Steve 'Flash' JuonTrippyThaKid was introduced to the world a little over a decade ago thanks to his appearance on $uicideBoy$ mixtape “Kill Your$elf Part I: The $uicide $aga.” If you look for his biography you learn he’s from “central New Jersey” and a founder of something called the Moon Movement. That makes sense given his Soundcloud page has the same name. From what I can tell listening to “Squid Puppies Deluxe” it’s just another way of saying you’re really really high. Is that a shock? His name literally implies he’s tripping on something. “Downtown Underground” reflects both his desire to get zooted and the fact he sniffed too much Flex Glue and is seeing Martians.
“I’m off the edibles
800 milligrams, baby, I’m feeling incredible
Yeah this is medical, I’m out in Colorado smoking proper
I don’t wanna leave, but I gotta go
I’ll be right back baby, adios
Smoking that piss while I’m riding home
She off a bean like a pot of joe
Bitch I’m like XXX, Vin Diesel”
For me the most interesting part of the track is ZCR’s production. The headphones really brought out the bass hits and the sound of screaming WWII bombers flying over head reminded me of “Buckwhylin'” by Terminator X. Unfortunately what would have been interesting for one song becomes repetitive when Z does it over and over again. “Ouch Kabibble!” has the exact same formula — repeating one single droning note over really loud bass hits. It sounds like a Lisa Simpson sax solo that ran out of oxygen. If Z can’t vary up his style he’s not doing his man Trips any favors.
Trippy also seems to be obsessed with his rocky mountain high without John Denver. Are the kush and edibles that good out West? I have no idea. The very first line of “OMG This Slaps!” though is “Colorado clippin, that’s the shit that I do.” He also calls himself “the young white Mr. T” and that seems dangerously close to saying you dress up like him for Halloween, and if we’ve learned anything from Smiling Friends it’s that you should be really careful about cosplay.
Fine, call yourself “the young white Mr. T” if you want to, but don’t be surprised if people have a negative reaction to it. In any case when Trippy takes time out from getting loaded and choosing poor comparisons, he co-produces a track with ZCR called “The Long Ride.” It’s the most interesting song of the whole package just because he changes up to a sing-song flow and there’s a vaguely Caribbean sound to the percussion. At one point I could have sworn I heard seagulls.
As much as I wanted to appreciate where Trippy was coming from, central New Jersey or Colorado, I wasn’t entirely convinced that being a guest rapper for a group that I don’t care much about justified him having a solo career. It’s not so much that he’s terrible, or obnoxious, or boring, or anything that would make this final paragraph more exciting. He’s just a mediocre rapper with a lot of songs that sound the same musically and lyrically, and although I love a good boom and pound that can shut ’em down in any ride that alone isn’t enough here. You won’t hate “Squid Puppies Deluxe” but you won’t be compelled to revisit it either.