The Ones: Tee Grizzley’s “Red Light”
With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.
Tee Grizzley - “Red Light”
Entering the last decade, few rap beatmakers seemed to have more promising trajectories than Hit-Boy. Starting this one, it seems unlikely he’ll ever become rap’s next great superproducer, but he has quietly established himself as a go-to guy for rappers and pop stars alike. He had a hand in deep cuts for SOB x RBE, Rihanna, and the late Juice WRLD, in addition to being on the team that created Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode.” No two of Hit-Boy’s beats sound the same and he’s best when he’s pushing in new directions.
He’s got more than a few tricks left up his sleeves, as Tee Grizzley’s “Red Light” proves. The song buzzes, rattles, and booms, with Grizzley storming forward and picking up steam through each bar. Hit-Boy’s producer tag demands that the rapper “gotta go berzerk” and he does just that. The production, which sounds a bit like a set of power tools obliterating things, would mow down a more noncommittal rapper, but Grizzley doesn’t know how to perform half-speed. “Uncle smoking crack, granny alcoholic/I got rich, and cleaned them up, yeah now we poppin’/They respect me in my hood so they acknowledge/I ain’t plain jane-in’ shit, I ain’t modest,” he barks. Like the best Detroit rappers, the wallop of Grizzley’s raps is felt most forcefully when he has a beat that energizes him, and on “Red Light,” Hit-Boy is the battery on his back.
Check out previous Ones, and listen to new rap from Tee Grizzley and more on our Spotify playlist, Apple Music playlist, and SoundCloud playlist.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
