Thoughts on the Relentless Moe Menace and His "Black Ninja" EP From Last Year
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Scrolling through my Soundcloud feed, it’s hard to ignore the talentless, DIY thug rappers trying to make a buck off a sound that guarantees clicks in this day and age. The tracks feature cheaply packaged trap beats and the same words recycled. It’s rare to find a real artist in Hip-Hop nowadays, but after discovering an EP called "Black Ninja" by Moe Menace, I couldn’t forget it.
Menace might not have a huge following, but he has the makings of a legend, and we look forward to seeing him grow as an artist. His instrumentals have a throwback feel to them, and they're truly instrumentals, not just some showy inundation of 808s, high hats, and snares. They make use of minimal sax, piano, and drum-lines, echoing in our ears for long after.
West coast based Moe Menace has a feel comparable to 90's rappers, his impressive bars live up to his memorable flow, which is rarer and rarer nowadays. We'd describe his vibes as aspirational, with a little dose of hood - but there's none of that ego-centric, dumbed down catchy rap like Migos or 21 Savage (though make no mistake, it's still contagious in its own right).
Menace isn’t about rapping on bling and girls with fake asses, or capitalizing on that in his videos. He reminds us what rap was like before this era. He makes us remember the real goodies like De la Soul and A Tribe Called Quest (RIP Phife). His recent "Black Ninja" EP features killer tracks that feel truly original, with socially conscious tracks like "Don't Shoot". On a less serious note, "Material Girls" is another one of our favorites. The EP is a whopping 16 tracks, which we'd normally say is too long, but each track has hefty substance, seamlessly flowing into each other, like a mix you never want to end.