Roddy Ricch - Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial (Album Review)

Roddy Ricch is an artist I've always thought was just another melodic trap rapper - and to an extent he is. However, after hearing some singles such as 'The Box' & 'Start Wit Me' I decided to give 'Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial' a listen - and to my surprise it was good. A lot of his lyrics are braggadocios, and the majority of his songs are just to flex, however there are a few songs on this that focus on his come up in the game and his struggles in his environment - leading to a life of a crime and drug dealing to get by. These are themes that are prevalent throughout the album as well as his dedication to music - borderline stating music saved his life as you can infer without it, he'd either be dead or in jail. It at times gives us a real insight into his life.

To turn attention to his music, his melodies are great and what makes the album what it is. He doesn't quite go for the high notes, he just puts an effect on his voice reminiscent of Young Thug and it sounds great - better yet he puts his own distinctive style on it. His voice is his instrument, and he uses it to keep things fresh. The change in tone and the switched up melody throughout the verses don't keep us waiting for the hooks - which is important because half the time what he's saying isn't interesting - so he needs to use this way to keep us listening. The key thing for an artist like Roddy is to be catchy - which is exactly what he is.

Features are mostly good on the album, they don't take all the shine off Roddy but they do enough to keep things freshened up on the tracklist - even Gunna had a good verse on 'Start Wit Me' which is interesting because I usually don't like Gunna's features but he rode the beat well with a smooth, steady flow. He knows his style, and he just plays it safe this project which works for him - I just wonder if he'll venture out of his comfort zone in the following projects in order to grow.

While technically not the best rapper, the quickness of Young Thug and the instrumentals of Lil Baby with his own twist on it keep him going. The flute instrumentals crossed with the piano's used compliment Roddy's melodic delivery well - put that with some hard hitting 808's and you've got some great beats. 'Intro' shows his vulnerabilities as I mentioned earlier, "The streets left me cold hearted". Wouldn't say his weaknesses are shown enough to title the album 'Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial' thought, but for the song 'Intro', it has a slow piano instrumental for the first half, and then switches up to a more fast paced piano with the 808's kicking in as he starts to move from the past to the present stating this is the reason why he flexes. 'The Box' is just really catchy, while 'Start Wit Me' uses a flute based instrumental and a catchy switch up of melody in the hook - probably the biggest showcase of his strengths this album.

As we go through the tracklist, 'Perfect Time' shows his ear for melodies once again - he even uses a voice crack to his strength while 'Boom Boom Boom' is decent but I don't know why we needed to hear the chorus three times. 'Peta' includes are great extended metaphor of wearing furs, "I'm rocking furs on furs, I'm probably beefing with Peta", followed by a great Meek Mill feature. Mustard kills the beat on 'High Fashion' giving it an old R&B style with modern features such as the 808's and nice, lowkey claps. Roddy rides the beat with an R&B hook which is great. 'Bacc Seat' & 'Roll Dice' are when we hit our first bland songs. They are flat, with uninspiring beats and melodies and strike me as filler tracks. Poor feature from Ty Dollar $ign doesn't help either, you just come to expect much more from him than a verse with no real direction. Despite the poor back end to the album, we finish on a high with 'War Baby'. Bringing the album to a close, he brings all the themes together which puts him at his most vulnerable. Combine that with a nice piano and a back up gospel choir who make the final hook so vivid and beautiful - and then let them do an outro for you while clapping in rhythm - that, is what you call a song.

He shows potential here, and to continue growing he needs to experiment a little more but this is a great start.

FAVOURITE TRACKS: Intro, The Box, Start Wit Me, Perfect Time, Moonwalkin, Peta, Boom Boom Boom, High Fashion, War Baby

LEAST FAVOURITE TRACK: Roll Dice

OVERALL RATING: Solid 7/10

*REVISED SCORE: Review may not match favourite tracks and overall rating because I've since re-listened and changed my score.*