Words by Carlos Arrieta (@LOSO.70)
It’s always hard to see when a group or partnership breaks up. No one enjoyed when the Diplomats had friction. Dipset always claimed to be “more than music.” It was a movement and it was upsetting to all hip-hop fans to see that movement stall due to internal conflict. “Powerful music” — that’s the way the Dips labeled themselves. “Powerful Music” is also the perfect way to describe the sound coming from a group of rappers from the Southside in the early part of this decade.
It was as if Chicago had its own Dipset. Only instead of talking about life in Harlem this group talked about what it was like to grow up on the Southside of Chicago. There was no official name for the group, but the loose collection consisted of Chief Keef, Lil Reese, Lil Durk, Fredo Santana and Young Chop. From “I Don’t Like,” to “Us,” to “Ls Anthem,” to “Traffic,” to “Right Here,” no other sound in Chicago was as widespread as there’s. That’s why it was so disheartening to hear about issues between Lil Durk and Chief Keef.
Was what happened between the Diplomats repeating itself in Chicago? These are two people whose musical abilities compliment each other and they should be recording albums together, not be at odds. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and all issues were put down. In a celebration of burying the hatchet, Lil Durk, Chief Keef and Young Chop got the band back together to create a vintage banger titled “Decline.”
This song features all three at their very best. Chief Keef lands hook duty with a guest verse, and he flexes his trademark flow. It’s one part marbled words, one part autotune, and 100% melodic. Chief Keef doesn’t get enough credit for his ear for melody. Lil Durk also uses his trademark style of autotuning his raps. He describes how his new level of wealth and fame brings trappings with it in the form of gold-diggers. Young Chop provides a deceitfully simple beat — on the surface it sounds like a peaceful, smooth sound.
Yet on a closer listen, he created a multilayered instrumental, which includes a piano, an electric guitar, and his trademark drums. He has a ton of instruments and sounds hammering at once, with the notes matching the melody of Keef and Durk perfectly. Critics might argue that this song’s lyrics aren’t going to be taught in universities anytime soon, but who really cares. They killed it. These guys believe in melody over everything.
“Decline” is a terrific song. It shows the talent that all three artists have and what they are capable of when they are firing at all cylinders together. “Decline” was the first song we heard from Durk and Keef since they reconciled and if future collaborations are as good as this one then we are all in for a treat. Especially if they actually drop that GLOTF album. “Decline” should be on local radio because it unites three of Chicago’s most promising artists. It should be on national radio because it sounds good. Melody over everything. You can check Radio Waves for latest updates on radio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPBexlYQRtU