SPOTLIGHT #4: "WAVY BULLET" by BoriRock x Grubby Pawz
An album review by Brandon Kao
Last March we recorded an interview with “Feed The Family” at Grubby Paws studio. While we were there, we got the chance to hear some of “WAVY BULLET'' before it was released. As soon as the rainy intro transitioned into the muted jazz trumpets of “Hoot Sinatra,” I knew this would be BoriRock‘s best album. I was fiending for a release date ever since I first heard the album in the studio. 1000 said it was done, they were just waiting on a vinyl deal. Now the album is out and after bumping it heavy for months, it’s clear to me why they took their time.
This is BoriRock’s first vinyl, his first complete piece of art, and it’s a classic. “WAVY BULLET” is a modern street noir set in the hoods of Massachusetts. The intros, interludes, and outros provided by Grubby Paws elevate this project to a cinematic level. The album opens on a cold and rainy night; you can almost feel the windchill. A black tinted SUV rolls up, slides the door open, dumps a thunderstorm of bullets, and peels off into darkness. “Bullet Rain” encapsulates the themes of the album perfectly in just 30 seconds: guns, rain, crime. Beyond that though, this album is about triumph, overcoming adversity, and making something out of nothing. BoriRock is a living representation of exactly that. “[God] gave me a gift, I know what to do with it. I ain’t gotta sell bricks, I was confused n***a,” he raps on “Hoot Sinatra.” This song is dope boy gospel, powerful music, on dogs. The track finishes by stating that the rappers, or “instructors,” on this album are “certified professionals who have survived numerous, real life firearm engagements” just as the grim and utterly menacing piano loop of “Feds Listenin’” drops. It’s sequenced as if to say, “We’re eatin’ good now but shit didn’t come easy. Lemme show you what we had to do to get here.” Then for the rest of the album, BoriRock, Feed The Family, and his 23 Incredible Industries colleagues proceed to do just that.
This project is filled to the brim with gritty street stories so vivid and specific they couldn’t be made up. But BoriRock makes sure to remind his fans, “If the feds listening, n***a I’m just rapping.” Shayk Hanif closes the track with some of my favorite bars on the album: “Reflection in the mirror and I look at a savage. Been to too many funerals but never looked in the casket. Can’t lie, getting my gun hot’s my favorite. But I’mma do the drill cuz Bori on the bracelet.” Bars like these just make you shake your head and go “Damn.” Hanif’s flow is deliberately slow and calculated, making his words hit ten times heavier. This kind of rapping hangs on every syllable and requires a Pusha T level of confidence to pull off, which he does. On the next track “Thanksgiving” Bori spills his heart, rapping “If you ain’t willing to catch a smack you can’t relate to my heart. If you ain’t willing to double back you shouldn’t have went from the start. I was sitting in that cell I used to vent in the dark. My mans is locked up, he still getting shit off.” This is easily one of the best songs in BoriRock’s extensive catalogue. His street mentality is on full display here and he puts feeling into every bar. You can just picture this dude sitting in jail spitting writtens to himself in the dark trying to figure a way out of his situation. Then when you learn that Bori met Dun Dealy, Shayk Hanif, and Top Hooter in jail, the origin story of Feed The Family becomes clearer.
The next posse cut, “Wave Affair,” features the Holy Trinity of Lynn Hip-Hop: Estee Nack, al.divino, and ??? aka The Hidden Character. This is splash rap at its finest. Shit sounds like an alleyway stickup where they take your money and shoot you just for making them wait. “Fuck the repercussions, we live lawless,” raps Vino. Nack then slaughters his verse as usual before Hidden hops in like a supervillain with a flying ninja kick, spitting “Summertime sliding, the stick hittin’, hidden beside me, hip fire, hitman for hire, wire your shit shut. Pull up in the trench with the shotgun, pistol grip pump, who wanna run up and get ya man slumped?” Just read that and tell me the rhyme scheme isn’t fucking insane. Hidden is rapping like he’s Omar with the shotty trench coat combo. Vino shows up for a third time on “Dezzy,” which sees both him and Bori going corner block preacher mode over a soulful vocal sample. “My n****s could’ve been jail birds, but we spitters” he sings. Shit feels like letting off a 100 round drum into the setting sun. My favorite hook on the album comes on the next track, “1978,” when Bori adlibs “1978, Dunny’s pops was the plug (DUNNY!)” This track bumps heavy in the whip.
Grubby gets in his Alchemist drums bag on “Murder Cook Book.” The way the beat fades in is ominous. It sounds like staking out the opp’s crib in the bushes wearing all black. More of my favorite bars on the album are on Dun Dealy’s verse here: “Got junkies that’ll shoot for me, then turn around and shoot theyselves with a needle and a leather belt. The shit I seen my customers do prolly make you wanna throw up, it’s an uncomfortable view. Had to spill one or two I guess that’s part of the sport. Bust a move for the food soon as I walk out of court. Played a fool for that plate of food.” These kinds of bars are so graphic the visual makes your stomach turn. When artists say stuff like this you can only imagine the amount of shit they’ve seen that will never make it into a song. You learn to appreciate artists like Feed The Family and more for letting fans get a glimpse into this street lifestyle that someone like me would never see. This is as raw as rapping gets. Taking pain and making dope art.
The final track “Value Art” demonstrates this raw feeling and showcases why these artists deserve our respect. “Streets left me some scars. I’ve been tested by God. I played chess in the yard. I’ve been pressing up raw, just to bless all my dogs. I suggest that we stars. I suggest that you treat us like it. Invest in the squad. We next that’s in charge. Protect us, be smart. Neglect us, you wrong. If you value the art, make a statue on dogs. This the sound of a dope boy that got sick of trappin’, decided to start rappin’.” Dope boy poetry over a sick electric guitar sample; this is the perfect track to close out this work of art. It’s the feeling of pure triumph. It’s like looking back on your life and the choices you made and knowing you chose this path for a reason; you are right where you’re supposed to be.
Just three days after “WAVY BULLET” dropped, I watched BoriRock close his set with this track at Estee Nack’s Welcome Home Summer show in Lynn. Standing next to him was Westside Gunn doing adlibs live as Bori rapped to the crowd chanting his hook. Shit was legendary. A moment in Hip-Hop for sure. I felt like I was staring the essence of Hip-Hop in the face. Artists supporting artists. It was really a dope sight to see. If you found yourself at that show then you went down the right music rabbit hole. BoriRock is next up. With his versatility, swagger, and infectious slang he is poised for the limelight. I know it, the fans know it, and Westside Gunn knows it. Hop on the hoot wave before this shit crashes and my bro Bori’s stock busts the roof off the trap. His grind cannot be stopped. He’s already released another album for the summer since “WAVY BULLET” called “Y2K,” produced by Maka Oceania that’s fire. He’s also released fire music videos for “Thanksgiving” and “Yin 2 Horny,” with a video for “Wave Affair” in the works. Be sure to buy your tickets for The Cookout 2 to see BoriRock and the rest of Feed The Family perform in the Bronx on September 2nd and subscribe for more music reviews.