What’s good, Bird City! Welcome to week 12 of the Three Minute Music Review! This week we’re presenting you RawXYola and their laid back lyrical assault “Pay Me.”
The track opens up with a smooth crooner delivering a velvety hook (wasn’t able to find the artist, let me know if you know who it is!) with matching visuals. Yola casually shows his smoker pedigree, lighting up 4 Blunts at once. The video quickly cuts to Raw, who delivers a scorching 16 with lines like “Blowing smoke like the Shaman/ Young Tutankhamen, I promise/”. A cleverly delivered King Tut reference gives way to Raw’s display of wittiness and wordplay where he continues, “My mind Road Runner, Flash, Quick Silver, Sonic/”, the verse ends with a short anecdote about Raw being orally serviced under water as the “gangster on a yacht” parties until they crash the boat.
Overall, track suffers heavily on the subject matter. Both rappers have a distinct sound that seemingly lacks depth outside of women and drug references. Most of RawXYola’s music is littered with laid back Wiz Khalifa/Currensy style beats, and while they have definitely made their own sound, they would benefit greatly to take it to the next level with personal stories and opinions. What sets RawXYola apart is their appreciation for cars and graffiti, things both showcased in the visuals for “Pay ME”. The backdrops feature loud graffiti (and weed) as well as, brief shots of an old school on hydraulics. It’s easy for any hip hop purist to admire the group’s affinity hip hop staples, but also how well they are able to blend it into their music.
The beat selection and neat use of adlibs really help round out the duo’s sound on “Pay Me”. The levels were even and the effect on Raw’s verse in the beginning grips the listener from the start. The track has a wu-tang esque feel to it and Yola’s verse comes in crystal clear as his delivers a pimp inspired narrative that he relates to geometric angles “But I got those right angles, fuckin obtuse/plus I got right angles, fuck her in the booth”. The latest offering from RawXYola, “Pay Me” gets an 8.5 for delivering a well-crafted song with that suits both rappers style’s well. Unfortunately, the song lacks a bit in depth. RawXYola are dropping a mixtape later this year called SpaceshipsXLowriders, and it is guaranteed to feature smokin’ and ridin’ music. Visit RawXYola’s YouTube and Soundcloud pages to hear all of RawXYola’s music and videos! Until next week Bird City Fam, Peace and Love, ya boy Bo!
BIRDCITYVIEW 