It’s one of those nights when you’ve got yourself some weed with your homies, and you wanna play something fly whilst smoking ‘em. Something fly that is nuttin’ but a Hip Hop/Rap tune; Retrofitted is giving us the adequate EP we would need in such situations, titled “To The Moon.”
Retrofitted is a group of six rappers from Phoenix, US, consisting of:
- Oj Stinz (singer/rapper)
- YBE (rapper)
- Big Carlo (rapper)
- Cevilian (rapper/producer)
- Pax Armani (rapper)
- Bflow (rapper)
Oj Stinz did most of the singing/R&B lines throughout the EP, and his warm, calm vocals were a clear advocate for the concept of the EP; influenced by Kanye West, 90’s & 00’s R&B.
“We each draw inspiration from different places. Born in Chicago, Big Carlo draws his inspiration from the streets of Chicago and Detroit. Pax Armani and Cevilian incorporate west coast vibes in their projects. YBE is originally from Angola and incorporates his African heritage. Bflow is influenced by his experience as a spoken word poet.” Retrofitted stated.
“To The Moon” is generally about smoking and expressing the band’s vibe by getting high.
The EP begins with a track titled “Smokin Drinkin” with Oj Stinz’s robotic-vocals close to the one Kanye did in “Stronger,” which shows the influence mentioned before. And by the title, you already know the story behind that track.
The rapper’s flows are placed perfectly and their choice of simple, less complicated vocabulary is outstanding in terms of delivering vibes to listeners. Cause nobody getting high would bother to trouble their brains. Haha!
The composition and writing of the beats and melodies throughout the EP are perfectly expressing the smooth, relaxing state when someone is high.
The crew’s distinction in terms of flow was whether they were fast-paced and in a harmonic theme, or the slow, thick ones, breaking the unity of sound and adding an exciting factor dealing with the repetition a rapper could fall into.
I believe “To The Moon” missed having a lighter signature and an inhale like the one Lil’ Wayne has been using in almost all of his tracks. It would be adequate with the concept of the EP. However, Retrofitted might have ignored that signature so that no one would say they’re mimicking other rappers.
Also, one thing the EP missed was adding a breaker to the tracks’ structure, as some tracks would imply an impression of “just another rap track.” Retrofitted might need to add that game-changer to their tracks and make them a bit more catchy.
Take a hit, or a listen to the record and tell us how “dope” is the stash.