{"id":492812,"date":"2020-01-06T15:12:45","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=934137"},"modified":"2020-01-06T15:12:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:12:45","slug":"roddy-ricchs-the-box-sounds-like-a-squeaky-windshield-wiper-its-also-a-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/roddy-ricchs-the-box-sounds-like-a-squeaky-windshield-wiper-its-also-a-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"Roddy Ricch\u2019s \u2018The Box\u2019 Sounds Like a Squeaky Windshield Wiper \u2014 It\u2019s Also a Hit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cThe Box\u201d<\/a> isn\u2019t the best song on Roddy Ricch<\/a>\u2018s (great) debut album, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial<\/em><\/a> (that would be \u201cGod\u2019s Eye\u201d). It\u2019s also not the most ambitious (\u201cWar Baby\u201d), or the obvious hit single single (\u201cHigh Fashion\u201d). It is, however, the album\u2019s biggest hit since its release in early December. The 30 Roc-produced song is far from the Compton rapper\u2019s catchiest \u2014 Roddy Ricch does catchy well \u2014 it\u2019s built around what sounds like a sample of Roddy imitating the squeak a windshield wiper gives when it needs to be replaced. \u201cWe made \u2018The Box\u2019 at 6am in NYC after being up all night, you can only imagine my face when Roddy already finished the song and said \u2018Wait let me add something,\u201d Keefa Black, an Atlantic Records A&R wrote on Twitter<\/a>. \u201cAnd EHH ERRR. EHH ERR was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roddy\u2019s unconventional chorus is long, and forgoes repetition in favor of building a labyrinth of slang from hitting licks with a box to putting sticks in said box and cough syrup seals that need popping or enemies that have prices on their heads. There aren\u2019t many songs that rise as fast as \u201cThe Box\u201d has \u2014 it was streamed 32 million times last week \u2014 that simultaneously boast that they\u2019ll be a \u201c2020 president candidate,\u201d while also claiming they\u2019ve put a \u201chundred bands on Zimmerman.\u201d  He means that<\/em> Zimmerman, and one can assume what the $10,000 is for. \u201cThe Box\u201d isn\u2019t your typical hit.<\/p>\n

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Regardless, the song has broken through. Helping its rise is its use as the basis for a viral TikTok meme<\/a>, now almost a prerequisite in 2020 for a hit song (see: \u201cOld Town Road<\/a>,\u201d \u201cGordon Ramsay<\/a>\u201c). In the clip, TikTok user Jay Will wipes a mirror clean as a producer builds a beat with the now-signature yelps from Roddy. Another popular meme follows a similar premise, except the mirror is replaced by a squeaking door<\/a>. Even SpongeBob Squarepants<\/a> has been used to put a spin on \u201cThe Box.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Another likely reason for the song\u2019s swift ascent is its placement on the album. After the brief \u201cIntro,\u201d \u201cThe Box\u201d is the first full-fledged moment on Roddy\u2019s debut. In December, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial<\/em> was the Number One album on Rolling Stone\u2019s Top 200 Albums chart<\/a>, earning 101,500 album-equivalent units in its first week. \u201cYou see the intro always at the top of the streaming numbers the first week when their album is released,\u201d Dallas Martin, svp of A&R at Atlantic Records, told Rolling Stone<\/em> in March<\/a>. \u201cEverybody is listening to the first song automatically\u2026[it\u2019s] for sure a strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

But more than the memes and positioning, \u201cThe Box\u201d succeeds because it distills Roddy\u2019s two best assets \u2014 his unconventional voice and ability to mold the subgenres of rap (primarily Chicago\u2019s drill and Atlanta\u2019s trap) into something highly palatable for a wide audience. \u201cThey don\u2019t give a fuck about West Coast, East Coast,\u201d Roddy said<\/a> about the geographical differences that generally color hip-hop<\/a>. \u201cThe kids ain\u2019t giving a fuck about that shit. I started gaining the mentality of \u2018Why should I give a fuck about that? Why should I limit myself to a certain sound, just because of where I\u2019m from?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n