As much as I love Detroit heavyweights like Babyface Ray, Icewearr Vezzo, Veeze, and others, it’s always cool to see someone who’s not following what’s hot in a given region or sub-genre of Rap.
TOB Duke‘s new EP Time Will Tell delivers seven pain rap Ted Talks that both describe Duke‘s struggles growing up in Detroit and uplifting sentiments about how he’s been able to triumph against adversity. Duke‘s interpretation of pain rap uses the typical backdrop of NoCap/Rylo Rodriguez-type beats while lacing motivational one-liners and detailed stories into his music. On “Road to Riches”, Duke raps “I’m on the road to riches, swear to and God I got road rage, hit the gas I’m gone”.
My personal favorites from this EP are “Hollywood Hills”, “Forgive Me” with NoCap, and “Poised” which is the final track of the project. Check out Time Will Tell below.
