In the new golden age of Los Angeles hip-hop blazed by Kendrick Lamar, YG, Vince Staples and a few dozen others, G Perico's high-pitched raps and cash 'n' glocks lyrics (plus his slick-as-hell Jheri curl) channel the spirit of deified scene forefather Eazy-E.
Perico’s music is a hot reminder of the historic sounds that have crumbled South Central pavements – all buzzing synthesisers, deep basslines, hypnotic grooves, criminal mythos and gang signs thrown up in the air. Far from straight retro revivalism, the rapper is capturing new ripples of LA through old-school filters.
2 Tha Left is the prolific Perico's best full-length to date. It's so smoothly bumping it'll make you lean back in the imaginary lowrider you're not really steering. The mean piano chords and whistling synths of Affiliated score Perico's braggadocio-fuelled depiction of the hustle, while the Nef the Pharoah-assisted Other Side is a smooth midnight drive on a balmy summer night.
Most impactful is Amerikkka. Channelling the righteous spirit of Ice Cube (who popularised the alternative spelling of his home nation), Perico shows himself to be a piercing writer as he starkly lays out the reality of living under the threat of police brutality when you're black in the US of A.
