Exploring the humanity behind trap life with pathos and melody, Rod Wave specializes in gruff and soulful rap music. Stewing in his jail cell and overflowing with regret, Rod Wave shares “Red Light,” his new music video. Continuing the story from his recent “Weight On My Shoulders” video, “Red Light” starts with Rod’s arrest in connection with a shooting, and continues through his time in jail as he interacts with guards and inmates, and speaks to his loved ones over the phone. The new video shines a spotlight on juveniles languishing in the correctional system, commenting on how the system traps them at a young age, and examining the emotional mindset of the young prisoners: “Look, I don’t wanna rot in my cell, mama/I don’t wanna make last year my last year/Did you see how they did me in court, mama?/Why they keep tryna make me out a bad kid?/How come they ain’t let me out this morning?/All my friends came in and got release dates/They don’t let me out next Monday/Then I’ma start plottin’ on the escape,” rhymes Rod on the track. Boasting impassioned rhymes and a soaring chorus, “Red Light” is a highlight from Rod’s late-2018 Hunger Games 3 tape.
“I was trying to paint a picture of my life experiences and put a visual to it so kids who been through the same thing can relate to it and learn from it,” explains Rod Wave. “I feel like the system is made for you to think its a game, they tell you all this stuff about getting out but the consequences don’t add up to they words. When you a kid, you still have that kid way of thinking, but they trick you so you keep going in there and the consequences pile up and get longer every time. They build you up in the system so by the time you’re an adult they can justify keeping you in the system. They’ll say look he was a troubled kid and did all this time in the past then really lock you down once you’re an adult. Like I say in the song, my juvie cellmate caught 8 years from stealing a car with a gun on him at 15-years-old and I’m just trying to show people my age and younger than me what I been through so they can know about it. I don’t want them to be too late and learn this while they already behind bars. Hopefully, they can see my story and get ahead of it and learn something.”
With music that Moneybagg Yo described as “street gospel,” Rod Wave has an inimitable style using his acrobatic vocal talent to inject lived-in emotion to his songs. Bounding between octaves and effortlessly switching from percussive rhymes to soaring melodies, Rod triumphantly celebrates his rising star status on “Yessir!,” reflects on his friends’ struggles with drug addiction on “Numb,” and flexes his pen game in the extended metaphor “Heart 4 Sale.” Featuring production from the likes of Go Grizzly and Drum Dummie, and boasting the Moneybagg Yo-featuring “Feel The Same Way,” which has over 1.2 million views on YouTube, Hunger Games 3 is a generous showcase of Rod’s supernatural sense of soul. Last week, Rod shared “Hard Times,” his first new single of 2019, which has over 175k streams on its YouTube audio since its release last week.
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Catrise J is the owner of Vault of 1520 and Content Creator for Dirty Glove Bastard (DGB). Catrise is a self described “free-spirit” and always shares what’s on her mind. She enjoys Hip Hop, nature, reading, 420 and 90’s R&B. Her idols include Angie Martinez, Tupac, Oprah, and Warren Buffet. You can connect with Catrise on social media.
