WELCOME TO KHAOS EP is a 2018 collaboration project by Baltimore rapper Rahkai and Baltimore producer Tay Shakir that highlights the dark reality and mythos of the infamous city.
I did not know what to expect from this project, but what I received was an eloquent storytelling of a lifestyle all too familiar, layered with solutions and hopeful messages ready to invoke the listener for something better in their community, regardless of their residence in Baltimore City or not.
1.) Welcome to Khaos:
“They didn’t explain why we’re impoverished.”-Rahkir
Giving his explanation of the Baltimore condition the best way that he knows how, Baltimore rapper Rahkai starts off the EP with little hesitation shortly after the instrumental commences. The youth can clearly be heard in the Baltimore emcee’s voice, but this does not balk the wisdom of his experiences being omnipresent with each bar. For example, instead of doing surface-level bar analysis, Rahkir starts off the project by delving into an emphatic sociological analysis of why Baltimoreans invoke their savagery the way that they do. The line by Rahkir “You don’t know if niggas tryna get you, or they really need help” prompts a much more layered dialogue than a line such as “Baltimore is just a fucked-up place man.”
2.) KRATOS:
“I can smell the fruit, coming from a city where it’s hard to produce.” -Rahkir
The duo did not miss the chance with the intro to incorporate the letter “K” with the title track to be parallel with the sound in their respective artist names, and they also did not miss the alley-oop in titling the second track “Kratos”. Kratos is also the God of War, whom Rahkir attempts (and successfully does) in representing with his verses while still managing to wax poetic. He exudes this machismo aura not to just simply flex, but to elucidate how easy it is for any Baltimore Black man to turn into a merciless Kratos at any given moment given the conditions that make a lot of us this way.
3.) SWITCHIN’ LANES:
“Separate me from the young buls, I’m a Matador, grip the horns.” -Rahkir
Both my favorite track on the project and a track true to its title, “Switchin’ Lanes” is a great chance of pace and energy from the grim realism of the first two tracks. The introduction, sample, instrumental switch and crossover potential made the track a collection of undeniable flames. Frankly put, Tay Shakir came to do what the hell he came TO DO on the production of the track. Rahkir was allowed to tap more into his more breezy flow for a track you can cruise to with, coupled with some G-funk-esque hard lyrics that flowed seamlessly with the good mood such as the line “X’ed you out and your homie asked ‘Why?’ like a Chromosome”
4.) STUCK (Enfin):
“He went to church everyday, he got what he prayed for.” -Rahkir
Tay Shakir proved his versatility on the production of the project by delivering a lo-fi, solemn style of an instrumental. With Rahkir’s vocals certifying the fact, by this time in the project one could come to the conclusion that this is Baltimore’s version of 1999 by Joey Bada$$. The depressing but poignant sense of Baltimore existentialism is felt with Rahkir’s “Streets don’t love you, but you stuck to the game.” When you think Tay Shakir steals the show with his producing, on comes Trai Blessed magnificently murking his feature that woke people up. He was a smart choice aan anchoring feature, as he slammed dunked his feature with his couple of bars alone:
“Being poverty stricken, in the showers, dirt would pile up,
Ran out of toothpaste, we couldn’t keep our smiles up/
Sleeping on apartment floors fucked my whole spine up/
Taught to be in the cycle since 9, it fucked my mind up.” -Trai Blessed
This isn’t a Jay-Z album, but this track does indeed leave me with the question: “What More Can I Say?”
5.) BIAFG (Baltimore Is a Fucking Ghetto):
“I hope you don’t put this on tape.”
The track started off with a poignant quote speaking about Baltimore’s condition being the way it is. The reason this sample stuck out is that it sounded like a well-established middle-class white man commentating on the city’s situation with alarming accuracy. “I hope you don’t put this on tape,” he said with a laugh, showing that even white people are cognizant of the horrid conditions in Baltimore City and still refuse to do anything en masse as much as they patronize the conditions. The song emits Tupac vibes with a flow jiggier than Track 3 on Will Smith’s Big Willie Style album(now that’s one for the Googlers). Rahkai again shows his range by not only describing the sociological factors of the city that contribute to the academic lethargicness of Baltimore City’s students but much-needed progressive and motivating words to the Baltimore youth.
6.) KEEP IT PUSHING:
“The way we live is sinister, don’t cry to the minister/
In the church schemin’ you can’t hide from them demons.”
There are a couple of ways to address reality: to critique it for the inherent problems it currently exhibits, or to move forward. This is what the Baltimore duo addresses with the entire tape, especially with this ending song. Getting straight to the rap to end the tape with a flair of clever similes and metaphors, the ending track affirms Rahkai and Tay Shakir as young stars and knowledgeable agents of working towards their city’s future.
You are more than the product of your environment.
Stream the project below.
hyperurl.co/y88ab5
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