This series covers amazing projects that inspire in-depth analysis. This is not an album review, just a deep dive into the project and a guide for listeners

By Ben Leshan

Rod Wave, a 21-year-old rapper and singer from St. Petersburg, Florida, dropped a heater with SoulFly. First rising to significant mainstream fame on the strength of his 2019 heartbreak anthem “Heart on Ice”, Wave has been one of the most prolific and successful artists in hip hop over the last few years. His music is often criticized for being too sad, too painful, and dark for many average listeners, but he isn’t worried about that opinion. His music is a way to explore and release his pain, and he markets it as such. Rod does not care who is not listening because he makes music for the love of it, and he is churning out platinum and gold records while doing so. His songs tend to fit the same general style, featuring minor chords and catchy melodies on guitar and piano, with the occasional added vocal sample. He works with trap drums, but most of his production leaves room for him to showcase stronger vocal melodies than most rappers are capable of creating. He is a great chorus writer, capable of using his deep rapping voice, his full, belting singing tone, and haunting falsetto to create different moods. He tends to layer vocals on top of each other to create moments of soft beauty and straining pain. His verses usually feature more traditional rapping, and are often deceptively lyrical. If anything, one should come away from a Rod Wave song recognizing that they just experienced a deeply soulful take on hip hop. Rod’s lyrical content is often centered around storytelling, about his past, his childhood, his time in the streets, and his relationships. He finds a way to turn introspection into concise, relatable and powerful expressions of pain. Every line is packed with emotion.

Rod Wave began his career with a series of mixtapes, the first two being released independently, and then three more coming after his signing to Alamo. Since then, beginning in late 2019 he has released three studio albums: Ghetto Gospel, Pray 4 Love, and now SoulFly. Each has been commercially successful, and each is packed with hits, but also some of the strongest album cuts in hip hop. There is not one song that doesn’t mean something on a Rod Wave album. He doesn’t fall into the trap of trying to write hits, which leads to a high miss rate, and a lot of throwaways for other artists. Instead of focusing primarily on the marketability, Rod Wave is truly here for the music and the emotion behind it. The result is a series of projects that do not have skips. Sure, the production, the vocal performance, and the stories hit harder on some of the songs, but you are not going to come away from listening to a full Rod Wave album as a casual fan. Once he draws you in, you are all in. The sincerity, and honesty is so evident and so raw that it simply cannot be ignored.

SoulFly is the gold standard for a melodic pain rap album. Yes, it is a little long, but Rod Wave is a hustler at his roots, and when he makes a good song he is going to put it out. At the end of the day, no one should be complaining that more Rod Wave music came out. We get 19 songs with only one feature, and at that a dream feature in Polo G (which Rod said came about due to a chance meeting at the jewelry store). The two artists came up at the same time, and though they’re from different cities, and have different voices, they are two of the best in the world at pouring their pain into a beautiful melody. Their collaboration, “Richer”, does not disappoint, as it features an infectious chorus from Rod, and sees Polo ride the beat masterfully on his verse. Throughout the project we see Rod touch on previous lyrical themes in new ways. He speaks about love and relationships as a famous rapper, about heartbreak, about his relationship with his father, about losing friends, about the struggle of growing up in poverty, about depression, and about being a “popular loner” (which is the name of one of his older, excellent tracks). He also gets to new topics, as he speaks about being a new father (he recently had twin girls) and the state of the rap game as a whole.

The biggest highlights on the album include the singles, “Street Runner” and “Tombstone”, as well as “Richer”, the title track “SoulFly”, and a few others like “Gone Till November”, “Pillz and Billz” and “Invisible Scar”. We see repeated themes both sonically and lyrically in the other tracks, but they are certainly all significantly more valuable and unique than traditional album cuts. This album is more than worth listening the whole way through.

“SoulFly”, the title track, is a really strong start to the project. Rod flexes his lyrical prowess with slick bars like, “Laid in the cut like peroxide”, and creates a unique sonic atmosphere. The best thing that Rod does with this track is establish a mood for the project to come. He is unapologetic, he is confidently vulnerable, and he showcases his voice. Rod says that when he eventually dies he hopes to go to heaven, and leave the difficulties of life behind him. He is not wishing for death, but hoping that he finds peace.

“Gone Till November” follows “SoulFly”, and makes quite a statement. Any album that begins with two hits back-to-back is going to build significant excitement in fans, and that’s what Rod accomplishes here. He begins the track with a melodically gripping chorus in which he seems to claim he won’t drop another project until November (which is fair, given how prolific he is, and that his music sells so well). The verse covers a variety of struggles from dealing with haters, to his relationship with his kids, to his father’s time in prison, and how that made him feel (“…All I ever felt growing up was abandoned”). The track fades out with a perfect melodic outro layered behind his second chorus.

On “Tombstone”, Rod goes to a gospel place, layering his hums and vocal licks with a choir to create a lush and beautiful chorus. On the verse he dives into his fears and paranoia, but he releases all of the pain on the chorus. He asks to “Make sure they write the truest in the motherf***ing game/ On my tombstone when they bury me”, going back to the theme of “SoulFly”, moving on from his pain to find undying peace. It is a haunting track, but it does not feel sad when taken as a man trying to live his best life and finally find himself.

“Street Runner” is a bit of a more mournful take on Rod’s previous hit “Letter From Houston” (which is a must listen if you haven’t heard it). He describes the strain of being in love while being a touring artist. He seems to resent himself for not making enough time for his girlfriend and not doing better for her. He still wants her, but he accepts that her frustration is valid and strives to see it through her eyes (“She say I love you, but don’t trust you, can’t change you”). He does amazing lyrically, but the song is also the sonic standout of the project. It samples a sped up and pitched up version of Ruth B’s “Mixed Signals”, which proves to be the perfect, haunting backdrop for Rod’s powerful vocals. With the drifting keys and booming 808s, the beat fills out nicely, but leaves Rod a lot of space to play with his vocals. It ends with a long voice mail from what is presumably the perspective of Rod’s ex-girlfriend, who expresses that she misses him and still cares about him. It is a nice touch, and completes the emotional experience.

“Pillz and Billz” is a strong take on a topic that is often covered in a corny way. Rod, as a highly successful rapper, a young Black man who has struggled with depression and drug use, and a person who knows the streets but has a deeply vulnerable soul, is the perfect voice to speak on how depression, fame, and drug use fuel and destroy each other. On this track Rod Wave talks about the story of a rapper who is struggling mentally and turns to drugs even though he is rich and famous. On the chorus he belts, “Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you drugs”, highlighting a story we often hear. Especially with the passing of major stars like Lil Peep, Mac Miller, Juice Wrld, and more due to drug overdose, this message hits home, and Rod uses his voice to build awareness and understanding rather than to pass judgement.

Rod is the perfect example of a famous entertainer who lives life by his own rules, and does it in the right way. He is not rejecting social norms to lean into newfound privilege, instead rejecting the inauthentic parts of his new life. He is not going to write a happy song because his label thinks it would sell well. He is not going act like he’s friends with a lot of people in the rap game when he’s not. He’s not going to tell the world he’s ok when he’s hurting. He is not going to act like he is not motivated by making money. He’s not going to act like he has it all figured out. All he is here to do is enjoy making his music and releasing his pain to the world, and he is going to make sure he makes the money to support the people he loves while doing it. In his own words from his title track “SoulFly”, “So much that came with all this fame, but I remain the same”. Rod Wave is not perfect, but his music is meaningful, and his spirit is admirable. He doesn’t want you to listen unless you are drawn to him and his music, and that’s exactly why you should listen.

Check out SoulFly on Spotify HERE

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