Ransom - Memento
"I went to prison, told my kids I went off to some college."
Album: Director's Cut Scene One EP
Genre: Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop, Gangster Rap
Album Release: March 9th 2020
Length: 2:23
Producer: Nicholas Craven
Vocalist: Ransom [age 40]
Label: Momentum Entertainment
Official Audio
Charts, Streams & Sales
Spotify: Over 150 thousand
YouTube Music: Over 10 thousand
Credits
Details
- 'Memento' has a frantic, crazed sounding beat that makes the listener feel like they're inside the mind of a maniac. It's driving and cinematic, featuring tense strings that sound like they could snap at any moment. The rapping imparts street knowledge in a logical, common sense way that can't be argued with 'I tried to be a fan, but these people you looking up to, of course they'll be looking down at you' and 'forget your inhibitions, no virgins live in this whore house', which is a strangely Christian idea.
'Memento' works well, but it's too short. The problem with the 'Director's Cut' series is that the tracks end when you're just getting into it. One school of thought is to leave the audience wanting more because then they'll be willing to pay to see you again. If the audience has had enough they might not buy your next album or a ticket for your show. There is some sense in ending tracks early, but it can also feel lazy. Realistically, I can't complain because the series was 20 solid songs which came out in the same year.
Since the advent of streaming artists have been incentivised to make many short tracks because they get paid per stream. Whether a song lasts 30 seconds or six minutes, the artist will only gets paid for one stream, so they producer shorter songs in order to maximise revenue. It doesn't work for me as a listener, but I'll make an exception in the case of 'The Diretor's Cut', because each project feels like a fully realised, coherent piece of work in its own right.
- Ransom has a flow which rhymes multi-syllables at the end and the beginning of the line'broken loner, hustler with the coke aromaWhen you think the line's done it hits you again. 'Coke aroma' should end the line, for example, but he carries on with "no diploma" in a way that at first catches you by surprise but then creates a staccato rhythm that instead of weaving through the beat, like some rappers do, abrasively hits against it which compliments the hard, street-life lyrical content.
no diploma, robbed a corner store, almost smoked the owner'
Artwork
