MUSIC
Serendipitous Songs DIY HIP-HOP OUTSIDER S. REIDY CATCHES MAJOR WAVE FROM LATEST LP RELEASE. By Evan Jarvicks
When S. Reidy released “Abstract coming from an emcee’s mouth.” Gravity” as a single in the pre-COJudging by the response, people VID days of 2020, the longhaired, are perking up. S. Reidy is hitting beanie-wearing Norman rapper personal record streaming numbers didn’t know it would become the this year, which is noteworthy given opening track to his new album. It his history of having fun with the was intended for a project called algorithm. On past releases, he Open: Honesty, which he scrapped teased gimmicks that he would only during the pandemic. The next year, perform if he hit 1,000 streams on a following his well-regarded I Started certain release. These stunts includGrieving Today EP, he began work ed chugging a can of chili on Facebook on a companion EP called I Started live and taking a kick to the groin in Healing Today. It, too, was scrapped. front of a concert audience, both of The concept wasn’t melding the way which came to fruition. For An he wanted. Then he had an idea. Album, with Songs, however, there “I was like, ‘Dawg, why don’t I just were no streaming campaigns. put the best songs I have on a “Having some of my biggest influrecord?’” S. Reidy said. ences start to find the music and Simply titled An Album, with compliment me on it has been crazy Songs, S. Reidy’s new 12-track for sure,” Reidy said. “[Anthony] release is a collection of highlights Fantano retweeting ‘Pipeline’ was from his incomplete projects, previcrazy...Hannibal Buress reaching out ously released singles, and new to compliment was insane for sure.” tracks that hadn’t yet found a home. Both of those brushes with culEchoing the understated and tural giants came in response to a deadpan title, the record’s cover art is a doodled black-and-white self-portrait. A run of CDs includes a scrappy, handwritten tracklist. This straightforward, minimal framework may feel stripped of context, but that isn’t for lack of any. On the contrary, this is Reidy at his most self-aware. This is the context. S. Reidy is as no-frills as hip-hop comes. His moody instrumentals vary in tone and structure, but many tend to feature him on acoustic guitar against lo-fi beats with minimal bass, if any. Although he started hewing his style in the ocean of Soundcloud’s hip-hop heyday, he is only thematically an extension of mumble rap. A more Artwork for An Album, with Songs. Photo provided. fitting comparison to his organic, smooth lead single featuring none dialogue-driven approach to the other than art rap pioneer Open craft would be mumblecore cinema. Mike Eagle. “Pipeline” is one of the “It’s kind of hard to really feel a higher energy cuts on the record message from a song if your car is with fizzy production by Vhsceral vibrating like an electric toothand snazzy guitar and key samples. brush,” Reidy said. “When you’re Reidy’s lyrics detour from his spitting poetry over an emotional typical introspective soul-searching instrumental like so much rap music here to more overtly take on societal does (especially early rap music), it complicity and fragile masculinity. lends itself to an atmosphere of being This is Reidy at the top of his pen taken very seriously, and it makes game, and he earns the platform you want to believe every word with Open Mike Eagle, who closes 20 M A R C H 2 3 , 2 0 2 2 | OKGA Z ET TE .COM MUSIC
S. Reidy. Photo provided.
out the track on a high note with a verse about shallow discourse. Other collaborators on the album include UK producer beatsbypond and L.A. emcee A-F-R-O, but like much of his work, S. Reidy handles the bulk of An Album himself. He holds half of the record’s production credits, and most of the tracks have no features. This extends beyond the album, too, since he doesn’t work with a music label, third-party studio, or digital media services. “If you can do something yourself, you should,” Reidy said. “Some promoter needs you to submit a logo so you can be on a show that will be good for you? Download a free graphic design program and just make it happen. Some venue wants you to pay $200 to open up for a has-been onehit-wonder from 2004? Screw that. Rap to 11 of your friends in your living room.” Intimacy is a hallmark of S. Reidy’s music, so it makes sense that despite having played large stages, his smaller performances at house venues and art spaces have proven the more memorable experiences. His confessional lyricism and raw performances are almost too personal to translate to a broad audience in a more amped environment. That’s a hurdle he plans to clear, however, as S. Reidy was recently announced as a headliner for this year’s Norman Music Festival.
“I’m excited to give myself the challenge of making a large festival set work when most of my performances have an up-close and personal approach to them,” said Reidy. “I’ve been to every Norman Music Festival since I was 13 years old, so it’s a dream come true.” In the meantime, he is planning out the rest of the year with a tour through the Midwest, new collaborations, and a jumpstart on the next project. “But who knows? Maybe I take 4 songs from it and a bunch of other tracks 2 years from now and put out an album called A Music Project with 14 Tracks on It,” Reidy said. S. Reidy’s willingness to live life to its unpredictable fullest with a healthy sense of humor is one of his keenest qualities. Not only does it allow him to rebound from unexpected turns in his chosen path, but it also enables him to experience the full spectrum of human emotion as only he can. Where some artists brag about how many hours they grind in the studio, Reidy shrugs that mentality off. He prefers a rich, well-rounded life of meeting people and going places outside of music because that’s where many of the most interesting and honest stories originate. “I have so many moods, so much source material, so many feelings,” Reidy said. “It just depends on what I want to hear, and, truly, I want to hear a bit of everything.”
