I like Gritty City Records, I like Johnny Ciggs.
I like Gritty City Records, I like Johnny Ciggs. The hunger they represent and blunt depiction of their malt liquor, cigarettes, drugs, and Hip-Hop lifestyle takes me back to what it was like when I first got into this thing we all don’t just do, we live it. They’ve got a huge catalog of music, and real following, and what’s not to love about a group of people who are passionate about not just putting themselves on, but Richmond too. So here we have a new project from front man Johnny Ciggs, mostly produced by none other than D.R.U.G.S. Beats who actually had some music on Dr. Dre’s latest album.
You’re not gonna find any of that crazy post-production explosions and robot stuff voice stuff here though, this is straight forward Hip-Hop. Beats, and lyrics. Personally, I like that type of shit. I enjoyed this because it felt like Ciggs wasn’t trying to being any sort of elitist, he’s simply saying “This is who I am, this is how I live. Its not all pretty, its not all friendly, but its me.” I was surprised to hear him get a little romantic on a few tracks (i.e. “First Site” Produced by Pepil Pew and “Do You Remember?” produced by D.R.U.G.S. Beats), but at the same time I gotta admit it did at least help flesh out Ciggs as a person a bit.
After all, this guy is clearly intelligent, driven, and his whole crew has heart, and there’s gotta more to that than just the party life for it to ever last for it to be real. Without a doubt, I so could relate to “Rich City Blues” where Ciggs is super honest and says with sincerity “Im hoping that one day I can say that I’m proud/ bout the way that Im livin that got me writin right now.” That one really hit home for me, and if anything though this project has its misses, whats never missing is that honesty…so don’t miss it.
