What’s good fine citizens of Bird City!?! Your man, Bo, back in the place to be with more undiscovered musical gems for your listening pleasure. This week we take a trip out to the beach, courtesy of the homeboy, Petie Rico, and his lyrically driven oceanside anthem “Can It Just Be Us”.
The coolest thing about Petie’s joint is that he’s championing something that hip-hip rarely ever champions, monogamy. The bridge: “What’s a one night stand to a life time dance with my baby in my lap?/ What’s a IG dime to a glass of wine with a woman who don’t care about that?/”, is remarkably refreshing for a genre that seems to pride itself on being misogynistic.
The beat on this track is simple and represents a chill beach vibe, but it doesn’t add much to the song. There’s some drum and snares in there, but nothing that catches the ear, leaving Petie alone to drive the action on the track. The beat needed more of a bass line or something that someone dancing to the could really grab on to. The vocal mix on the track sounds a bit canned as well. Petie’s voice and his rhymes are excellent and needed to be the star in the final product. Unfortunately, what we get is a mix that leaves his verse a bit too soft, and the beat getting more attention than needed. Even with all these things withstanding, Petie Rico makes a unique track with an uptempo feel that presents some thoughts rarely shared in hip-hip.
Lyrically, Petie does some nice work on this track. If you really pay attention closely to the lyrics, you’re pleasantly surprised at some of the bars he drops. In the first verse alone, Rico connects with several slick lines such as: “Trips to the beat that will never get old/ avacado and wasabi in my poke bowl/ my island dance looking like the hokey poke/ booty got me looking like I saw the holy ghost/”. He leads of the second verse with some great imagery, “that thang thang tastes like a trip to the coast/ eggs with the cheese with the butter on the toast/ brunch time sex with a glass of mimos/ toast to the breeze and relax in the boats/”, that matches the theme of the song and video perfectly. Petie Rico is a talented song writer and he showcases that talent all over this song.
From Petie’s standpoint, he does a solid job putting together a very well written song. The engineer on the track let him down a little on the mix, and the vocal performance was lacking slightly. The lyrics on the song save the day and help deliver a solid 7.5 out of 10 for Petie Rico and “Can’t It Just Be Us”. That’s all this week my people, see you next week for more stand out Arizona hip-hop. Peace and love, your boy, Bo!
BIRDCITYVIEW 