On "Disclaimer", the mean-mugging opener to RetcH’s dark Finesse the World mixtape, the New Jersey rapper issues a series of warnings for listeners colored in with pop culture references: "This ain’t no Wale, this ain’t no Makonnen/ This junkie's dying in the stairwell ‘cause the dope is potent." It’s an abrupt introduction, a shoulder check that announces itself with its sudden sting, and it’s a fitting entrance for RetcH, who is best described as a menace. RetcH is a small-time drug dealer, a corner boy passing off product through closed-hand transactions on the block. Dealing opens doors to violent crime and petty larceny. There isn’t any of the chest beating bravado that helped mythologize drug impresarios like Reasonable Doubt-era Jay Z or (to an entirely different extent) Rick Ross. This isn’t glamorous. This is felony possession with intent to distribute. This is "selling smack and tucking bread with your granny." This isn’t Scarface, it’s Pusher.
RetcH, or RetcHy P, first began to gain traction on the indie rap circuit with his soul-chopping 2013 mixtape, Polo Sporting Goods, which was entirely produced by Thelonious Martin. The tape, and especially the brilliantly composed "Special Jim", which was endorsed by Earl Sweatshirt, showcased his colorful storytelling and his angling perspective. RetcH often takes a winding approach to writing that supplements dramatic scene-setting with lesser, more arresting details. He has a keen sense for exactly what makes his stories worth telling—the visceral nature in which he presents them—and he constantly frames his verses like he’s describing a first person shooter to a blind person. But many of the soul samples on Polo Sporting Goods weren’t equipped to fully utilize his skillset. After doing a bid in county last year, RetcHy P returns better than he’s ever been, in his element, on Finesse the World, a super sinister segue into his vivid underworld.
As a proud street urchin, RetcH is a poster boy for Keeping It Real, one who won’t hesitate to snuff a show-off for his jewelry just to laugh about it. On "Still With It", which employs the "fame hasn’t changed me" trope with a twist, he raps, "Still rock polo that I stole on me/ Still fuck up niggas that done told on me." He’s at his best when he unapologetically explores the murky depths of villainy. There were glimpses of it on Polo Sporting Goods, but, as the title implies, that tape had a focus on flair over felonies. With Finesse the World, RetcHy P fully embraces being a scoundrel. This is the darkest he’s ever been, and he rips through ominous productions from noted gloom casters A$AP P on the Boards, H.N.I.C., and Antwon Carrera. There are no moments of reprieve; this is a labyrinth of dark alleyways. Turning the corner just introduces more unscrupulous characters.
Things really heat up on Finesse the World when the beats warp into sonic distillations of evil and RetcH barrels through them with a snarl. On "Affiliation" he locks eyes with his foes, firing literal and figurative shots in all directions over a forbidding, distorted piano riff. He writes engrossing tales about small-time drug trafficking on "Cheap Work", which makes use of its rumbling bass and a wailing train horn sample. RetcH is at his most venomous on the title track over grim production from H.N.I.C., rapping phrases like "Ready to shoot the next thing that's breathing, nigga/ I'm fucking heated, a fucking heathen, policing demons" with real fury. The deeper he crawls inside the sparse, shadowy soundscapes, the better he raps. The tape does have a somewhat singular sound, but RetcH is most at home beneath a cloak of darkness.
Somehow, through all the snarling and terrorizing on Finesse the World, RetcHy P retains his knack for storytelling, penning street epics as captivating as they are chilling. He does some of his best writing on "Amedei Procelana", which finds him posing naked for a sketch artist and dealing during chem class. He does some of his best rapping on the A$AP P-produced "Round Here", where he raps in compact bursts, stressing syllables like he’s trying to rip them. When he spits, "Nigga you could get smoked eating jerked chicken/ In front of everybody and still won't be no witness," the juxtaposition of his phrasing with his cadence almost makes the act seem comical. There’s even a reunion with Thelonious Martin for "Bad Luck", which plays like a wicked outtake from the Polo Sporting Goods sessions. But he really puts it all together on Finesse the World’s most interesting cut, "Product of Da Block", layering an elastic riff with one of his most ferocious flows. He opens the song with a speech that condemns friendliness in rap: "When the fuck did everyone become so friendly… When you see me, don’t even approach me because I ain’t friendly." It only takes one listen for that same malice to become contagious.
