Rob Roy is not a Rapper
Under low light a modest silhouette gyrates like an old 60’s rock star. I was lucky enough to be invited to Backside‘s instore event at their Echo Park location.
Space had been cleared in the shop as if they were trying to create a dance floor. Rob Roy was their guest.When I arrive heavy distortion is filling the air, guitars are squealing, and there is a double bass echoing off the walls all this and apparently that is just the outro to one of his songs.
Upon first sight you might think he is a bit over dressed, after all we are in an establishment that sells casual clothes. The audience is casual, the scene is casual, but Rob Roy is any thing but. He is suited like a Men In Black, which is more that I can say for most rappers. His performance isn’t the lackadaisical stage jaunt that I was expecting… Rob Roy is performing his as off. Right after the heavy metal he goes into “Axela”, its sultry and slow. The drums are simple and the melody is carried by a chorus line of oohs and aahs. Over the D’Angelo-esque bass line, he singing in falsetto. He’s seducing the audience, not impressing them with word play, he’s drawing them closer. For someone labeled rapper he isn’t showing any of the symptoms,not battering us with lyrics, not vomiting out indiscernible syllables.
[wpvideo n9EoXz45]
Not that he can’t rap,he can, and he proves it. Mr. Roy serves up staccato flavored bars, with metaphoric icing whipped into the center. Its definitely impressive but not at all what you might be used to. He’s not just vamping over hooks either he’s actually hitting notes. In velvet rope he digs into the beat and harmonizes on the chorus. He raps but its not a rap song, not a typical one by any means. He’s making me question everything I know about music. If this is rap, and it is this good, this musical, then what is that I am hearing on the radio? The two can’t possibly be the same.
[wpvideo AATWhBLx]
Where in the spectrum of music do you feel you fit now? What is the void in music that you fill?
I stand in opposition to anti-intellectualization.
Why not just take the easy way out and make some more conventional sounding music?
There’s enough people doing that. I’m interested in deforming and provoking, not pacifying.
If budget were not a concern, how many pieces would you have in your back up band, which would they be?
A dj, 6 back-up singers, a drummer, and perhaps a bass player.
He is a daydreamer. Some people stare off into space with their brain on idle, Lite uses this tool to visualize his words, prepare his stories, and collect his thoughts. “Wherever the music takes me, that’s where I begin to create in my head.” Life is all a bunch of stories and it’s these stories that inspire his material. Stories of money, escapades, and love, a reoccurring theme in his music. If you know him then you’ve seen the hearts. Rappers aren’t know for their love but he has a collection of heart chains he wears, and wears out. If you ask him he may tell you any number of things to quench your curiosity but the original charm was a gift from a dear friend who had fallen ill to a heart condition and has now past. It symbolizes their friendship and has come to represent other forms of love in his life.
Attend any of his shows you will hear people screaming out “Lite”, close friends may only call him “Dominik”, his monikers also include, “The Beautiful Loser”, and ” Cool Roy” on tracks you may also hear of “Charles Cool Roy”. Most of them are nick names and often given to him by women, his mother calls him “Charlie Tuna”.