Emilio Rojas Releases a Freestyle Packed With Knowledge and Unfiltered Social Commentary (Audio)

There have been a ton of 90s freestyles of late (perhaps too much), but none like this. Emilio Rojas has released a powerhouse social commentary over The Geto Boys’ “Mind Playing Tricks On Me.” Just as Scarface did on the original, Rojas digs deep to speak candidly about issues most would rather bury.

After a short sung intro, Emilio launches into a blistering verse covering several themes plaguing the country right now. On the subject of police killings, he says “I speak for us all, it’s more than Black and Brown. They’re giving pats on the back each time they pat us down. We’re getting angry online so we can act profound. Then a week pass and we off it, we let ’em back us down.” He then goes on to critique media coverage of these grave events, questioning their motives, “Because we’d rather tweet about it than go be about it. Fake outrage in the media, so we see the outlets. Anything to get a couple of clicks, old news though, ’cause Bruce Jenner cut off his dick.”

Rojas then turns to the latent hypocrisy within the legalized drug industry, when juxtaposed against marijuana laws, “So everyone’s dying we’re all diseased. It’s pills for everything–if we stand up…if we sleep. To treat the side effects of one is what you need, but we fighting just to legalize weed.” He also lobs some pointed words at gentrification, “I’m walking through the Heights, they harassing us where we chilling, ’cause they want to move us out of our buildings…”

This is the type of counter-cultural insight that was once prevalent in Hip-Hop, but is few and far between of late. In that sense, it is indeed throwback, in the best possible way.

Related: Emilio Rojas Nods To Nas & Kurtis Blow, Imagining If He Ruled The World (Audio)