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By Matt Padilla
As rap continues to merge with today’s cultural zeitgeist, it’s becoming tougher and tougher to find a good underdog story within the genre. Now more than ever, rappers are celebrated and loved in a way that we haven’t seen before. We don’t see too many rappers having to punch upwards and hustle to gain their following anymore. Kendrick Lamar once fit that archetype when he burst onto the scene but has since grown into the 5’6 supernova that we know today. We loved watching Mac Miller grow from a juvenile frat rapper into the pop-star dating, sound shapeshifter that he blossomed into before his tragic death. Even Frank Ocean was crashing on Tyler the Creator’s couch before his big break. So who’s up next?
I’d argue that Injury Reserve has been perpetually next in line for years now. Though the group, composed of emcees Ritchie with a T and Stepa. J Groggs (who sadly passed away in June 2020) as well as producer Parker Corey, has released four very well-received albums since 2015. Despite their success, the Arizona based trio has never quite broken the glass ceiling of the hip-hop scene. Their debut album Live From the Dentist Office (which was coincidentally recorded in a family friend’s dentistry) explores the struggles of the group’s early days as they tried to find a foothold in the music business while also tending to their own lives and responsibilities, which revolved around a Foot Locker gig in Ritchie’s case and the three-headed-monster of a job at Van’s, a newborn, and a growing drinking problem in Grogg’s. This surprisingly stellar first album showed that while Injury Reserve were comfortable playing the underdogs, they didn’t plan to stay in that role for long. Here’s a few reasons why they should be on your radar right now.
Hip-Hop’s Best Underdogs
“Used to rhyme my sh*t on the BART headed to the Sco’”
- Stepa J Groggs
Much of Injury Reserve’s appeal lies in their authenticity. The group has never been shy about telling the story of their humble beginnings (Ritchie and Groggs met while they were both working at shoe stores in the mall) or their trouble with getting signed. They make it clear that they earned every bit of their success by showing perseverance in the face of plenty of doubt. While they do occasionally use their platform to stunt on those doubters they also choose to repeatedly shed light on their own pitfalls.
Ritchie does so on the song “Best Spot In The House” which serves as a sort of confessional for the group’s two emcees. Here, Ritchie offers a poignant remark towards those who look up to artists for their grand storytelling as he says, “but they don’t know behind them stories, there’s some sh*t that’s just wrong.” He goes on to criticize himself for writing verses about the death of a close friend who’s funeral he felt too cowardly to attend before Groggs enters with a story in the same vein in which he neglected a hospitalized friend.
While both of these confessions are far less than damning, these types of imperfections are rarely addressed in a genre that’s dominated by wealth and personal grandeur (Kendrick’s recent work has been praised for this exact type of confessional storytelling.) In not only referencing these failures but detailing the growth that it’s provoked in them, Injury Reserve invites us further into their success as we see our own stories in theirs. It doesn’t take much exposure to realize that you want these underdogs to get their win just as much as we hope to get our own.
Genre Shifting
“Cause they always try to box us in but we won’t have that”
- Ritchie With A T
Over the course of four unique albums (as well as two LPs) IR doesn’t just flirt with different genres, they fully explore each sound multiple times. The group naturally gravitates towards a sort of weirdo-rap vibe (think early Childish Gambino or Chiddy Bang) on their debut record before honing it in a bit more on their following project Floss. What makes these albums so captivating is how they interweave each bass-knocker (All This Money, What’s Goodie, Boom x3) with an equally melodic (45, Falling) or emotional (Look Mama, Best Spot in the House) song on the tracklist. Much of the fun of discovering the group lies in the anticipation that comes with the closing of each song, as you wait to see which direction Parker is going to steer the bus into while the familiarity of Ritchie and Grogg’s voices ease you into the new sound.
And there are plenty of new directions to explore on the group's last two albums. Their self-titled record is easily their most polished as Parker opts for a bit more of an electronic and eclectic sound before cascading into a wonderful celebration of the trio’s chemistry on the closing track “Three Man Weave.” Their latest work “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” was interrupted by Groggs passing but it’s because of his wish for the group to “make some weird sh*t” that we’re given this wildly experimental and explosive album. Tracks like the beautifully homely “Knees” and the Sonic Adventure 2-like “Superman That” are the albums obvious standouts but the depth of the tracklist is found in songs like “Outside” and “Smoke Don’t Clear” which are unlike any that I’ve ever heard before. While the ambitious shift in tone is rightfully not for everyone, the group makes one thing clear throughout their discography: Injury Reserve is not a rap group that’s trying to blend in.
Rap Respect
"I love that Jay line talking bout CBS"
- Stepa J Groggs
IR also does an incredible job of dropping hip-hop references in their songs like easter eggs for longtime fans to stumble upon. The group pays homage to rap legends like E40, Outkast, Kendrick, Jay-Z and most notably, an unreleased Kanye song of the same name on their track “Wow.” For those unfamiliar, the hook is built up from the lengthy story that Kanye tells on Late Registration’s outro track “Last Call,” though Groggs puts his own flashy and boisterous spin on it (not an easy task when handling Kanye’s writing) .
The group is constantly speaking not just from the center stage, but often from beside us listeners in the audience where they’ve spent their time looking up at the same artists as we have. Though the trio does their fair share of showing off, they’re always careful to remind us how important the music is to them (shown in Ritchie’s line “I been doing some stupid sh*t like going to work/when I could be doing some lucrative sh*t like writing a verse).
This respect for the industry mixed with the groups obvious talent has earned the cosigns of some bigger names such as Chuck Inglish, Freddie Gibbs, Rico Nasty, JPEGMAFIA, and Cakes da Killa who’ve all contributed some strong features to the groups albums. While IR’s most recent album only featured a single Zelooperz appearance in favor of an album focused solely on the main trio (likely in light of Groggs passing), it should be interesting to see who Ritchie and Parker decide to collaborate with in the groups yet undefined future. With a discography as solid and ambitious as theirs, IR seems poised for a breakout single any day now.
The Injury Reserve Mood Ring
A collection of IR songs perfect for whatever you’re feeling.
Energetic - Superman That, See You Sweat, GTFU
Curious - Rap Tutorial, 2016 Interlude
Confident - Everybody Knows, S On Ya Chest, Whatever Dude
Emotional - Keep On Slippin, North Pole, Best Spot in the House, Bye Storm
Love - Look Mama I Did It, Ttktv, Falling, New Hawaii
Rage - Footwork in a Forest Fire, Smoke Don’t Clear, Oh Sh*t!!!
Dancy - Girl With the Gold Wrist, Wow, 45
Joy - Gravy n Biscuits, Three Man Weave, Yo, Friday
Essential Injury Reserve Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/597bCLqfkRzUI6dfKdswyW?si=dac1f3f24abf42fd