Steve 'Flash' JuonThanks to a write up on Okayplayer I know that Rahiem Supreme hails from Washington, D.C. They also let me know that he’s a bit of a control freak (in a good way) when it comes to promoting his own work. “For most of my videos, I direct and gather treatments myself. I’m very hands-on – things have to be executed a certain way. Every now and then I’ll get assistance for creative direction as well.” I respect an artist who wants to make sure we get their vision and goes out of their way to let us see it lyrically and/or visually. Somehow though he’s still frustrated on “itwillbeok” from “Behold the White Pale Horse.” To quote Rah again, “Every single time I do this shit, I’m misunderstood just like a martian.”
Incidentally if you didn’t understand the reference the album title is making, there’s a famous conspiracy theory book called “Behold a Pale Horse,” which in itself is an allusion to the Biblical four horsemen of the apocalypse. For more on this subject see Ill Bill’s song “Society Is Brainwashed.” Understanding is certainly not a problem here. Rahiem spits his bars very clearly and Argov mixes them with his sparkling production very cleanly. He might be from the DMV but you could easily mistake him for being from New York on songs like “100 hand slaps.” He’d fit in perfectly with the Griselda clique or spitting bars with Action Bronson. Either one is a natural fit.
“Let’s get to the bottom of the bone marrow”
Regular readers may have gleaned I’m tired of modern day rappers who want to sing, but when Rahiem does it on “We b n r own way” neither he nor Argov are pitch correcting it. The result is that it feels like a soulful rapper who wants to croon his own hook to the whistling backdrop. Verdict? It’s fresh as fuck. The same goes for “eagles claw.” The self-styled “Phenomenon Rah” has a naturally effortless flow that disguises just how long he must spend penning his verbals and perfecting his delivery.
In a sense I’m depressed at the end of “Behold the White Pale Horse.” It’s not because either the emcee or the producer turned in a bad performance — in fact it’s for precisely the opposite reason. I feel like 20 years ago an album like this from Rahiem & Argov would have stood out a lot more. Now I’m no “infamous William Cooper” conspiracist like Ill Bill, but I do wonder sometimes about the all digital future where we don’t really own anything and we’re supposed to like it that way. This music feels like it needs to be more permanent than that. This one should be pressed on vinyl and put in a time capsule so future generations can look back and see that just when everybody said “rap music is dead” Rah & Argov came back like a robot unicorn attack, kicking you in the face from the album cover to the outro.