like to Think" (feat. Problem): From the beat to the cadence Problem uses on the hook, this track reminded me of the Chief Keef/Riff Raff collab "Cuz My Gear". The hook is relatively catchy and Riff's verse features a number of flat-out hilarious lines, but the feeling of familiarity and borderline plagiarism prevented me from really digging it.
Best Riffism: "Versace Dennis the Menace/Rain dancing outside of Lenox
11."Shout Out to the Bay" (feat. King Chip): King Chip deserves a life sentence in a Punjabi Prison for ruining this otherwise wonderful slice of high-end hip-hop swag with his obnoxious flow and weak-ass lyrics that sound like they came out of a "How to Be a Generic ***boy Rapper 101" book. You can't put The Master of Disguise on before The Godfather and expect me not to notice. *** you King Chip.
Best Riffism:"I beg your pardon swing to Olive Garden/Now I'm with your daughter in the karma Aston Martin"
12."Betcha' Didn't Know" (feat. Lil Durk): This basically has the same issues as "Shout Out to the Bay". A great verse from Riff is brought down by a horrendous guest spot from grade-A trap rap clown Lil Durk and a piss-weak, autotune-driven chorus that sounds like it was hijacked from one of Future's lazy mixtape songs. Ending Peach Panther on such a lackluster note is a huge buzzkill.
Best Riffism: "I can Bill and Ted/got more ice than a sled"
Peach Panther is a solid albeit somewhat inconsistent return to Riff Raff's trap roots. It may lack the diversity/insanity and non-stop hilarity that Neon Icon had, but it's still a worthwhile album with a number of side-splitting highlights. The issues that plague this record (weak guest spots, repetitive sound) are easily correctable and I'm fully convinced that Jody Highroller's next effort could be a serious game-changer for the Versacecore genre.
