RO$$A¥ and Burroughs Get Jazzy on Mo’ Green Less Blues
Mo' Green Less Blues? album cover courtesy of RO$$A¥.
Certain albums are so evocative of a specific atmosphere that a listen instantly transports you to another time and place. Mo’ Green Less Blues? is one of those albums. The late summer release is a joint project from Denver-based rapper RO$$A¥ and producer and instrumentalist Burroughs, with Burroughs tackling all the production and RO$$A¥ supplying lyrics and vocals. Burroughs’s signature jazz-driven production paints a vivid backdrop for RO$$A¥’s “G and a gentleman” persona to flourish, lending a vintage touch to the album’s seven tracks. Together, the artists conjure an imaginary era where hip-hop and jazz were contemporaries. Before the first track is over, I find myself in a dimly-lit underground jazz club during the genre’s golden age. I can see RO$$A¥ wearing an immaculately tailored pinstripe suit and fedora, commanding the stage from behind a sturdy brass mic stand. Burroughs in dark sunglasses, plucking away on a double bass or dancing his fingers down the keys of a well-worn piano. I’m in an oversized armchair sipping bootleg liquor, comically long cigarette holder dangling between my fingertips. When I put this album on, you can’t convince me I’m not there.
I recently had the pleasure of seeing Killer Mike perform with The Mighty Midnight Revival at The Blue Note in New York City, and Mo’ Green Less Blues reminds me a bit of that experience: impassioned hip-hop with a healthy respect for the time-honored traditions of jazz and gospel music. After all, these genres are two of hip-hop’s most prominent forefathers, so it’s only right to respect its elders. While Burroughs’s instrumentals are undeniably jazz-forward, RO$$A¥ certainly pulls from gospel music’s messaging as well. There’s a reason I frequently cite the MC as a fantastic example of a “conscious rapper.” Generally, I don’t love the term “conscious rap,” because I think it’s been bastardized to convey a certain vibe instead of referring to the actual subgenre. But RO$$A¥ is an authentically conscious rapper, and I want to give him his flowers for demonstrating how it can be done without seeming like a corny cash-grab.
Here’s the thing: RO$$A¥ has mastered the art of weaving self-affirmations into his lyrics without it seeming forced. He avoids reverting to tired hyperboles, because he doesn’t need to boast that he’s the best, the baddest, the richest, or the coldest in order for his lyrics to hit. He favors more subtle (and more effective) ways of giving himself props. The album begins with RO$$A¥ declaring, “I make the money/The money don’t make him,” immediately establishing his values off the bat by rejecting the trappings of fame. Another great RO$$A¥ humble brag from the track “Space Age:” “Y’all science fiction/I’m nonfiction.” Simple, succinct, clean, and original. What I consider “conscious rap” is just hip-hop with a message beyond materialism. You don’t need to talk about popping bottles or throwing bands when you actually have something to say. Authenticity is the lifeblood of hip-hop, and because who RO$$A¥ is as an artist directly reflects who he is as a man, the enlightened aura that he brings to his music feels genuine.
In both his past discography and on Mo’ Green Less Blues?, RO$$A¥ taps into a specific, dialed-in subgenre of conscious rap that I’m going to call “metarap:” rapping about rap. It’s fairly common for hip-hop artists to rap about “the come up” and whatever their personal journey as an MC may be. But RO$$A¥ always takes it a step further, not just illuminating the realities of the “rap game” from an artist’s perspective, but also dissecting the genre from the perspective of a listener and even scholar. Take the chorus of “Real Rap,” for example: “Rapper or MC, conscious or boom bap/Whatever you label me, just know I spit real rap.” RO$$A¥ isn’t hung up on how you define his music, as long as you recognize it as authentically hip-hop. MC Bighouse’s guest verse (the only feature on the album) on the track, with his old-school flow leapfrogging over the beat, is the perfect touch on this tribute to classic rap. Respect for and knowledge of the art of rapping is the cornerstone of RO$$A¥’s artistry, and it’s what sets him apart from the majority of his contemporaries.
Mo’ Green Less Blues? from Burroughs and RO$$A¥ is out now on all streaming platforms.
