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Ratking – “Cocoa 88”

October 24, 2014

Underground rap trio Ratking are defiantly New York. Hip hop videos have reached the point where luxury seems essential in every single music video. There’s gold, girls, and paradise almost every time. Ratking is one of those groups that disassociate themselves from this aspect of hip hop. They’ve said in the past that they’d like to be associated with punk more so than rap, and looking at videos like “Cocoa 88,” it seems like a reasonable request. The video is poorly lit, dirty, seemingly poorly shot, and filled with attitude as Sporting Life, Wiki, Hak, and guest emcee DJ Dog Dick (great name) post up around random spots in the big city. The face of the group is Wiki, a multiracial fireball who’s missing half of his teeth from taking a punch to the face. Peep the vid below, and watch a throwback to the dungeon days of rap.

Ratking – So It Goes

April 9, 2014

Let’s be honest–New York City is still a main hub of culture when it comes to the arts, but it’s changing rapidly. A constant topic of discussion is gentrification, basically, in more simple terms, the ‘neighborhood is changing.’ Defining a ‘New York’ artist sound is nearly impossible, especially in contemporary hip-hop. One can recall an older, east-coast sound, like Wu-Tang or Public Enemy, with  more aggressive, higher beats. Ratking, a NYC-based trio including Wiki, Hak, and their Bushwick-born producer Sporting Life, creates a new New York palette on their latest release So It Goes. Even though the main thread of the album is based upon New York City life, it seems to be more focused on the challenges and shifts between youth and adulthood, seen in the opening song titled “*” that goes on about “Graduated what’s next, well everybody’s askin’/ college, well what do you have planned?” over a[...]