The duo seamlessly merges their contrasting styles on their new EP, an assured slice of underground rap.
New York rapper Your Old Droog and Atlanta rapper/producer Tha God Fahim have a professional relationship that stretches at least as far back as “Saga City,” a track on Fahim’s 2017 project IRON MONKEY. Over the last four years, they’ve developed a substantial rapport, both reveling in the art of storytelling. While Fahim trades in brass-tacks metaphors, Droog leans more toward punchlines and pop culture-laden double-entendre. Like any effective duo, their contrasting styles dovetail seamlessly on their new EP Tha Wolf on Wall St.
The entire project is an assured slice of underground rap, but the pair’s compatibility shines brightest on the title track. Over a soothing lounge jazz loop, Fahim’s bars land with a deceptively blunt force, considering his nasal tone (“Stepping over devils, they bite like anaconda/Tryna pull drama, you bleeding with mad trauma”). Meanwhile, Droog’s leisurely delivery masks weighty rhyme schemes (“Gordon Gekko in some Jordan retros/‘side the lobby of the five-star telly pouring Prosecco”). Fahim and Droog move back and forth like co-stars on a long-running cable drama, and the former’s production provides a more serene mirror reflection. Fahim laces each of the EP’s eight tracks with sedate loops, splitting the difference between his and Droog’s clashing styles. The horn refrain at the foreground of opener “All Bidness” creates unique pockets, which the duo uses to their advantage. “Meditation” and “Value” settle into soulful rhythms, allowing the raps to chew the scenery. Fahim’s ear behind the boards is as direct as his bars.
There are moments across the project where the duo is as invested in their respective communities as they are in their own wallets. Take “The Poverty Bothers Me,” where Fahim, Droog, and New Jersey rapper (and mentor) Mach-Hommy construct a panoramic view of impoverished communities ignored by the rich, dotted with children hooked on drugs and undercover cops in Yankee fitteds. All three of their perspectives add flavor and heart to a common issue without condescending.
Fiscal intelligence aside, Fahim and Droog just sound dope as hell rapping together. They’ve taken congruent paths to success, appealing to a consumer base eager to buy the brand of polished street rap they’re selling. On “Meditation,” Droog celebrates his wins while directly addressing the chip on his shoulder about entering the rap game on a Nas comparison nearly seven years ago: “Make them wish that they embraced me when they could/All they really had to do was just say ‘he was good’/Maybe then I would relax; now I’m permanently on attack.” Outside of more deeply personal projects like Jewelry or last year’s revelatory Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition—both of which Fahim played a key role in creating—Droog’s verse on “Meditation” stands as one of the most heartfelt of his career. Though, as a whole, the EP lacks the sweeping personal ethos of Dump YOD, it still works as proof that Fahim and Droog’s creative partnership isn’t a fluke.
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