– THE MILITARY COUP –

When I think back to my halcyon days in moshpits, it brings back memories of big sweaty men pounding into me from all angles, the smell of cheap lager and farts lingering in the air while, invariably I had someone loudly shouting cuss words at me from the other side of the room.

So, yeah, I can see what Duckwrth means.

But if that intro has you thinking this is going to be a review of some frat-boy bombtrack, you’d be completely wrong because Jared Lee (as he’s known to his Mum) is one of the emerging corps of male rappers who are embracing their emotions.

Mere weeks after brockhampton’s Kevin Abstract released the excellent Arizona Baby in which he detailed what life is like being as a gay black man in the hip-hop scene, Lee bares his soul on Love is Like a Moshpit in a style that’s not dissimilar to Abstract’s work.

What’s especially interesting to note is the way in which the gender roles in hip-hop in general at the moment appear to be not simply converging but actually inverting.

Just today, we’ve seen the release of Duckwrth’s album The Falling Man at the same time as Megan Thee Stallion’s Fever is dropping. But while one features the lyrics;

“Simon says give me head until I sleep
She’s a squirter now it’s all in the sheets
Love a freaky bitch put her ass to work
Ass bustin’ out the skirt, pop that pussy like a Perc”

The other has lyrics such as…

“The longer we breakin’ each other down
And throwin’ ourselves around
Actin’ like we don’t care about shit, when we really do
Actin’ like this shit don’t hurt, when it really do
I don’t know what’s got into you
We all got blood, so we all bleed
I don’t know what it is I need, but your love controls me”

Ask yourself the question, which one would you assume comes from the male rapper’s album and which is from the female’s?

MORE FROM THIS WEEK’S MIX

CYKADA: CREATION
JAMILA WOODS: BASQUIAT
30/70 COLLECTIVE: NU SPRING
SERPENTWITHFEET: MESSY (ACOUSTIC)

P.S. You can find all of the tracks reviewed above in the 45 Revolutions per Minute playlist below or click to access the 45 RPM Playlist on Spotify itself.

If you like what you hear (or even if you don’t), please engage in dialogue with me @45rpm_Reviews on Twitter. And, if you’d like to receive updates weekly, please subscribe to the email list to get these recommendations sent to your inbox weekly.

– SV –