Mixtape Review-Finesse The World by Retchy P

by Dan-O

The easy way to say it is that hip hop needs villains but the statement is incomplete. Hip hop is one of the few genres not just able to readily produce villains but to create albums and mixtapes that speak from the perspective of the villain. In rap the protagonist doesn’t have to be the good guy. The Beatles couldn’t do that.

Retchy P has no compunction about this. It isn’t an act. When A$AP Yams died he took to twitter and didn’t just say he wished it was Wale instead, he tagged him on it. Who does that? Before that he wished it was Flo Rida or Roscoe Dash and added that he was just “thinking out loud.” On Finesse The World P embraces his most unlikeable characteristics, becoming Ice Cube bothering the cute suburban couple at the beginning of Natural Born Killaz. On the first song he negatively namechecks away playing the “this ain’t_” game w/ One Direction, B.O.B, Ariana Grande, Macklemore, and on and on; he says the names with such utter repulsion that it sets the table for a very disturbing listen.

Sometimes it’s disturbing because the beat is pulled from the soundtrack of the few seconds when murder happens in a Hitchcock film (Idk What 2 Tell U) other times the hostility in his voice feels like it’s been saved just for you (Violence). The sex referenced never seems enjoyable just necessary. The drug dealing and violence are the only things that get Retchy P excited. Sure it’s a dark dank perspective that can be analyzed from a ton of different angles as offensive and horrible but that’s exactly what makes it so unique.

The best production award goes to Thelonious Martin who does Dirty Ginger Ale and the mixtapes best song Bad Luck. On Dirty Ginger Ale Martin pulls P out of his minimalist landscape and adds some fuzzy guitars/beat switching that really pushes him. Bad Luck is the power of evil wind chimes and bass drops and P is at his most gloriously hedonistic.

As great as Finesse The World’s highest moments are, it is still an incredibly insular universe. Everyone else around him has so little value that after only twelve tracks we don’t seem to have any more ground to cover. Why talk about women? Retchy P cares nothing of women! Why talk about other rappers, even the ones he likes (Mac Miller) he compares negatively to himself. Other people seem to just be in his way.

After he tagged Wale and wished him death, Wale’s first reaction was to confirm this was indeed his intention (I can understand being thrown off by this situation) but after that Wale responded.

@RetchyP yeah and Id swap U out for a hunnit good men I lost. U wish death on people.. U a different kind of nigga . Enjoy your evening

— Wale Folarin (@Wale) January 24, 2015

Wale’s perspective encapsulates a lot more developed thought process. He’s basically saying DUDE YOUR NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS LOST PEOPLE, WE ALL LOSE PEOPLE, HOW IS THIS HOW YOU DEAL WITH IT? Retchy P does have genuine emotions and chooses to guard them while presenting an impregnable wall but things are way more interesting when you can be the tough guy with no wall. That was Beanie Sigel’s best stuff, Scarface’s best stuff, Styles P, etc. I hope by the next project he’s cracked through to the other side of himself.

stream or download Finesse The World below:

http://www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/34962/retch-finesse-the-world.html