Detroit rapper Rafa is back with his full-length debut studio album. 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 debut tape Dog$hit & Ammunition. The eponymous mixtape was a pivotal point in his career & Good Girls Don’t Exist from last spring was a superior EP, so it’s cool for him to breakdown the changing of his moniker from WTM Milt to R.A.F.A. (Rockstars Are Fucking Awesome).
“Diary of a Madman” mixes Detroit trap & rock music admitting that he can’t make up for all the damage since he’s a bandit whereas “Fashionably Late” takes a more psychedelic trap route instrumentally talking about never being early. “Get It Back” turns the psychedelia even higher advising y’all to sit & watch him making this bread while the rage-inducing “U R Special” encourages everyone not to let anyone discredit their worth.
As for “IDGAF”, we have Rafa assuring everyone that he’s seeing the bigger picture lately blending Detroit trap & psychedelic rock leading into “Roller Coaster” playfully boasting that all this shit made him. The bassy “Floatin’” suitably lets us know that’s exactly how he’s feeling while the rock-trap hybrid “Linger” wishes an ex good luck. “R J L” cloudily compares himself to the late John Lennon that is until “WATTB” takes it all in for the final moments.
Self-titled & Good Girls Don’t Exist both contain some of my favorite material in Rafa’s whole entire solo catalog, but R.A.F.A. (Rockstars Are Fucking Awesome) takes it to a whole new level by revealing itself to be his boldest work yet. He expand beyond the Motor City’s unique take on trap music in favor of rap rock, cloud rap, rage & psychedelia breaking down the meaning behind his current stage name.
Score: 4.5/5
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