Rap Ferreira & Scallops Hotel- Bob’s Son
This album itself is a testament to the beat poet Bob Kaufman. It is as if R.A.P. Ferreria takes on Bob as his son in the hodge podge of addictive music and abstract lyrical approach.
This was the very first release of 2021 (literally January 1) and it held up all year long. Great albums do that. A critic darling especially with his artist relaunch as R.A.P. Ferriera in 2020 (formerly performed under the moniker, Milo and others). Last year’s record Purple Moonlight Pages was strong and made many top record lists. This came out so quickly after that, I fear it has been forgotten.
When I worked in the record industry January was the dead month. It was rare to see anything but lazy pushes of records that would be soon forgotten. So, a record that comes out early in the year like Bob’s Son can get lost in the noise of endless releases throughout the year. Not this one. This is bathed in jazz poetry. I know that can be a definition of rap, but this album is the rap version of a dude sitting in the corner of a beatnik coffee shop spitting lyrics not worried if anyone is listening or not. Or maybe chilling in his record store in Biddelton, Maine on the mic.
This is my favorite review of this record. It captures all the nuances of the poets at hand and whose work is featured. Read through this to get a good grip on this gem.