Scallops Hotel is one of the many epithets of Rory Ferreira, an unapologetically progressive rapper from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He also responds to Milo, which is the pseudonym he chose for hist last release, “Who Told You To Think?!!?!?!?!” In August 2017. This particular album, though, is supposed to be a sequel to an earlier album released in June, “over the carnage rose a voice prophetic.” Now that I’ve sufficiently confused you, let’s dig even deeper into the nature of this album.
This isn’t conscious rap, that music set out to make a difference in the world. Not necessarily, at least. This is abstract hip-hop, an entirely separate genre that champions to the musical quality of the flow. The focus is less on the meaning of the words, but the sounds themselves. This sort of harkens back to the abstract notions of “absolute music” in the 1800s, with its grandiose symphonies composed by the likes of Beethoven and Brahms with no other intention than to exhibit the beauty of the music itself.
But what does that have anything to do with this?
Consider the rhythm of his flow. There isn’t a moment where he doesn’t seem to be experimenting with a new cadence. Rory almost gives the impression that he isn’t even trying to match the beat, long past that pedestrian formality in an ongoing search for new flows. He even follows classical forms in songs like “Rank, Title, Pressures,” the first half of an entire verse forms a musical sentence structured around the words in the title. This isn’t anything too special, though—classical phrase forms exist everywhere in hip-hop. Rory… I mean Milo… I mean Scallops Hotel… just seems to be pushing it towards uncharted territory.
By far one of my favorite listening moments was hearing the cameo by JAW GEMS, my musical spirit animal and a band that more people need to know about.
Mike Frasier Music 