There’s a new Pope!
In My Monday Morning Music, rapper Moe Pope’s new album, the two-time Boston Music Award winner teams up with multi-instrumentalist and producer The Arcitype to form the duo STL GLD. MMMM delivers a dynamic 18-song mix — from tracks mad to mellow, lyrics cocky to introspective, you’ll spend time memorizing Pope’s latest sermon.
Some songs make you want to throw more weight on the bench press. Others will have you brewing hot coffee and tapping the sugar spoon to the beat. Instead of feeling incongruent, the different styles enhance one another. The subdued agony of “Bastard” rises into the rebellious “Kill Em All.” STL GLD shines, its luster sure to last.
On track one, “Sunrise,” Pope gets the morning started, concluding his first verse with the line, “moepope.tumblr.com / Boston, fuck off if you’re not from.” There is no one more staunchly proud to be repping his city and the indie rap culture burning from within. I couldn’t think of a better torchbearer.
As he said about Boston’s music scene at the 2012 Boston Music Awards (for which he won Hip Hop Artist of the Year), “I don’t give a fuck about New York…I give a fuck about my city…The city is bubbling. Our hip-hop? Better than most.”
Amen, Pope. Amen.
Another gold nugget off MMMM is “Shine.” Pope raps, “Bagel in hand, all cream-cheesed up / Coffee keeps spilling on the pants.”
Anyone who turns cream cheese into an adjective has my attention. What will Pope do next? Toast someone in a rap battle? Egg sandwich them when they’re not looking? Nothing says bravado like eating a hearty bagel. Mmmm.
In all seriousness, with Pope’s confidence running high, he should have no trouble assembling his disciples.