Album Review: Rosebudd's Revenge by Roc Marciano

Since issuing his solo debut -- 2010's sublime Marcberg -- Hempstead, L. I. rapper and one-time Flipmode Squad soldier Roc Marciano has become something of an unofficial spiritual godfather to a steadily-evolving niche sub-strand of underground New York Hip Hop.

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In professional terms, Roc Marciano comes from nowhere. This website's review for his staggering 2010 debut, Marcberg, refers to him as "a rapper associated with Busta Rhymes' Flipmode Squad," a descriptor that was barely reductive at the time. Roc Marciano the person--that would be the 39-year-old Rakeem Calief Myer--comes from Ed Koch's New York, a place that informs his work by way of syntax, slang, and a catalog of grainy samples that sound like they were lifted out of rainwater.

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There's something to be said for both consistency and careful craftsmanship. One-time Flipmode Squad member Roc Marciano's fourth studio album, Rosebudd's Revenge, a followup to 2013's Marci Beaucoup, is a well-crafted piece of NYC hip-hop that delivers a lot of elements that have tickled his fan base pink over the past seven (solo) years. As a cohesive listen, it's just as subtly bright and beautiful at times as it is dark at others -- and it's grittier than a used coffee filter. Lyrically, Roc is as strong as ever; he drops a hefty helping of street-isms that don't venture too far outside the lane he's been speeding down thus far.

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