OG Cuicide’s new Single “Keep it G” ft. AD

An ominous melody precedes the first appearance of lyrics in OG Cuicide’s new single “Keep it G,” which features AD for an additional layer of hip-hop magic. As we listen on, a midrange-spiked vocal comes into the fold, seemingly setting the tone for a tonally-brutish exchange between rapper and backdrop that is almost certain to make whatever music results a purely combustible product. The incendiary groove is only implied at this stage of the song, but in just thirty seconds or so, we’ll soon be drowning in the deep-bass, mildly percussive rhythm of what could be indie rap’s best new track out this September. OG Cuicide and AD aren’t playing games here – from the looks of it, they’re out to raise the bar for themselves and the L.A. scene everyone wants to conquer. 

The verses are bigger and bolder than any other element here, and yet I’m hesitant to call this is a lyric-powered single. There’s so much emotion coming off of the low-tone grind being pumped out by the bassline that there are moments, admittedly, where it’s difficult for me to decide where to direct my attention. The instrumentation is stylized more like a collage than a standard background component, and while I just got introduced to OG Cuicide’s work recently, I have a feeling this approach is something he’s been trying to perfect for years. He’s got a very unique formula in action for “Keep it G,” and it’s something I’d really love to hear more of in the future. 

There’s some distance between the drums and the vocal that I don’t think was needed, but if the intention was to create some negative space – a surreal vibe – behind the verses AD is laying out for us here, mission accomplished. It’s obvious, even to untrained ears, that some serious love went into making the instrumental end of this song as important to the narrative in the lyrics as the actual execution we’re hearing from our star rappers, and in the spectrum of contemporary hip-hop, that makes “Keep it G” really smart listening no matter how you look at it. There were simpler ways to make this single but, thankfully, OG Cuicide and his collaborators outright ignored them. 

“Keep it G” outros with a familiar Los Angeles haze of synthetic harmonies that seem to linger long after the rhymes have disappeared from the air around us altogether, and though it takes a page from the icons who came before this artist, I’ve never found anything wrong with paying homage when the occasion – and the players involved – feel right. OG Cuicide’s 2019 album OGs Are Forever sounds like the work of a man who is fed up with the status quo in rap today, and while I’m not ready to call him an outright revolutionary, there’s definitely a fiercely independent side to his craft that refuses to die in this latest single. He has my support, and with confidence like his, I won’t be alone in endorsing his work. 

Michael Rand