TROY and Fan Ran link up for a joint that’s less a track and more a cipher carved in concrete—an underground testament to Richmond’s hip-hop lineage, equal parts street sermon and boom-bap baptism. The energy is straight off a dubbed Maxell cassette, that golden-era grit where the drums snap like corner store gossip and the bassline hums like an old Cutlass idling on Broad Street. This ain’t nostalgia—it’s muscle memory.
Visually, the Teon Productions-shot, Troy-directed video leans into a ‘90s aesthetic that’s more than just a stylistic flex—it’s a philosophy. The grain, the pacing, the choice of locales, all of it speaks to an era when hip-hop visuals weren’t about excess, but about essence. North Ave Deli, a spot that’s fed both stomachs and stories for generations, serves as a waypoint before the journey heads deep into the other side of the Richmond tracks, where the city’s soul breathes through every cracked sidewalk and late-night bodega light. This is a Richmond through the eyes of those who live it, not those who just Google it.
And then there’s Fan Ran—an architect of Richmond’s underground, the kind of artist who doesn’t just rep a sound but curates a lineage. As a cornerstone of the Gritty City collective, he’s been keeping the cipher sacred, ensuring that lyricism stays layered, beats stay raw, and hip-hop in Richmond never loses its teeth. He and TROY don’t just reference the ‘90s—this is continuation, evolution, the same cypher circle widened for the next generation.
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A writer that’s been around the block. Hit me up at samuel@rvamag.com.
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