Floss

Injury Reserve

To put it simply, what Injury Reserve managed to do with Floss was create a truly well rounded hip-hop record. The record exudes versatility from just about every aspect of the music. Ritchie with a T and Stepa J. Groggs' vocals can range anywhere between overly aggressive hollers, abundantly confident coolness, and demure vulnerability. Subject matter wise the duo can be needlessly antagonistic, hilariously absurd, introspective, and political. There's even a delectable spread in Parker Corey's production; delivering everything from hardcore hip-hop bangers, classy jazz instrumentals, goofy and eccentric pop rap beats, and fire starting club with hints of digital hardcore. This much diversity might give the impression that Floss is a mess with no direction, but upon listening to it, you will find this album to be a dynamic and exhilarating journey.

Floss gets off to a very aggressive start with Oh Shit!!!. It begins with an ominous piano sample that quickly devolves into glitchy chaos. Add in Ritchie's gruff voice and you pretty much have the rap equivalent of a 'jump the fuck up riff.' "This ain't jazz rap, this that s**z rap, this that raised by the internet ain't had no dad rap," is a fairly apt description. After three tumultuous minutes, the song takes an unexpected turn for the outro. The beat goes into a lumbering quarter time and Ritchie gets his '808s and heartbreaks' on. All This Money has an equally aggressive hook but the track has a much larger sense of humour. Ritchie and Groggs string together bars about frivolous spending, bad habits, and rap video clichés (which if you watched the Oh Shit!!! video reveals a little meta analysis) in a pretty comical, self-mocking fashion. The group fit one more banger into the first half of the record with What's Goodie, a bass heavy, off-kilter club banger that features fiery verses from both Ritchie and special guest, Cakes da Killa.

Getting in to the second half, we have two of Floss's more subdued tracks. The brief 2016 Interlude is a venue for Ritchie to air out some social and political grievances in a witty and humourous way. Ritchie sounds so exhausted as he questions why we continue to have harmful drug laws, not make progress concerning the climate crisis, make a big fuss about transgender people, and blatantly display racist imagery (among other things). Sadly in 2022, this song is still just as relevant. All Quiet On the West Side trudges along with slow motion, low contrast instrumentation, and just when you think you're about to be lulled to sleep, Ritchie busts through in technicolor with an impassioned appeal for unity, grace, and compassion delivered with an impeccable, rapid fire flow.

Grogg's most vulnerable moment comes on Keep On Slippin' in which he details his struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse. It's quite heart wrenching to hear him recognize the destructive nature of his lifestyle, to not only himself, but to his young family. It would be a wonderfully heartfelt and poetic moment if it weren't for Vic Mensa's verse that follows. With tasteless references to Erykah Badu, and weak similes involving The Exorcist and Will Smith rom coms, Vic Mensa effectively creates Floss's only glaring stain. Thankfully, the album ends on a very positive, self-reflective moment where both Ritchie and Groggs look back on their respective journeys up until that point as well as fitting in touching tributes to family. Corey's use of the gospel sample sets a very fitting vibe, but the way he flips it is quite unique. It possesses that futuristic bounce that is very indicative of Injury Reserve's forward thinking style.

Revisiting this record again was a treat. I was reminded of the expansive talents that each member of this group has. I'm impressed with how conscious the band was to stick out, be different, build something new, yet still craft a record that is incredibly catchy. I was reminded what a great loss the death of Stepa J. Groggs was given that he had such an amazing voice, the confidence and charisma of a rap superstar, and was not afraid to open his heart and bare his soul. We need that openness and vulnerability now more than ever as we are advocating to redefine what masculinity and emotional strength means in society presently. For these reasons, and many more I've probably failed to mention, Floss is a truly special record.