Wednesday 7/22: 03 Greedo—"Bands In Da Basement" (Feat. Chief Keef)
Today, we share our thoughts on “Bands In Da Basement” by the Los Angeles rapper 03 Greedo, featuring Chief Keef. We’re joined by official Endless Scroll hip-hop contributor Michael Brooks.
Welcome to Endless Scroll, the brainchild of Eli Enis (he/him) and Eric Bennett (they/them). Since Feb. 2019, we’ve been a weekly podcast about music, the internet, and where those two things intersect. Now we’re, also a M-F newsletter about songs. Our format is simple: a link to a song and a short take from each of us about what we think of it. Each day of the week has a corresponding genre: Monday is indie, Tuesday is punk, Wednesday is hip-hop, Thursday is pop, and Friday is misc.
Today, we share our thoughts on “Bands In Da Basement” by the Los Angeles rapper 03 Greedo, featuring Chief Keef. We’re joined by official Endless Scroll hip-hop contributor Michael Brooks.
03 Greedo—"Bands In Da Basement" (Feat. Chief Keef)
Michael Brooks:
Los Angeles rapper 03 Greedo has been locked up since June of 2018. He’s currently serving a 20 year prison sentence for drug trafficking and possession of a firearm, but that hasn’t slowed him down one bit. It’s important to note that Greedo isn’t the only L.A. rapper currently putting out new music from behind bars; last month Drakeo the Ruler released Thank You For Using GTL, a remarkable feat considering that Drakeo recorded all of his raps for the album over the phone from jail. Greedo, on the other hand, spent his last days as a free man booking marathon sessions in the studio to ensure that his legacy would carry on, and the fact that his music still resonates with so many people is a testament to how timeless his art is.
Last year he dropped two projects, Still Summer in the Projects and Netflix & Deal, and his hot streak continues with the brooding thump of “Bands In Da Basement,” which marks his first collaboration with the Almighty Sosa himself Chief Keef. The song, sans Chief Keef, originally appeared on Ron-RonTheProducer’s 2019 EP RonRonDoThatShit, but Keef’s short verse adds just enough oomph to take the song to a whole new level. The two MC’s have an instantaneous chemistry with one another, effortlessly gliding over the woozy production with an intoxicating swagger all their own, as they boast about two of the most important things in life—getting money and avoiding the police.
Eli Enis:
03 Greedo has the type of voice that shouldn’t work as well as it does. He sings with the melodic cadence of a crooner who relies on a thick coat of auto-tune, but then he just leaves the vocal tracks raw—or when he does use an effect, it’s not there to reshape his natural vocal timbre but to accentuate it. His voice has a haggard gruffness to it, as if he only hops in the booth after he’s spent a full day yelling. But he also sings and raps with a casual confidence that suggests he never actually needs to raise his voice: once he opens his mouth, his point is made.
“Bands In Da Basement” is an exceptional showing of 03 Greedo’s ingenious melodic inclinations filtered through his sweaty, drugged-out slur. The rhyme scheme of the hook is simple and the way he delivers it is austere and pointed: “Bands in the basement, money in the mattress / Work in the walls, I got millions in my mansion,” he raps with a zoned-out sing-song. However, the way he goes up an octave during the last line of its second repetition is such a small yet effective way of worming that hook into your brain, and the way his auto-tuned harmonies slink in between the downbeats is terrific. Chief Keef is also on this song, and his verse isn’t bad by any means, but I don’t think anyone could sound as great as Greedo does on this track. He just absolutely owns it, and his work on here makes for one of the catchiest pop-rap songs I’ve heard all year.