Injury Reserve’s New Album Is Beyond What You Think Rap Can Be
The new release from the rap outsiders pushes past genre entirely.
Stepa J. Groggs died on June 29th, 2020. He was only 32 years old, and left behind family and friends that he loved dearly. And Injury Reserve, a hip hop group formed in Arizona in 2013 by Groggs, Ritchie with a T, and Parker Corey, lost one of their key members.
Injury Reserve hovered on the fringes of rap music since their inception, but fan favorite mixtape Floss showed their immediate talent for creating incredible tracks. Floss and the preceding mixtape Live From the Dentist Office were both actually recorded in a real dentist office, owned by producer Parker Corey’s grandfather.
Their self-titled debut Injury Reserve was more a restatement of their mission statement. Their first single, “Jawbreaker,” was a sparse track on hypebeasts and fashion in the industry featuring Rico Nasty and Pro Teens. As far as “first” impressions go, it was quite a statement. The self-titled further solidified their songwriting strategy, but also their outsider aspects. Parkey Corey’s beats were out there, sometimes leaning into hyperpop and electronic territory.
That leads us to now. Truthfully though, there is no logical through line to Injury Reserve’s early work and By The Time I Get To Phoenix. Recorded largely before Groggs’s death but re-framed by it, it started as an improvised DJ set and now carries an entirely new allure. Toss aside what you know about genre, especially what you think of rap- this album is an experience all its own. There is no inspiration you can name that fully encompasses the ideas on this album- a meditation on on grief, unparalleled. At a lean 41 minutes and 14 seconds, it is at the same time expansive yet carefully-woven, patient but hurried.
The music on Phoenix is dark, haunting. Opener “Outside” drops you immediately into the atmosphere, with a haunting vocal sample and drones. Ritchie With a T drops in later, by his own accord, surveying the track before launching into a verse, cutting himself off multiple times. A brief break before launching into an outro, the drum-less beat building to a massive finish. It is so far removed from any preconception of rap, it is a new mission statement for this album.
“Superman That” was released as a second single, and features drums and backing track from an old Black Country, New Road song. If there’s any existing comparison, it sounds with IDM mixed with R&B, as Ritchie With a T croons about not being able to be saved. He yells, wails as the drums swell with him. Again, it is at times dark, at times hard to think of any meaningful reference for this sound.
“SS San Francisco” is probably the most straight-forward track here, but with Bruiser Brigade member Zelooperz it is still extremely abstract and left-field. Zelooperz speaks in short phrases about disillusionment with the world, and Ritchie speaks about not being able to be “forced” through it. The beginning bass line sounds like something out of a post-punk track, a little Interpol, maybe? It seems that by letting go of the limits of genre, Corey and Ritchie were able to fully create without fear.
“Footwork in a Forest Fire,” “Ground Zero,” and “Smoke Don’t Clear” form a stretch of the album which again pull from all genres omnivorously. “Footwork in a Forest Fire” features vocals from Groggs, one of two instances on the album, and a manic verse from Ritchie obviously inspired by the forest fires in the west. All three tracks are all disorienting, “Ground Zero” specifically about being at one of the lowest points in your life. Book-ended by two frantic tracks, it forms a dichotomy that adds a lot of depth to Injury Reserve’s experimentation.
A high point on an already stellar album, “Top Picks for You” is a reflection on the algorithms that govern our lives, and how those you love may never die. The Algorithm maintains their information for years after they’re gone, and you see pieces of them just in Netflix recommendations. These are the real ghosts, the digital ghosts that hang around after you are gone. It’s sad to think about, but also a heartening reminder of that person you loved- what their interests were, what made them laugh. Overall though, it’s a dark observation that really hasn’t been explored before.
“Knees” is the second song with Groggs’s vocals, and is a front runner for song of the year. Again the production sounds like a passage of a post-rock song that stops and starts at will, and both Ritchie and Groggs lament growing older and the changes they’re facing. Voices hover in the background, stretching past what you believe a rap song can be.
Ending with “Bye Storm,” we see a bit of hopefulness at the end. Ritchie once again examines the landscape and notes they’ve been through a storm and it set them back, but they’re through. The show must go on. Ritchie’s voice trails off as the backing track takes precedence, riding out one of the most inventive albums in recent memory.
When asked if Injury Reserve would continue without Stepa J. Groggs, Ritchie sees both sides. He knows that Groggs would tell them to go on, but also say that they can’t go on stage without him. Either way, him and Parker Corey will continue to create. Whatever the outcome of Injury Reserve, they have created a world within this album that is unlike anything else you can even imagine.
