Long Island emcee Roc Marciano has been lucky enough to work through three separate phases of his rap career, two more than most other artists ever receive. His current incarnation, that of a solo artist, resulted from his Fat Beats debut release, earlier in 2010, which was met with immediate critical acclaim from bloggers who were enamored with his attempt to bring New York crime stories and simple street beats (provided by Marcy himself) to the forefront. Was also held in high esteem by his peers: big names such as Q-Tip, Large Professor, and Just Blaze pledged their support to Marcy for a follow-up, entitled Marcberg Reloaded, to be released at a later date. (Depending on who you ask, Marcberg Reloaded is either an all-new project or a reissue of with higher production values: I'm thinking that it will be a combination of both.
Tracklist: 01. Rosebudd Infantry (Invasion Blend) 03. Hardest In The Game (Invasion Blend) feat. Vic Spencer 04. Boss Material (Invasion Blend) feat. The Alchemist 05. Continue reading 'Roc Marciano & The Alchemist – Rosebudd Infantry (The Marcberg Files)'.
Or possibly neither: I don't put it past any artist to fuck with their audience by releasing a death metal tribute to polka.). Critical acclaim is great and all, but Roc Marcy had to come from somewhere. Way back in the early part of the millennium, he could be found in the lineup of Busta Rhymes's crew, the Flipmode Squad, even turning in a credible guest turn alongside the likes of Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Trevor himself on the Large Professor-produced 'The Heist' (from Anarchy). However, this association was short-lived: as with every other artist in the Squad, Busta apparently became jealous of the man's skill behind the mic and quickly dropped him from the act. Or something.
Trevor's reasons for shutting down the Flipmode Squad are his own, but you would hope that he at least put some money into the respective 401ks for his employees. Anyway, Marcy quickly bounced back as a member of the rap quartet The UN, which also consisted of Dino Brave, Mike Raw, and Laku. The crew was named after their stomping grounds in Uniondale (which also birthed the Leaders Of The New School, which helps explain the Busta Rhymes connection). The crew made their debut in a fairly prominent place: on the first pressing of Pete Rock's Petestrumentals, they were the only guest artists to make an appearance, which is an astonishing feat, considering that project was mostly instrumental in nature. (Future pressings of Petestrumentals worked in more cameos from other rappers, but The UN retained their spot.) This led to their crew album, UN Or U Out, released by World Records in 2004 to critical acclaim (a constant in Marcy's career, apparently) and poor distribution: it quickly went out of print. It may be worth the effort to track it down, though, as it boasts production credits from Roc Marcy himself, along with The Alchemist, DC-based underground favorite Oddissee, Mike Raw, Large Professor, and, of course, their mentor, Pete Rock. Fat Beats tested the water earlier this year by releasing the Marcberg EP, which boasted five tracks (and their instrumentals) from what would eventually be simply called.
After six years away from the game, the EP helped introduce the man to newer hip hop heads who weren't necessarily familiar with the crime tales of the mid-1990s. Thanks to the nearly-universal acclaim, Roc Marciano, a guy who never really retired from rap in the first place (it's more like he faded away for a short time), is poised to become the comeback kid of 2010, which isn't a bad look for a guy who already burned through two separate incarnations of his career. The first song on adopts an instrumental tone that is vaguely early RZA-esque, with its soulful sample looped into infinity and beyond, growing more and more annoying with each cycle. Marcy delivers his lines with the showmanship of a lawn chair, rendering his crime tales virtually indistinguishable from the poor excuse of a “chorus” that appears sporadically. It doesn't help that our host doesn't even sound sold on the subject matter himself: that lack of confidence translates to the audience's reaction to “It's A Crime”. Not a good way to start off, kid.
At least the instrumental sounds entirely different than the one on the previous song. Marcy's flow, however, is exactly the same: this may as well be a part of the same freestyle session, except the presence of a hook, which seem to take twelve hours to finally end, disproves that theory. Some of his bars sound decent enough, with his unique attention to detail (I've never heard a rapper threaten to hide your body in a pile of leaves before), but his own lack of investment in the song itself (which is especially evident during the hook) is his worst enemy. I'm starting to question why so many bloggers take up valuable real estate on Roc Marciano's nut sack. Either by design or due to extremely poor editing, “Whateva Whateva” leads directly into this song.
Marcy sounds a little more engaged on here, but the combination of still-weakly delivered lines and the afterthought of an instrumental nails the song's coffin lid shut. I prefer artists who don't sound like they're reading from their lyric sheet while half-asleep, pausing for effect after each bar as if lying in wait of the audience's reaction. I don't remember Roc Marcy pulling this shit during his short stint in the Flipmode Squad.
Maybe maturity has dulled his edge. Although the hook is pretty stupid (it sounds like a placeholder for a real chorus to be determined at a later date), this was a step in the right direction. The beat has a slight Old West feel (with a Wu twist yet again), and Roc Marcy's monologue, consisting of direct threats against his enemies, finally manages to sound convincing. This is also the first song on to feature a guest (an uncredited one, at that), so maybe Marcy felt the need to elevate his game for the occasion.
Regardless, “We Do It” was pretty fucking good: retool the chorus, and this shit could be a banger. There's a way to incorporate the lonely plinks of a xylophone into a hip hop beat, but “Snow” doesn't quite manage it. Something about the childlike innocence of the instrumental seems to motivate Marcy, though, as he delivers his verses (and a could-have-been-worse hook) in a fully coherent state of mind. The remix could possibly bring out the best in his performance (although it's rumored to feature Heltah Skeltah's Sean Price, so it could potentially bury him in the background, as well).
The xylophone keys can remain, but there needs to be much more than a simple drum machine loop that sounds lazy as shit. Blocking out the final full minute for an interlude was also unnecessary.
Marcy tries to spit some flames over the ambient noise from the factory he works in during the day, and he manages pretty well for himself, even though his flow makes him sound like a younger Buckshot. Actually, Marcy's beat sounds like something the entire Boot Camp Clik could manhandle and turn into a hot posse cut. This was fairly interesting, and Roc sounds more excited than he has in a while: maybe the earlier tracks were rushed to meet 's street date? For those of you two wondering, no, this is not a cover of the Smiths classic.
You're as disappointed as I am, I know. The musical interlude at the very beginning was interesting enough, but it wasn't a good backdrop for any actual lyrics, so thankfully Marcy doesn't appear until the beat switches up. (It appears he's been taking notes from the playbook of his friend, Pete Rock.) Although “Thug's Prayer” ultimately sounds alright, Roc swerves into oncoming traffic early, getting too caught up in the self-critiqued cleverness of his bar structure to give a fuck that the words are not entertaining, only managing to right himself for the second and final verse. But it shouldn't have to be like that, you know? It was probably too much to ask for this song to be about Roc Marcy's father: nobody in hip hop dedicates songs to their dads, save for Common. (Sure, rappers will talk about being fathers, but that hardly counts. Apparently, every rapper ever (again, save for Common) has no real relationship with their biological father.
At least, this is what Shaquille O'Neal has taught me.) The chorus is atrocious: I'm almost tempted to give up the blog just to write hooks for rap songs, since I'm pretty sure that I could make a fucking fortune easily. But the verses themselves are pretty punchy, and the beat is actually pretty good, so as a whole, this poppy experiment works much better than its generic title would lead you to believe. The beat is more proto-Kanye West (pre- The College Dropout) than it is late 1990s boom-bap, but this isn't always a bad thing. The lyrics, however, are terrible: Marcy sounds technically proficient, but so do those jackasses on television who try to “rap” by spouting lyrics that always seem to start off with, “My name is and I'm here to say / I like Fruity Pebbles in a major way.” Roc's bars are more like random sentences strung together, some of them connecting while others are left floating in the wind. At least he put more effort into the hook for “Jungle Fever” than he has for any other track on thus far. Prior to, the last time I had heard from Roc Marciano was on that misplaced solo joint he somehow scored on the GZA's Pro Tools album. “Don Shit” proves that was an error on his part: Marcy should have attempted to align himself with either Raekwon of Ghostface Killah, as they excel in the crime tales Roc likes to tell.
His definition of “Don Shit” is questionable (I don't think of Antonio Banderas in Desperado (or Carlos Gallardo In El Mariachi) as a don, but Marcy brags about keeping “guns in the guitar case”), but this track was okay anyway. The beat was oddly compelling: after growing generally annoyed with the loud guitar licks that punctuate each bar, I found myself starting to look forward to them, so that was a weird turnaround. THE LAST WORD: I can see why the blogosphere has fallen head over heels for Roc Marciano's. It certainly sounds nothing like what most of our chosen genre has managed to vomit out in 2010. However, it isn't very good, either. Have our collective standards dropped so low that a guy who mumbles into the mic, recording muddled stream-of-consciousness rhymes over mostly unfinished instrumentals, can be seen as a savior?
Roc Marcy is definitely not the worst rapper in the world, but the majority of his performances on feel rushed and thoughtless, leaving the audience with a “what the fuck did I just waste my time listening to?”-type of feeling. Only sparks of creativity are found from our host, who could potentially have a winner on his hands if the upcoming reissue actually features A-list talent double-checking his work. I hope Marcy spits all of his bars into an actual microphone and not a discarded soup can with a string attached, as sounds to me. I liked a few of the songs, but if this is the pinnacle of Roc Marcy's career, then I won't give much of a fuck if he fades away again. It's okay to have high standards, you two: hip hop deserves better than.
Yeah, I said it. Disagree with me all you want, but there is no way this album deserves all of the accolades it's been getting. Roc Marcy can absolutely do better.
The best thing I can say about is that it was okay enough for me to care enough about the reissue, but that's not much of a compliment for the original pressing. This album was a meh.
The beats I felt were rather good and brought back feelings of 90's hip hop but ultimately it his flow that made this album 'meh'. You're right that with some guidance from Rae or Ghost they could elevate his ability to something great, but as it stands. 'meh' Also you're line, 'I'm starting to question why so many bloggers take up valuable real estate on Roc Marciano's nut sack' got me laughing pretty hard. I also have a question, would it be possible to have a reader voted review, perhaps once a month or something? I enjoy your writing (as I'm pretty sure most people here do, hence why they are here) but sometimes the long runs of unknown, or generally shitty albums, gets tiring even if the writing is enjoyable.
I know I'm not the only one who would like to see an album they recognize and see how your thoughts coincide with ours. It doesn't even have to be once a month, but just something for readers to look forward to every once and a while, so they at least know when their will be a change in the line-up.
(Though this and MC Lyte were a nice change of pace) Great review though. Anonymous First time on this site and it seems elitist bloggers have taken over HipHop. The review is just another condescending rant. The artist has an eye for detail yet his lyrics are thoughtless? Actually his lyrics are pretty carefully crafted although his delivery is monotone.
I heard the album once and figured out that he phones in his verse on Marcberg because he's locked up, which he says before the verse starts. And 'Have our collective standards dropped so low that a guy who mumbles into the mic, recording muddled stream-of-consciousness rhymes over mostly unfinished instrumentals, can be seen as a savior?'
Is pretty much defining The Rza and MF Doom, which the reviewer seems to like. At the end of the day it's all about taste, and based on the comment section, the reviewer is preaching to his own choir. But maybe you're better off with the Smiths classics after all. Anonymous man.
What can i say. Ok i been disagreeing with a lot of reviews on this blog, and its kinda interesting to see what kinda arguments are put on the scene but come on man.can't tolerate this shit no more, maybe you got fun into criticizing certified quality albums but at some point it just becomes silly, and in this case you just cannot deny in any way that marcberg is A dope ass album, and this is not even a 'blogopshere brainwashing' question, good music is good music and right here your taste heavily fucked up. PS: you act like you got that knowledge that makes your opinion the finest, but cmon man thats kinda selfish, just recognize that if everybody found it dope but not you, YOU are obviously wrong, think about that and keep on reviewin some of those new and old releases.
Anonymous Just out of curiosity Max, how many times did you listen to the album? I waited for this to drop since I heard 'Snow' and 'Raw Deal' back in early 08, so I had time to get to know his style as a solo MC (which is decidedly different than the style exhibited on 'UN or U Out') and even I found this album to be a 'grower' of sorts. Whereas some find the beats boring, I feel they're more understated to give room for the lyrics to shine. I do think they're quite good, but they're not meant to be the focal point by any means. I can understand why someone would see them as bland, but I think a more stripped down sonic approach accommodates his flow and distinct phrasing.
Just my $0.02. Anonymous This is again, just my 2 cents. But I think it's worthwhile stacking your 2 cents to get a dollar on something, ya know? As far as I see it - Max doesn't like Marcberg.
But some good points have been mentioned. I think the 'gritty' factor is a massive attraction, and IS the focal point. I only just got this album a week ago, and been playing it non stop to see what all the hype was about. Homie 'Broke' hit the nail on the head for me. Marcy's lethargic flow is his own style - you don't see people ripping on fucking wiz khalifa for his idiotic blocked nose/effortless flow.
Yeah maybe he's a stoner rapper - but maybe Roc's on that gnarly, raw hustler type flow? As for stream of consciousness type flow, you're being kinda hypocritical as anon. Look as for the beats, I wasn't incredibly impressed either, but there's something beautiful about the simplicity of them.
It's mobb deep reminiscent for me - IN MY OPINION. Just crisp kinda drums and some samples and shit - nothing fancy. Specifically speaking - snow = fucking dope. That beat is fucking RAW. How you can deny that, and insult the xylophone, when there's fuckers releasing beats that sound like an epileptic fuck smashing the snare, is beyond me. Lastly, him calling in his verse - was fucking awesome. It didn't hinder it - or the song - and that verse is fucking FIRE.
My favorite off the album to be honest. 'my apparel is that of a sparrow, fly to the marrow'. Maybe you don't even get that? I don't know. Overall, it's grown on me, yes - it's not the greatest thing I've ever heard - but Max, it really is better than 90% of the shit out these days.
I appreciate your brutality, and honesty, but really, give it a few more listens before you burn it down. Because truly dude, Gut instincts can change. Wow, you got me, Reader With No Name.
That is exactly what I was doing when I listened to Marcberg. While I was sitting in my 'fuckin mansion', I noticed that my maid hadn't polished the silver to my exact specifications, and that somehow clouded my judgment on Roc Marcy, who I've never been all that impressed with anyway (except for maybe his appearance on Busta's 'The Heist'). Had he changed my mind with this release, I would have reported as such. Instead, it is what it is. (Side note: I just discovered that Marcberg Reloaded appears to be the exact same fucking album re-released with a couple of extra tracks, so I won't be bothering with a follow-up review for TWO additional songs. I'll leave that to the readers.) I love the fact that my opinion on this one album has spurred so much debate, especially when I'm not the only guy with said opinion. Kinda wish that some of my OTHER posts could have received such a response.
Thanks for reading! Anonymous If you have a tendency to use words like 'meh' then you should already know an underground album like this aint for you fam!!
@Max I agree with what most ppl have commented that its a good honest review which is hard to do when swimming against the tide of hype. I would take you up on the assertion that the beats sound unfinished. To me they sound unpolished which is completely different. The first half of the album transports me straight back to the early 90's when samples were new, innovative and exciting and you didnt instantly know where the track was going to go. I slept on the rhymes too but when i thought about it I remembered that hip hop used to have to be deciphered by 90% of listeners outside of NY or the US. Stream of consciousness flows are all we have left to put the listener back in that position before the global domination of hip hop slang and culture and the rise of the pop music friendly fully comprehensible rapper.
I think once you are out of your comfort zone then things sound and feel edgier which is how hip hop used to sound; dangerous! I believe thats where the hype is coming from but thats just my opinion. P.s apologies for the long post.pause.no homo. etc.
Anonymous you should really give this album another chance, max. Not because i want to to recognize its 'greatness' or bullshit, but because i first had the same feelings. Then, dead bent and aggressive as hell on my way home, marcberg was comin out of my headphones. FUCK, ive never felt these emotions listening to a rap album, and ive listened to all the classics and was feeling a LOT of different stuff when hearing them.
This album just seems to be ALIVE! Now marcberg just rotates at every fitting time and it gets better and better. Less is more. I understand where Marc might sound bored or the beats aren't masterpieces, but this is a man who's repping that 90s east coast sound. He's all about hitting you with the illest schemes, street narratives, hard beats, and grimy overall sound.
Personally, his 'lazy' cadence is what sets him apart in my opinion. I'm not here to say this is a the greatest album but in 2010, for myself being a huge fan of the 90s NY sound, I found Marcberg a classic in its own right. Is it perfect, no?
But is any artist form that era still keeping it this pure as Marc? The man has a way with words, rhymes, and imagery that grabs my attention and I'm not a fan boy blogosphere character. You made it sound like this album is complete trash, which is fine, that's you opinion.
I got the EP first because of Marc's work in the UN and I had to give his solo stuff a listen. It was an easy connection for me to make. That is why so many people are in love with this LP. It's not the minor negatives, more like the fact he produced and rapped on every track. How many artists do it on both the production and rap side at such a high leve anymore. J-Dilla and Pete Rock could never rhyme like that. And Roc ain't either of them behind the boards but his rhymes are stellar to say the least.
Roc M at Rock The Bells 2011. Oh yea, they got that one right. I'll admit, when I first bought it, I thought the same thing but, for me it was like the album started too slow. It picked up pretty good in the middle for me but, when it made it to the end, when it finally got me there (meaning into the album), the album was done!!!! I listen back to The UN Marci I loved everything he did, I loved his delivery, on here it's very slow an takes a while to get it. It took me a while, so I see both views on this take.
I bought the new album, Reloaded (Deluxe Version), I think that's a great follow up, I also think it's 10 times better than Marcberg, you see the growth, and you can tell he was worked with. I recommend that album!!!! Holy fuck First I read u give Mega the boot for his classic album True Meaning and now this sorry excuse for a review!
Snow must be the best song hip hop has seen since the 90s and this album is one of the few albums I keep getting back to from the new millenium. U give good reviews to T.I.s BS pop album Paper Trail and even Stalley (OMG) gets a pas!!!?
Hip hop sure is dead around here! Some people cant smell shit if it hits them right in the face!
BTW RIP Prodigy! Peops who didnt understand your dolo shit can go fuck themselves w a sawed off shotty Stap they brains with there nose bone! All content is Copyright © 2007-2017. Hip Hop Isn't Dead.
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