Spose Saturday; My Five Favorite Songs From Get Rich Or Die Ryan
My favorite album of 2021 is due for this.
Get Rich or Die Ryan released in the second half of 2021, but was still my most played album of the year because it has twenty seven bangers on it. Well today, I’ll be doing the near impossible task of picking my five favorite songs from the album.
Honorable Mention: Hey Big Guy, Self Help!
5. World War Blues by Spose
Spose writes an antiwar jam that features his band the Humans. The rhythm of upbeat and fast paced drums with great guitar play from Dave Gutter and KGFREEZE create and intense song. The lyrics come at you fast and are initially tough to catch, but after a few listens, you can grasp the overall message of the song.
“Draped in a flag, comin' back to town, But it's the next man up so throw your hands up”. Spose details the “next man up” approach of the military in war times. The greatest example of this was storming the beaches of Normandy in World War Two when eighteen and nineteen year old soldiers were picked off coming off the U-Boats.
He also makes the point about the U.S. in countries where children take shrapnel, no pun intended, due to war. “Bomb a little kid out his handlebars, For democracy, we don't stop the beat”. It’s a great song that shows the versatility of the Humans and Spose. It’s not punk rock like Self Help! or Alien, but it’s not slow, it’s right between and would fall in the rock category.
4. Here We Go Again by Spose and Matt Giard
Here We Go Again has the melodic slow tempo at the beginning that reminds me of great pump up songs like Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes. “It's like my body go zombie when I go salami, here we go again, I know they doubted me now and they counted me out, well I counted me in”. When I hear that opening line with the drum I get FIRED UP.
Matt Giard drops a great chorus when the beat drops with “Oh, oh, oh, better get your tickets, Are you ready for more? You thought you'd saw the last of me, No, hell no, Hell no, hell no”. This is a song about coming back. Maybe you thought that you’d seen the last of a person or an artist, but their back better than ever.
I just love the up and down rhythm of the song how it builds up for for the chorus then comes back down at the start of a new verse and then will build right back up to Matt Giard on the chorus.
3. Shining by Spose
The day that Get Rich or Die Ryan released, I was pretty down on Shining. I didn’t understand why it was so long and initially wasn’t a fan of the guitar riffs from KGFREEZE, but after hearing it live in Cambridge, I found a new love and respect for it. It’s actually a beautiful song.
Spose makes a gem with a phenomenal meaning about no matter what you’re going through, you should persevere and try to shine. Over time the long guitar solos from KGFREEZE and Dave Gutter grew on me and made me better appreciate why they’re a part of the song. It’s truly a masterpiece and the best rock song that Spose has made.
2. Metal Band by Spose and Jarv
Metal Band is sick. It’s lyrical gold when Vermont based rapper Jarv and the King of Maine collaborate. Some lines from Spose are straight up bonkers. “And make the sound guy stop watchin' porn on his phone, Hey! Welcome to the shit show, one little hiccup, Give us all your money, put 'em up, it's a stick-up”.
A key reason I found Metal Band so enjoyable was the sound drops incorporated. Spose used many audio clips as intros and outros, but saved the best for Metal Band. The song opens with a low voice saying “So dark, so ominous, So scary, in a way, um..., But so absolutely beautiful”. The outro is an older guy talking about a band his brother listens to. “666 or whatever, I was like, "Oh, wow, that's cool", I was like, "What is that?", And he goes, "Oh, it's this band, My-my older brother listens to 'em—”.
Spose has bars, but Jarv murders this track. He spits verses like “Ladies and gentlemen, I mean bitches and germs, I got this mic in my clutches and until this is adjourned” and, What's up? How you doin', beautiful? 'bout a medium, I could ease your pain if you consider buyin' my CD, hun, I will be the one to make you feel empowered and proud of it”.
This song feels like a true freestyle from this duo and I would kill to hear them on another track together. It’s got an insane flow and fits the hip hop side of Get Rich or Die Ryan like a glove.
1. Close To Me by Spose and Jeff Beam
Much like Shining, I wasn’t a huge fan of Close To Me. I would say the difference was I didn’t really listen to Close To Me and I actually was turned to it after PDANK XMAS 7 when Spose and Jeff Beam performed it together. From that day forward it was my favorite song from the album.
It has one of my favorite intro audio clips on the whole album because segues the outro from Roll the Windows Up, “I learned last year the most important thing, and that is like, you know, the only love that's reciprocal is love of self. You really have to like yourself”, into the intro of “That's the thing, and that's only thing, You can't rely on other people, that's wack, that's so wack, To be like, "Please fill in these holes in me, That, like, I don't think I'm strong enough", Like, that's wack”. It’s a ridiculously perfect transition.
The lyrics of the song really make you wonder what Spose is singing about, and even after reading over them a few times, I’m still trying to figure it out. “In the exterior of a bearded man, With a young boy trapped inside him, Within the porcelain armor of a Russian doll, All the screams were muffled to silence”. I do speculate it’s about someone being stuck in a body that they’re not comfortable in, but I can’t be certain.
Jeff Beams voice on the chorus is so pretty, especially when you hear it live. “Journey close to me (Close to me), I can finally be free, From all of this outside noise, It's drownin' out my inside voice (Close to me)”.
This songs relistenability is through the roof and I get that feeling like I’m listening to it for the first time when I listen to it for the sixtieth time. Close to Me is a hit that is by far my favorite song from the album. Spose really saved the best for last.