This is the eponymous 2nd EP from Detroit rapper Rafa. Coming up as a member of the WRLD Tour Mafia a couple years ago, he would also begin a solo career of his own starting on Thanksgiving 2020 with his debut EP Not for Household Use & followed it up earlier this year in the form his full-length debut Dog$hit & Ammunition. But with the Mafia coming fresh off Tourmania a couple weeks back, Rafa continuing to apply pressure by dropping a self-titled effort.
“Tighten Up” is an acoustic/trap opener produced by Carlo Anthony with Rafa talking about how that’s exactly what he had to do before going out & getting it whereas “Cat n da Hat” takes a more rawer route with it’s deathly instrumental & the lyrics essentially shit-talking. “Hoe Need Jesus” has a more wavier vibe to the beat talking about getting fly for no reason, but then “Last Dump” works in some foreboding piano chords & hi-hats addressing that they don’t wanna see him winning.
Continuing from there with “Touch the Sky”, we have Rafa over some more mellow production exposing a rat & telling a hoe to get the fuck out his messages prior to “Prophet” returning to the Detroit trap sound declaring himself as such. “Wrldtour17” has a little bit of a West Coast flare to the instrumental confessing that he thinks God’s blessing him for his mother & he doesn’t deserve it because of how wild he can be just before “LIL Stro” almost gives off a cloudier tone to the beat opening up about this rap shit taking him to new heights.
“King Tut” switches up to a peppier sound admitting that he feels like the titular Egyptian pharaoh leading into the horn-laced “Dover Street” delivering some braggadocio. The song “Lean” laces some synths in responding to those asking what’s in his system while the penultimate track “Welcome to My Wrld” gets more personal lyrically with a drowsy trap instrumental. “Pushin’ On” though serves as a soulful closer to the tape talking about continuing to move forward.
Now for those’ve you who recently got put onto WRLD Tour off Tourmania & are looking to get into Rafa’s solo stuff, you’re gonna wanna check out self-titled because I happen to like it more than both Not for Household Use and Dog$hit & Ammunition even though that’s not to say either of them are bad whatsoever. Even though it almost feels like an EP running only at 25 & a half minutes, I can’t deny that it’s well produced & that Rafa’s performances & songwriting are both at their strongest.
Score: 4.5/5
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