Injury Reserve: Jawbreaker Ft. Rico Nasty and Pro Teens | Track Review

For a few months now, Injury Reserve has been teasing a special something on social media. The hip-hop trio dropped the long-awaited single along with a self-directed music video.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs8xIqzAFM1/

Injury Reserve formed in 2013 in the tiny town of Tempe, AZ (and boy oh boy have they delivered since). Ritchie With A T (yes that’s his full rap name) and Stepa Groggs, who usually goes by his first name, are the two vocalists of the group. Parker Corey, the youngest of the three, is the main producer (and director of the new video).

Live From the Dentist Office (2015), the group’s first mixtape, helped garner some attention due to their experimental production and relatable topics (remember they’re suburban kids). But it wasn’t until they released Floss (2016) a year later that they started creating an identity. Fusing jazz samples and occasionally noisy-production with Ritchie’s catchy hooks and Stepa’s grasp on the real world guaranteed the trio a reputation as innovators.

“Jawbreaker“ is the group’s first personal project since their short but concise mixtape Drive It Like It’s Stolen (2017). The track features a strong verse by Rico Nasty and a lazy but surprisingly catchy hook by Andrew Phipps, the vocalist of Pro Teens.

Parker’s syncopated xylophone melody introduces the track and a few seconds in, Andrew casually chants his only two bars of the song (heard at the end of the track as well). Ritchie makes his way into the track with some narration. He hilariously teases Instagram hypebeasts with a sarcastic tone. Ritchie valiantly puts model Ian Conner in his place, and can I add, it’s about time. “Can you guys notice he does have the rape 3000s on,”  he says as he describes the model on the runway. Phew.

Next in line comes Rico. She delivers an energetic verse that needs no appraisal. She knows its good. It will undoubtedly catch your attention if the track by then hadn’t already.

I do what I want not whatever gets the likes up
They don’t like my outfit but they like the outcome

Stepa delivers the final rhymes with a less memorable verse than the first two. Seemed more like a filler to transition to the noise-inspired ending but nevertheless, one could never have too much of Stepa!

Lastly, I wanted to give major props to Parker for really setting the tone with his meditative production. His direction of the music video set the stage for them to properly diss hypebeasts. (Literally. It’s a fashion runway stage)

Click here to follow Injury Reserve as they might be dropping more music soon!