Riley - "The Murder Tape" Stream

It seems that Riley has been firing on all cylinders lately. The Kansas City rapper released a collaborative EP with fellow Caviart artist City Watts last year called "The Speez" as well as a solo project titled "Still Cookin Vol. 1." Nearly halfway through 2017, Riley is back with "The Murder Tape."

Before the tape's first track begins, the instantly-recognizable Trapaholics tag is played. The tape is hosted by Trapaholics, so those "Damn son, where'd you find this?" samples are authentic. The lyrical content on the tape is similar to Riley's past work -- raps about selling drugs and staying loyal to the homies are bountiful. If anything, there are fewer songs about simply smoking weed than on past releases.

"Brand New" and other similar tracks, however, show that even though marijuana use isn't being referenced as often, it still has a large influence on the tape. Lush, cloudy melodies collide with thumping bass drums supplied by Bruiser3100 on nearly every song. It's not tough to picture hazy studio sessions with Riley and Bruiser, the console littered with Backwoods wrappers.

Kansas City acts like Rich The Factor and company have been making "gritter" rap for the streets for somewhere around a decade now. Riley has snatched the torch from the subgenre's forefathers, proceeded to light a blunt with that torch, and continue pushing the sound forward. "The Murder Tape" is the best document of this push so far.

Stream "The Murder Tape" below and see Riley open for Rory Fresco and Gee Watts on June 3rd at The Downtown.