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Leftlanin' My Lifestyle

As the cover suggests, Leftlanin’ My Lifestyle, a long-player from Ralphy Davis benefits from the correct listening context: I was blaring this on my car speakers the other day while bombing along I-5 on my way home from Portland and it left me feeling like a baller. As with Ralphy’s other music, the focus is on fame and money and achieving the champagne lifestyle. At 16 tracks, there’s lots of room for narrative flow: The first few songs set the mood before bringing on the straight-up bangers. “Countin’ Money Witta Bad Bitch” surprises with a sweet piano loop, and two tracks later, I love the squishy bass line of “How It Go.” Between the two, “Wym” dazzles. It’s this centerpiece trifecta that I replay most often, and repeatedly.

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A film about Northwest hip-hop from

Hunnidz n' Nuthin Less

I discovered the music of Ralphy Davis only recently when I saw him nominated for a “Hip-Hop Oscar” at the Seattle Sound Music Awards in November. Hunnidz n’ Nuthin Less, his 2014 mixtape, with its cover art of rubber bands, is unsurprisingly a meditation on the hustle, with aspirations of fame and cars and millions. Ralphy has a fine flow and engaging verses, and the production is full of smooth drums and samples. I’m curious to hear what’s next from Ralphy–you have the mic, our attention, and an award nomination: what’s next after the posturing, the fame, the millions? Those seem inevitable with this talent.

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