WHAT ELSE [REVIEW]

Have you been looking for an excuse to wear your pants a little lower lately? Is your oversized gold chain collecting dust in your closet? Maybe your Yankees fitted cap is due for another spin. If you answered yes to any of the above, Renessey (@rennydontplaylikethat) and MaliRuu’s (@theculturedblackkid) latest tune What Else is the answer to your prayers.

What Else Artwork

(Image Credit: Provided by artist)

The self produced track is the first collaboration to be released by the pair, who have opted for a nostalgia-tinged approach for their new sound. Inspired by the sonics of Timbaland and The Neptunes, What Else is an earth-shaking homage to simpler times in the hip-hop world. Production on the track is pristine. Glossy pads wash over the cell-phone-esque beeps with flair, leaving space for the sampled guitar hits to merge seamlessly with the shaker patterns. 

The fitting cover art adds to the Rennessy and MaliRuu story. Taking notes from the Need for Speed Underground 2 soundtrack and other notable PS2 covers, What Else features artwork that sets the listener up to jump right back to the early 2000’s. The cartoonish cover begs the question; is a project on the way? A full body of work would be the perfect way to flesh out these sonics, but one can only hope.

Now we dippin’ and we rollin’, ridin’

Image Credit: Photography by @wizzz.fizzz

Before they were Renessey and MaliRuu, Renny Renn and Ruu. honed their skills in their respective solo careers. Between Renn’s K-Sera co-sign and Ruu.’s Triple J Unearthed hosting gig, the pair’s decision to form a new group hinges off the mutual respect they both have for hip-hop and all its incarnations. It seemed like only a matter of time before someone kickstarted the renaissance of the bling era, and now we’ve finally got the ball rolling.

The only gripe I have with the track is MaliRuu’s suggestion to ‘turn the master up to peak gain level’, but I’m sure that suggestion will fall on deaf ears.

Stream What Else here.