How has this collaboration not already happened? Rap-weirdo RiFF RAFF has thrived on booming, minimalist beats and over the past few years no one's done trunk-rattling minimalism quite like ratchet-music producer DJ Mustard. On should've been summer-anthem "Burn Rubber" Gameboy bloops were reconstituted as the backbone of a serpentine track. And lurking just beyond the shadowy menace of the song, there was goofball glee caught up in the infectiousness of it all.
Circa 2013 there's no more viable a candidate for the title of goofball menace than Houston-native RiFF RAFF. Almost every utterance from the man also known as JODY HiGHROLLER tows the line between yuk-yuk comedy and madcap villainy. In many ways he's the rap game's Joker, and if you don't take him seriously, he's the one getting the last laugh. "How to Be the Man" (from the supposedly forthcoming Neon Icon) is chock-full of chuckles. Tiptoeing across a squeaking futuristic swing-set (provided by Mustard), RiFF RAFF prattles about swirling cups of Pink Panther and kicking back in Versace wife-beaters. Like a rickety old-playground, he's absolutely unstable. In his manic worldview, catching matinees with Barry Sanders is probable because "my whole life's a weekend". On those never-ending Saturdays, he assumes the role of Mary Poppins and envisions himself as the "white Danny Glover" or "white Eddie Murphy" depending on his outlook. If none of it seems to make sense or you'd rather pass, it's fine. As the man himself says "I don't need acceptance".
Neon Icon is tentatively slated for a 2014 release through Diplo's Mad Decent label.
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