Premiere: Ricky Roosevelt & Alccalh - "Legacy" Stream

Ricky Roosevelt & Alccalh at The Granada

Due to the fact that Lawrence, Kansas is a college town, its hip-hop scene's only consistent contributors over the years have been those who have long since finished their schooling. College-aged rap acts come and go quickly, but if any of the town's current performers have any staying power, it's Vivid Zebra. Vivid Zebra is a collective of seven different producers, singers, and rappers that have been putting out the most unique hip-hop music Lawrence has heard in years. After opening shows for Post Malone and Show Me The Body, as well as releasing music on a regular basis, two members of the collective -- rapper Ricky Roosevelt and producer Alccalh -- have teamed up to create the collaborative EP "Legacy."

Rather than waiting until the EP's conclusion to ponder and dig deep, Roosevelt starts the project by doing that on "Legacy." Roosevelt is up front with listeners about his questions on mortality ("This life shit, tell me what it's really worth/I see it all inside my head, sometimes I swear I go berserk.") Roosevelt also offers witty self-comparisons to the early struggles of Kanye West ("I'm building my empire now/I don't even know what I desire now/I'm feeling like I'm Yeezy through the wire now.")

With the heavy stuff out of the way early, Roosevelt and Alccalh are free to let loose over the course of the next six tracks. The fashion in which the pair lets loose though, is a bit unorthodox compared to many of their peers. "Mr. Hide" and "Never Flex" are two tracks that feature spacey, nocturnal production from Alccalh. Roosevelt's rhymes on these songs revolve around playing it cool and avoiding the spotlight.

Another key track on the release is its first single "Cameras." Roosevelt and Alccalh continue to show their distaste for those who showboat, but this time in a more upbeat manner. A recent performance of this song at The Bottleneck illustrated that even though their music is a bit unorthodox, the duo can light up a crowd just as proficiently as any other rap act. It's a fitting portrait of what Vivid Zebra is -- a hip-hop collective by and for landlocked introverts (and friendly extroverts).

Stream/download "Legacy" below and catch Vivid Zebra live for free at Shuttlecock's Lawrence Invasion show on December 2nd at Mills Record Company.