There was a point a few years ago where it seemed like every time you turned around, Black Liquid had another mixtape out.
There was a point a few years ago where it seemed like every time you turned around, Black Liquid had another mixtape out. The hardest working man in RVA hip hop managed to release 16 full-length projects between 2009 and 2012, but after The New Juice Crew’s group mixtape, Know The Ledge, hit the streets in January 2013, Black Liq took a step back and reassessed. He hasn’t stopped playing shows, booking the regular Face Melt Friday nights at Strange Matter, doing his weekly radio shows on WRIR and WDCE, or writing reviews of local hip hop releases for RVA Mag, but it has been quite a while since Black Liquid released a new project. However, this video is the first hint we’ve received that the wait is almost over.
“Can’t Be” is the first track from a new album coming this fall that appears to pair Liq with Fiona Apple in much the same way that the recent Death Grips album, The Powers That Be Part 1: Niggas On The Moon, brought that group together with Bjork: through extensive sampling. “Can’t Be” opens with Fiona Apple’s legendary “This world is bullshit” anti-music industry rant from the 1997 VMAs, then continues with a jazzy piano loop that at least sounds like it could be from a Fiona Apple song. The production by Sleaze is an amazing backing track for Liq to kick his rhymes over, and he rises to the occasion with another of the many autobiographical raps he’s laid on us over the years. In this track, with its “You can’t be Black Liq all your life” chorus, the emcee contemplates where he should go from here–a thought process that clearly mirrors the last year and a half of his career.
Luckily for us, it seems Liq’s decision has been that he can keep being Black Liquid for long enough to bring us at least one more album, and if this single’s any indication, it’s gonna be a great one. The video has the same sort of dramatic atmosphere as the track itself; shot at local DIY house show venue The Compound, it focuses on Liq in a room full of fans and RVA hip hop heavyweights (Sleaze, Swordplay, and Octavion X are just a few of the local luminaries to be spotted in the video), spitting his verses into the camera with purpose and determination. It’s clear that kids in the video are having fun, but Liq is 100% focused and has his eyes on the prize. “You don’t need no plan A,” he tells us as the track fades out. “Just plan to be.”
We here at RVA Mag look forward to seeing what Black Liquid has in store for us with the full-length he’ll be dropping later this year, but for now, if you’re just discovering his music, you can get a free compilation featuring the highlights of his 16 previous albums by going to noisetrade.com/blackliq. And keep up with him on Facebook to hear about performances, radio shows, and the forthcoming new album.
