Rome Streetz made people listen. In the wake of the rise, and relative unraveling, of Griselda, the retro street rap (Boom bap revival? Whatever you’d like to term it) scene has grown distinctly overcrowded, with artists that tend to paint in the same colors competing for the attention of a sternly selective, fickle audience. One only need glance at the treatment the once beloved Benny the Butcher has received amidst his – admittedly clumsy – bid for wider recognition.
Meanwhile, as both Conway the Machine and Benny have largely wandered off to do their own thing amid (oft denied) rumored division in the ranks, just what remains of the Griselda empire is up for debate. Boldy James seemingly joined, but has hardly seemed concerned with flying the flag since.
Nonetheless, a Westside Gunn endorsement can still be a powerful thing, most notably displayed by beloved cult rapper Mach-Hommy getting his arguably most visible moment to date via the Gunn-curated Pray for Haiti.
While it may not have gotten quite as ecstatic and widely celebrated embracement, Rome Streetz’s 2022 album Kiss the Ring stands right alongside it as a Griselda homerun. It was so successful that, much like Conway following his Shady Records masterstroke God Don’t Make Mistakes, that Rome hasn’t seemed entirely certain how to follow it up. This isn’t to say he’s made a stumble akin to WON’T HE DO IT, to the contrary, both of his projects last year were perfectly solid slices of NYC hip hop. It’s simply hard to build upon a proper palace with public housing.
So, then, Rome has largely bided his time in 2024, returning alongside Griselda mainstay (and in-house producer) Daringer. The man’s been alongside the collective from their earliest days, and is all but synonymous with their sound. He’s also made real strides in his craft, ever seeking to overcome the sense that he’s both emulating The Alchemist and the guy people call when Al’s out of their budget. This sounds a bit cruelly dismissive, and is unfair to his best productions, yet, the truth of it remains.
Still, here he is, a solid and dependable partner for Rome Streetz’s Hatton Garden Holdup. What does turn out to be a bit of a limitation – and one that may well be pleasing to adherents to a very particular sound – is his rather strict adherence here to more muted, gloomy soundscapes. He shows little of the dominant slammers he provided for his 2022 link up wih Meyhem Lauren, Black Vladimir. To be fair, there’s something to genuinely admire in that, as Daringer is largely intent on setting a simple, but adequate, stage for Streetz to run the show.
However, as Kiss the Ring so strongly proved – right on down to its, ahem, expressive artwork – Rome Streetz is truly at his best when he allows himself to get a bit flamboyant with it. Daringer’s restrained, stealthy compositions here don’t exactly encourage that kind of careening energy.
None of this is entirely to blame the poor beatsmith: Streetz himself seems often unsure how to handle his duality, hesitant to fully lean into his braggadocious side when grim reality often comes more readily. It’s understandable. He clearly picks up the solemn energy at play here as well, and more often than not, opts for dependable scarred street tales.
Sometimes it works. “Sage” gives the feeling of driving across a monolithic bridge into urban hell and propels both Streetz and guest ScHoolboy Q through vicious verses while “Space X”, Elon Musk association be damned, sounds like something the Xenomorph may hunt hapless rappers to in an alternate hip hop universe doomed to be steered by H.R. Giger.
However, more often than not, the beats are simply there: palatable enough, but hardly filling. “Spike” has potential in its forceful RZA-esque loop, but fails to mount nearly the energy of something akin to “Stroke of Death”. “Jimi’s Headband” boasts a crystalline atmosphere, but once more is content to stay put, rather than ever expand or surprise.
To be fair, Rome Streetz remains, more often than not, magnetic even when limiting himself to proven formulas, but it’s hard not to yearn for the bolder, funnier visionary that it’s painfully clear he has the enviable potential to be. It’s alright to have some fun with it all.
