Sy ShacklefordBrooklyn-bred RJ Payne has an affinity for horror movie icons. For several EPs and mixtapes, he’s taken the form of Pinhead from the “Hellraiser” franchise and Jigsaw from “Saw”. But none quite as extensively as Leatherface from the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” films. It’s not unusual for rappers to adopt a mass media figure or fictional character’s name and persona. The more of a series of unfortunate events a rapper undergoes, the rawer their identity becomes. Daniel Dumile became MF DOOM (and others) after a family tragedy, being dropped from his record label, and essentially becoming (in the words of Nas) “fucked over, left for dead, dissed, and forgotten” until he decided to strike back at the industry which scarred him. The man who became RJ Payne worked his way into a deal with Def Jam, was dropped by the label, and subsequently reinvented himself in the underground of Philadelphia’s battle rap scene. RJ has dropped a series of Leatherface mixtapes, with the last one being released in 2021. But why Leatherface? From the music, I’d say it’s because of the character’s status in horror cinema: The very first slasher villain, he also had a tragic backstory. Leatherface isn’t supernatural, but nonetheless remains a frightening and unsettling presence even when not killing.
Even with the horror motifs embedded in the imagery, lyrics, song titles, and production, I wouldn’t call this a horrorcore album ala Esham, Necro, or the Gravediggaz. But RJ shows why his pen game is sharper than most and slices through his competition. “He’s Back” is the intro and is comprised of co-signs from Tony Touch, The Lady of Rage, Lords of the Underground, and even Ice-T. But “Don’t Turn Off The Lights” is when the bars drop. Produced by Dutch beatmaker IAmSam, it has a dark and eerie vibe, like what you’d hear from Daringer for Griselda artists (incidentally, RJ is part of Benny the Butcher’s Black Soprano Family). IAmSam holds down five tracks on this project, including the next track “Chainsaw Legacy” where RJ goes in with his verbal threats and boasts:
“See, I got the destination to win
I do construction on your face as I’m excavatin’ your chin
I don’t talk much, won’t give this explanation again
I’ll knock the dimples off your face ‘til they separate from your skin”
“God Help Us All” is produced by Asethic and has what seems to sound like a video game sample, which is ironic as RJ makes a reference to Beanie Sigel’s “Mac Man”. The Godzilla sampling “Blood on the Mask” has IAmSam behind the boards, and RJ’s lyrical craftmanship becomes apparent, spitting multi-syllable bars on top of multi-syllable bars with intensity. “Pain Has Many Faces” has the looped drumless production (courtesy of Asethic) popularized by Roc Marciano. Payne cleverly name checks several pop culture elements to sharpen his lyrical knives: “I’m a bar smith, word to Todd Smith / People think my gifts are bizarre, I think it’s God’s gift / You can’t dodge this / I’ll pull a chainsaw out the bag and start soundin’ like Slash playin’ guitar riffs.” The Lunchboxx Bully-produced “Luxurious Horror” is more lush than ominous and features Nym Lo and Sy Ari Da Kid. “Death by a 1000 Cuts” is a good title considering IAmSam made the beat slow and nasty in its moodiness.
Arriving at the last third of the album, the CartuneBeatz-helmed “It’s Better 2 Run” starts things off. With gloomy piano keys, heavy bass, and light snares, Payne’s flow comes halfway close to going into double-time territory as he delivers his “effortless aggressiveness.” The final track produced by IAmSam is “Comfortable In Your Skin”, having a murky atmosphere and sampled screams throughout. PA.Dre laces the last two tracks, melding boom-bap and woodwind samples into something sinister on “Crazy Runs in the Family”, bringing fellow Brooklynites Ruste Juxx and Tek from Smif-N-Wessun. As fierce as they go on the mic, RJ Payne is not one to be bested on his own project. Though he helms the final verse, he’s bold enough to call it the intro. “The Haunting of Leatherface” ends the album and is the track with the most horror exuding from it. It’s more of a rhymed spoken word with a brooding atmosphere and a choir singing Latin chants. Admittedly, I hadn’t checked out a full-length RJ Payne project prior. But listening to this installment in his Leatheface series has made me a fan. The man’s got some very intriguing bars and puts on producers who know one has heard of. The sole producer I knew of on this project was CartuneBeatz due to his extensive work with Lloyd Banks. “Leatherface 4” is a good listen for both rap and horror aficionados alike.