bob's son

by R.A.P. Ferreira

Released January 1, 2021 via Ruby Yacht

Reviewed January 10, 2021

Top tracks (based on community voting)

redguard snipers (45%), rejoice (40%), bobby digital’s little wings (35%)

Released on the first day of 2021, R.A.P. Ferreira (formerly known as Milo) presents Bob’s Son as the year’s first offering of abstract jazz rap. Deeply poetic in spirit, incredibly smooth and mellow in production, Bob’s Son is more a beautiful hybrid of poetry and jazz than it is a traditional “jazz rap” record. Ferreira’s delivery is more akin to a slam poet than an MC, while his lyrical content ponders and dissects his own internal conflicts and societal conflicts—racial identity, war and global conflict, and the idea of art itself, to name a few. And in their complex nature, Ferreira’s poetic offerings often require the listener to further dissect them to be fully grasped. Sparse and barren, his laid-back instrumentals make use of soothing guitars, piano, bass, and horns in all of their jazziest glory; this hazy and hypnotic production is merely the foundation for which Ferreira’s words travel, but they are an absolutely beautiful backdrop to what is a really strong album. – Dominick (7.5/10)

2021 begins—in the literal sense, with a January 1st release date—in an abstract manner, with R.A.P. Ferreira (Milo's latest moniker) taking center stage. Prefacing the release with a secret online cafe, Bob's Son shaped up to be a special project. And it's nothing short of those aspirations, especially with Scallops Hotel, another moniker of Milo, taking charge of production. The nature of R.A.P. Ferreira's being drips with abstraction and packs a wit that comes off as uncaring and facetious at times, although you can tell things run much deeper. Beyond a point of understanding, it is rooted in life's ebb and flow. Compared to Purple Moonlight Pages, Bob's Son is less direct and a bit more reserved, at least on the surface. The gold is there, it's just layered beneath a dimly lit, smoked out cafe concept—a fitting setting. – Peter (7.5/10)

Milo returns in 2021 by way of two of his more adored aliases, R.A.P. Ferreira and Scallops Hotel. Bob's Son explores the lineage from the classical art form of poetry down to the modern art form of rapping with a fair helping of humor and left-field art rap ideals. Silly labyrinths of words spin out of these characters and cleverly dance in between sparse lo-fi, jazz rap beats that make for an undeniably unique listen. However, this approach occasionally drifts into aloof, off-topic riffing that lessens the punctuality of the album’s goal. Nonetheless, while well along in his career, Milo still comes across as a one-of-one in his field. – Enth (6/10)

Cam: 8.8/10 | Peter: 7.5/10 | Dominick: 7.5/10 | Alan: 7/10 | DeVán: 7/10