Dreams & Reality is the latest release from Ricky Pharoe. He’s been at this rap game for a while now, first as Art Vandelay and now under his own name. Right from bitter opener “Dorks,” this record is an ode to disillusionment: The realities of aging after too much life, cynical at the music industry and the lucky breaks of his contemporaries, eating cup noodles, working from check to check… But far from being a sad sack, the music is damn good and the verses hella funny, like in “Lies” when he proudly raps about how his bank account has oh so many zeroes, no, wait, it’s all just zeros… Heavy use of rock samples left me comparing this album to the work of Raven Hollywood—a live show pairing I’d love to see happen. Mixed/mastered by Spekulation. The “Die Hard” dialogue sprinkled throughout will have you nostalgically wanting to watch the film. Cool cover photo of Seattle from the air.