Rich the Factor, the most respected rapper on the east side of Kansas City, continues his career renaissance with CEO of the Blacktop. Since the termination of his incarceration in 2016, the man born Richard Johnson has issued a steady stream of bold albums.
More in keeping with the immaculate sound of a Maybach Music release than the swampy sonics that usually accompany Rich the Factor’s menacing raps, CEO of the Blacktop is loaded with essential bangers. “Diamond N the Ruff” sounds like a secret meeting between Sly Stone and Rick Ross in Swope Park. “Move Up” is one of the silkiest songs in Rich’s vast catalog.
He threatens adversaries in “Flashy” by reminding them that “we from the middle/we can touch you in 24 hours/hit you with a box of shells/they two or three dollars.” Rich could hit me in less than 24 minutes, but in doing so he’d eliminate one of his most conspicuous advocates.
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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.
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I reviewed a concert by the SFJazz Collective at Plastic Sax.
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Charles Neville has died.
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“Take a Byte,” the third song on Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer, exemplifies my objection to her sensual android aesthetic. The sterile sound just doesn’t appeal to me. I’ll stick with Zapp’s “Computer Love” to get my digital kicks.
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I feel as if I should check myself into rehab after listening to Post Malone’s Beerbongs and Bentleys. RIYL: alcohol, Lil Peep, drugs. Here’s “Psycho”.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
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