By Jamil Weeks

When it comes to albums by Roc Marci, it is essential to allow enough time for the music to sink in. Roc Marci albums sound like nothing else out there. I personally cannot judge a Marci album off just one listen. Time and time again, when I hear these abstract samples and beats as I listen to his albums, I think to myself “that’s strange”. Then like clockwork, the brilliance of Roc Marci hits me like a sudden epiphany. Roc is a double threat as an emcee and producer. With a keen ear, he creates music with a sound that seems partly inspired by 70s blaxploitation movies and partly inspired by the reality of the grimy streets of New York. Part of the reason I love listening to his albums is because I am guaranteed to have a unique listening experience. Roc remains uncompromising in the sound of his album. Never does he try to cater to a mainstream audience. Instead, Roc knows who his audience is and consistently delivers music they want to hear. The obscure samples. The dusty beats. The laid-back-in-the-pocket confidence and cadence. Marciology is no exception and proves what made Roc the godfather of the modern-day underground rap scene. Roc makes music you can vibe to again and again. He is a master of coming up with sounds that are simple but with enough layers to provide the appropriate depth for his drug dealer/pimp bravado-laced tales on wax. Marciology is a solid contribution to an already stacked discography from the Pimpire poet and is proof of why Roc Marci is one of the best lyricist/producers possibly ever in hip hop.

What is impressive with this album is how Roc uses modern day flows over underground beats. The opening title track on the album is a prime example of this as Roc glides over an eerie, unsettling dusty instrumental with, at times, a slowed down Migos-like flow. On “Bebe’s Kids”, Marci effortlessly raps with a double-time southern flow over a 70s inspired loop about how he is the father to the style of a lot of today’s rappers. Roc continues to spit with this type of flow on the closing track “Floxxx” over a fast, uptempo track that sounds like the type of beat you would hear musicians jam to when performing live. Songs like this represent the growth of Roc as a lyricist and an artist. Roc was not always a master of flows and on occasion was not able to successfully pull off rapping over certain types of beats with his flow pattern. On Marciology, Roc was hitting those pockets with precision like he was a pool hall hustler in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money. Roc schools his peers how you can have contemporary inspirations while not sacrificing the integrity of your core sound. You never get the feeling Roc is trying to sound like anyone else in the game. Instead, he is showing his listeners he can flip a mainstream flow as well as the hottest rappers in the game can while still staying true to who he is an artist.

What makes Roc Marci albums so great is that they are truly his vision. Like his previous albums, Roc handles the bulk of the production himself. The songs on his albums are never grandiose or over-produced. Instead, they are the perfect complement to his vocals. This is especially true with the lead single, “Gold Crossbow”. Roc utilizes a simple piano loop with minimalistic drums as he masterfully raps “ten toes on burning coals/the burner’s close; *****s can’t touch me, I’m a germaphobe”. As a man that grew up as a big Wu-Tang fan, one cannot help but love the Rza-inspired loop over militaristic drums as Roc raps like a war veteran reminiscing about his street days when he was putting in work. Perhaps the best song on the album is the soulful “Went Diamond”, which sounds like the type of song The Delphonics would croon over as your parents conceived you back in the day. Here, Roc lets loose with a barrage of clever wordplay, metaphors, and divine flow like he was consumed with the Holy Ghost when rapping over this beat in the booth. Roc does find other producers to help hold him down with frequent collaborators, Animoss and The Alchemist, contributing two songs a piece to Marciology. Both Animoss and The Alchemist provide production that sustains the cohesive sound of the album with the throwback psychedelic, funk-laced instrumentals.

Roc keeps it in the family by working with other past collaborators with the features on the album. You cannot have a Roc Marci album without at least one feature from Knowledge the Pirate. On the conceptual “Larry Bird”, Roc and Knowledge trade bars alongside GREA8GAWD about moving kilos, referred to as “birds”. CRIMEAPPLE joins Roc on the bar-heavy, guitar-laden “Killin’ Spree” serving up a masterclass in lyricism. On the haunting, drum-less Alchemist-produced track, “Bad JuJu”, Roc recruits Larry June as he raps about his grind to the top on a euphoric song that sounds like a leftover from The Great Escape sessions. Larry June was not the only Cali rapper Roc reached out to as Jay Worthy lends his talents on the soulful “On the Run”, where Jay speaks on betrayal and disloyalty in the streets. On the woeful soul loop on the song, “Higher Self”, Roc is joined by T.F. and Flee Lord as they drop jewels on how the lessons learned in life are more valuable than material things. Each one of these features shows the chemistry Roc has with these artists as they fill in the final pieces to the intricate puzzle Roc puts together with each album release.

Roc Marci has built his career with a formula of taking creative risks in producing unique sonics to his album. Instead of deviating from that formula, he builds upon it with each release. Roc makes music for hip hop fans who love bars instead of Billboard. Roc is a master at blending superficial, extravagant imagery with down-to-earth understanding and street knowledge. Marciology is a masterpiece and one of Roc’s best albums since 2018’s Behold a Pale Horse, which I consider to be arguably Roc’s greatest album. The album may not be for everybody, but Marciology is like finding an oasis in a blazing hot desert to everyone lucky enough to have discovered Roc Marci’s music. The subject matter may be repetitive to those of us used to Roc Marci albums. However, with Roc being the gifted artist that he is, he always finds a way to make the sound of his album fresh. At the risk of bringing up a cliché, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Roc is the type of artist that always delivers high quality music that caters to his day one fans. Marciology is an early album of the year contender.The album title is perfect as Roc Marciano, himself, is the subject of study for aspiring lyricists and wordsmiths.