Roland Ryan feat Aj Bray - 99’ Yankees (Single)
I have to be honest; I had Roland Ryan confused with someone else; I love the alliteration in his name, by the way, & the fact that it's two first names. I just think that's brilliant, but anyway, I thought he & Bray had done something in the past, but no, this is their first collab & then I snapped to who it was. His last single with Banco Ray, titled "Palm Trees," was a beautiful hint at what was to come from the upcoming lyricist. His pen & flow are some of the crispest you'll ever come across; he is too smooth with it, the production on this is still meditative, but it's a lot more hard-hitting than the previous.
This record is smooth but in its own way as opposed to its predecessor, but both are still music to ride to and vibe along with though on "99' Yankees", they come up to bat to play a straight one with their competition. It's like Bray already came through swinging, hit as many homers as he could & is just sitting back, watching the recap of how he just annihilated to opposing team. He's bragging about it to cause why not? It's nothing for him to break you down with ease, nice to hear Bray in a different pocket. He continues to flex his versatility & push the pen in his mind, continuously letting you know just how calm a killer lyricist he is.
With only two tracks out, Roland manages to impress me with his lyricism; he's a vicious wordsmith. You can't possibly tell me you don't hear all those syllables in this verse but not only that, what he's saying is some real shit. It's something that's true to him & who he is; he doesn't gotta fake the funk like the others, bringing out the best in Bray & just the two of these on a record. It's a sight to see, man & I hope he continues to drop more records with other great artists with who he so far has effortlessly stood toe to toe; that's two baseballs knocked out the park thus far!