Logic and Madlib are back with the latest taste of their upcoming collab under the moniker MadGic: ‘Raddest Dad’.
As is probably obvious from the title, ‘Raddest Dad’ is mostly just Logic dropping verses about being a super cool dad while Madlib does his thing: soul samples sped up and slowed down to his liking, high-quality lo-fi beats, and a solid wall of sounds that never get in the way of Logic’s rhymes.
Despite references to the DMV, which I’m always going to point out as a fellow D.C. native, the biggest pull for the new song is the message that’s backwards-masked in the song’s outro. Referencing Logic’s supposed retirement from music and the reason behind his return, the message, when played forward, is as follows.
“I retired, but I’ve been making music every single day since I retired because I love it,” Logic said. “And then I think what I realised was that I don’t like the industry. So I think I want to retire from the industry. That’s why I wanna do this music for free. Sometimes I wanna come back, but I don’t know if I should come back. I mean if I did I’d want to be independent. That’d be pretty cool. Being a major artist and actually retiring from the industry instead of music in itself. I don’t know… I think about a lot.”
The actual track proper ends at only two minutes in, but it’s a solid, lightning-fast recap of where Logic finds himself lyrically, spiritually, and physically at the moment. Because it’s naturally a more personality-driven art form, hip hop tends to feature real-life references to artists lives, inside and outside the industry. That’s what makes your favourite rappers feel like they’re playing to you: if you can relate, or simply enjoy their storytelling then it becomes personal, and Logic appears to be favouring those personal narratives over hooks or mainstream appeal.
Listen to ‘Raddest Dad’ down, below.
