The following must be said about Rhys Langston: if you, at any point, thought that R.A.P. Ferreira was a heavy rapper, you will have a hell of a time with Rhys Langston. Rhys approaches the freeform, hyperliterate style of rapping that R.A.P. does but often with a vocabulary that would stun the most condescending ear looking to continue their asinine tirade against rap’s musical validity. But for the most part, it seems like Rhys is having fun with the art form, and while this may not result in a huge fanbase, it does provide a fun way to approach hip-hop music.
For example, the opening line of the chorus of “Tuning Fork”, the first single from the upcoming album Pale Black Negative, says “ate the tuning fork while I Taxied on the Crepuscular/tapped inner singing bowl, yeah, deep under my jugular”. And while you could clean some meaning, it might simply be that he is saying that he just had some awesome dinner last night. The fun is in the open interpretation. But for those not into digging into lyrical meanings, the best is just funky enough to inspire bouncing. Think the party bounce of 70s soul/funk mixed with the futurism of Mush Records or Anticon, and you are well in the ballpark. Open Mike Eagle joining up as a fictitious airport clerk on the intercom.
“Happiness” is a a bit of a detour from such an act, tho. Rhys only slightly moves into singer-songwriter mode with plucks of guitar and a chorus sung by Rhys himself. In a song tackling mental health, Rhys raps about the “compounding” “social consciousness and emotional neglect” that causes him to face such hardships on the inside while friends of his leave messages checking in on him after the chorus.
As awesome as it may be for past works to be great entryways into his work if you haven’t dug into Thys’ works yet, no one should see why these two current singles can’t be worthy entry points.
Written by mynameisblueskye
