Album Review: Hip-Hop Meets Caribbean on R. City's Infectious Debut "What Dreams Are Made Of"
/"What Dreams Are Made Of" album cover (RCA Records).
R. City has topped the charts recently with their hit “Locked Away” featuring Maroon 5-singer Adam Levine. The rappers include the hit on their new album, What Dreams Are Made Of, which was released October 9th on Kemosabe/RCA Records. The duo began as writers, creating hits such as Rihanna’s “Pour it Up’ and Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop,” and have now transitioned into full fledged artists. R. City raps with a Bob Marley reggae sound twist. The rest of their album strays from the pop sound of “Locked Away” and connects to the rap essence of R. City with a few notable features such as Akon. Akon shares a sound similar to R. City in the fact that both use smoothness to their advantage as apposed to straight up raw rap lyrics.
Their song, “Live by the Gun,” is one of the more intense songs on the album. Akon begins with the foreboding lyrics, “You live by the gun, die by the gun.” The lyrics explain the conditions of the ghetto and slums where rappers like Akon and R. City grew up. There’s a catchy backbeat incorporated into verses about different people and their unfortunate stories of growing up in the ghetto. After the repetitive phrase, “You live by the gun, die by the gun,” Akon adds, “You kinda had that coming.” Originally, a listener gets the typical street vibe from the rap. However, Akon and R. City create a sharp twist by criticizing the lifestyle. As rappers who grew up in similar circumstances, it comes as a notable shock. They explain that death is the result of a street lifestyle instead of commending its intensity, as many rappers seem to do. “Live by the Gun” is almost a plea for social change in these parts of cities where atrocities such as youth deaths occur due to drug trafficking and unnecessary violence. It is important to recognize the significance when rappers create a social critique from an area in which they are familiar.
R. City’s hype and ego song off the album is certainly “Broadway.” Much like Drake’s raps encouraging his success and career, R. City brags about their development as rappers in comparison to where they started. They sing, “We’re broad, we’re broad, we’re broader than Broadway.” One of their verses states, “Never let my people down, them non believers, they believe us now. I'm just a common nig-- with a dream who's standing tall enough for y'all to see.” R. City also reflects on their past including the humble lifestyle of their past jobs. “Broadway” is an incredible contrast to “Live by the Gun” as it demonstrates R. City’s successful escape from lives of gangsters. It explains perseverance and determination in order to conquer one’s goals no matter the level of impossibility. This is definitely R. City’s self-declaration song; pop music’s current comparable version is Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song” currently on the charts.
R. City’s What Dreams Are Made Of is exploding off of their recent success with “Locked Away.” However, that hit with Levine is not the limit of R. City’s ability. In theme with the title, What Dreams Are Made Of, R. City certainly seems to be living their dreams with hopes of climbing higher. Hip-hop and rap fans can expect to see more of R. City hits and less of behind-the-scenes work as previously demonstrated.