By Jason Marecki
After years of working with the late Stepa J. Groggs and Parker Corey on Injury Reserve and his recent Parker Corey collaboration By Storm, Phoenix native RiTchie has finally released his debut solo project Triple Digits [112]. And believe me, he has come out the gate swinging.
Combining both stretched, drawn-out production with RiTchie’s droning groans creates this ethereal, floaty feeling present throughout the entire album. His formerly tight and aggressive rapping style has been replaced by a labored, near-sobbing sing/rap hybrid. It might throw fans of his previous work off, but I personally love it. It sets him apart from everything he’s done before. Even with occasional production from Parker Corey and a song with long-time collaborator Amine, everything feels fresh and new.
However, there are still glimpses of the former RiTchie peaking through on tracks like “The Keepers”, “How?! (feat. Niontay)”, “Triple Digits [112]”, and the more introspective “5onthe.”. He has not lost his touch at all, just sort of temporarily traded it in for experimenting with a wide array of styles. The lack of focus can bring the album down a bit though.
Even though I love them, sometimes his sing-songy drones can be grating, especially when paired with more traditional rappers like on “The Thing (feat. Quelle Chris)”.
At times, I found myself wishing for RiTchie to stick to one thing. He doesn’t do anything poorly, but his former mastery of one style has been traded in for
just being good at many. As a huge fan of his prior works with Injury Reserve, it’s hard not to look back and reminisce on the style I’m so familiar with. I’m used to RiTchie killing a Corey beat, swapping bars back and forth with Stepa J. Groggs. I’m used to the noisy, emotional experimentation of By the Time I Get to Phoenix.
However, this is what RiTchie tells us to let go of. We hear in “Looping” RiTchie struggling with letting go of what he knows: “I feel the same beat, same drums, might have to let it go”. It’s an introspection that goes for an audience as well. Do we want our favorite artists to stagnate, forced to pump out the same content for us forever?
While I don’t think RiTchie reaches the heights of experimentation we saw on By the Time I Get to Phoenix, I firmly believe this is an excellent marker of the future of By Storm and further solo projects from him.
Rated Eight out of Ten.