SpaceGhostPurrp - Mysterious Phonk: Chronicles Of SpaceGhostPurrp

You could be excused for assuming SpaceGhostPurrp hailed from Houston or another pillar stone of the Southern rap scene. Even if one sidesteps his ‘Sizzurp’ inspired name, his musical influences read like a checklist of the godfathers of purple drank soaked southern rap: Three 6 Mafia, UGK, DJ Paul, DJ Screw. However on listening you can only hear glimpses of the syrupy production and chopped and screwed pace which were the signature of the south and the late great DJ Screw.

SpaceGhostPurrp calls Miami, Florida home, and is a member of the now infamous ‘RVIDERS CLVN’, a Florida based hip hop crew of which SGP now finds himself at the head. But unlike other rappers that are closely affiliated with a crew you won’t find any cameos on this album. SGP’s is the only voice and all the beats are his too. This isolation as an artist is echoed by the sound of the production and the lyrics, which follow an unmistakable theme of ‘me against the world’. On the album's first track, 'Mystikal Maze', he drawls "I hate this fucking world/ Y'all can suck my dick" and  “I always try to smile but the world is fake, the world is a house with a yard full of snakes’. The lyrics aren’t quite as one dimensional as this opener suggests but the recurring themes of trust and paranoia, and within them women and sex, certainly define the albums lyrics.

Almost all of the material on Mysterious Phonk: The Chronicles of SpaceGhostPurrp has been previously released elsewhere, and what really sets it apart on the album is the huge step up in quality of production. SGP is now on 4AD alongside distinguished label mates The National, Grimes and Bon Iver and it comes as no surprise that the quality of sound is hugely improved. What this means for the listener is that we get to hear the intricacies of Purpp’s sinister and claustrophobic beats better than ever before. The album’s production is really where its strength lies; as a whole it is deeply cohesive and the further you delve into it, the more you find yourself hypnotized, a feeling that only increases with repeated listening.

Many are going to find it hard not to compare this album to the work of A$AP Rocky, not because it bears any resemblance in sound or content, but because we have become used to seeing SGP and A$AP’s names next to each other in sentences. SGP produced and rhymed on the excellent ‘Keep it G’ on A$AP’s’ LiveLoveA$AP mixtape but as artists they could not be more different. SGP lacks Rocky’s swagger, charm and wit as a lyricist, and at first this comes across as an area where the album really falls short. But listen to Mysterious Phonk again and again and you will find that SGP’s hypnotic flow becomes part of the production itself, which further adds to the dark woozy atmosphere of the album.

Mysterious Phonk won’t not be the best hip hop album released this summer but SpaceGhostPurrp’s unique sound certainly has secured him a sure place on the hip hop landscape. It’s especially impressive that at just 21 Purpp has already created his own signature sound. Much like his hero Juicy J before him, who carved out a niche with his horror movie beats for Three 6 Mafia, SpaceGhostPurrp will be laying down his eerie atmospheric lo-fi beats for a long time to come.