This is the 8th mixtape from San Francisco emcee Ramirez. Coming up in 2014 as a longtime affiliate of the $uicideboy$, he would go on to co-found to the New Orleans-based indie label G*59 Record$ with them & build himself as an artist by dropping his last 7 tapes, 10 EPs & 4 full-lengths in the span of nearly a decade. The last album Tha Playa$ Manual was his best yet with it’s g-funk production from Rocci & the gangsta rap lyricism, so that definitely intrigued me to check out The Tragedy of a Clown over here.
After the intro, the first song “Return of the Corpse” kicks off the tape with some heavy bass & a plucky loop asking if there’s a problem whereas the Pouya-assisted “Bacon, Eggs & Grits” finds the 2 over trap beat with a violin sample belittling everyone who be on their balls. “The Dungeon” dives into boom bap territory declaring himself to be the motherfucker you better run from, but then Germ tags along for the quirky yet alien-like trap banger “Carthart Vest” spitting aggressive braggadocio.
Meanwhile on “What the Hook Gon’ Be?”, we have Shakewell & Fat Nick joining Ramirez for an energetic Memphis gangsta rap heater just before “6 Feet Under” shoots for a more haunting aesthetic talking about being in rehab. “The Root of Demise” follows it up with a twangy trap ballad detailing depression leading into the misty yet rowdy “Murdered Out Vehicles” spitting some wicked shit.
“The Gallows Wait” has a more psychedelic quality to the production especially with the chopped & the screwed sample at the start & finish talking about being 1 gangsta ass ghost with Shakewell returning for the closer “Shameless Gorilla” boasting that there’s no shame in their game” with some morbid production from Mikey the Magician.
For him to give us this coming off his most critically acclaimed work to date, I think G*59 fans like myself are gonna be more than satisfied with it considering how consistent they’ve been. Ramirez takes it back to a more Memphis rap emphasis as far as sound goes with the lyricism being a bit more darker 2 & a half years later.
Score: 3.5/5
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