If you pride yourself on knowing an extensive amount about the music scene in Atlanta, you can’t finish a conversation without bringing up Larry League. This trio, although an underground bunch, have been working tirelessly for multiple years to make a name for themselves in the music industry, and it’s safe to say that they’re doing a great job and have made so many strides that other up and comers would awe at. One of the group’s standout members, Randy, has recently decided to venture out onto his own and give us a taste of his own medicine as Randy Royale. Although the group is still alive and well, I think it’s important for all the members to try their own things and make an individual name for themselves as well, so when I heard Randy was doing so, I had no choice but to listen up.
After a few singles, Randy has finally dropped off his debut EP Randall, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. Boasting five tracks and a run time of almost eleven minutes, it gives you a small taste of the talents that the ATL artist has to play with, but just know, his aptitudes don’t stop there. Opening up with the SenseiATL-produced “Disorderly”, Randy is given an instrumental that boasts low, resounding piano chords combined with higher-pitched piano riffs, clattering percussion, and clean, smooth 808s for a wonderful foundation. With this beat, he delivers some melodious autotuned lines that introduce the project to a much lighter, airier sound than we typically get from the group as a whole. Throughout this record, he switches up his cadence so many times it’s hard to keep track, sometimes speeding up his words while other moments they’re more spread out and calculated.
“Tony Soprano” follows the opener, offering a more ruthless instrumental that contains a mysterious synth that alludes to a dark moment in time coupled with hard-hitting drums and shaky Trap-influenced hats that speed things up and captivate your attention once again. Randy ditches many of the vocal effects on this one, rather opting for a more hard-nosed straightforward delivery that you can’t help but pay attention to. His words almost come off as if he’s yelling at you, but this just shows off the passion and energy that he puts into his music in such a wonderful display of lyricism.
Piano keys, secretive, mischievous vibes, and different Trap-like percussion and drums are on display once again in “Alakazam”, but the tempo is slowed slightly to allow Randy to gift us with some additionally masterful lyrics that are going to linger in your brain long after the song comes to an end. He switches his flows constantly yet again, this time mixing in certain portions of outer space-like autotuned bridges that connect one set of merciless bars to another, giving a bit of a break and allowing your brain to reset and refocus on all the lyricism that he’s become known for throughout his tenure in music.
“EMT” is the name of the penultimate track, and although it might be the shortest on the project, it just might be my favorite. It contains an airy, floating melody combined with bouncy drums and additional rattling hats and claps that give us a somewhat minimalistic beat that Randy shreds to pieces. As he spits, his words are rapid and choppy, but by the final lyric or two of each line, he stresses the rhyme by holding out the note or emphasizing the word to seamlessly connect each bar with one another.
To send us off in an incredible fashion, he ends the EP with the only single he dropped prior to the project’s release called “The Medic”. This song opens up with a sound bite from a news story that alludes to some sort of violence that unfolded close to where I imagine Randy’s from. The production includes percussion that sounds like metal objects clinking together, crisp hats and punchy drums. As he gets into his hook, he repeats a phrase encouraging listeners to do the medic, which I’m pretty sure I saw on TikTok in the past.
It’s a catchy, easy to dance to song, and with so many artists going viral on the video creation app, I respect his hustle and recognition of the fact that this is a way to connect with fans and see them having fun first hand while dancing along to one of his songs. Don’t let this fool you, though, because when he gets into his verse, his hasty bars and infectious cadences show him at the top of his game, proving that it’s not just a publicity stunt in the slightest.
Although I personally knew that Randy had so many different styles that he had perfected at this point, this EP does a fantastic job of showing off just a few of the skills and styles he can bring to life. What’s even more encouraging is the fact that this is simply just a taste of his talents, and listeners should know that his abilities run much deeper than this eleven-minute project. Beyond this, one of the most notable things that are consistent and admirable throughout is his capacity to provide constant wordplays and inventive lyricism along with the countless flows, cadences, and deliveries he shows off. For most people, this kind of creativity takes months if not years to come up with, but it just seems to come naturally to the Larry League stand out. If you’ve been sleeping on Larry League or Randy Royale in general, this is the perfect time to wake up and catch up on everything you’ve missed up until now, so make sure you peep Randy’s debut EP “Randall” as soon as you possibly can.