Starlito - For My Foes, The Musical
Starlito is a rapper from the relative rap back-water of Nashville, Tennessee who was once known as All $tar Cashville Prince and suffered the kind of major label impasse that unfortunately befalls some of the scene’s biggest talents. After signing to Cash Money Records in 2005 and releasing Grey Goose, a hit single featuring Young Jeezy and Yo Gotti, a debut album failed to materialise and Starlito eventually left the label. This didn’t deter the rapper, however, and he has been steadily self-releasing mixtapes and albums with 2010s Renaissance Gangster and his collaborative effort Stepbrothers with fellow Tennessean Don Trip being just a couple of highlights.
His latest, For My Foes, is a four-track EP featuring his vocals over some of the best beats at the moment with the stand-out his take on Frank Ocean’s We All Try. He turns a snippet of Ocean’s original lyric on its head and uses soap as a metaphor for his OCD, his talent, the grind to the top and the people who steal his ideas. Starlito is an interesting character, even amongst the glut of talent at the moment, and brings something new to each instrumental with a loping, conversational flow that often belies the depth and complexity of his lyrics.
The musical is essentially four loosely-stitched music videos with interspersed footage of the rapper in the studio, hanging with friends and rolling round the city. The video is shot with a welcome honesty and happily avoids cliché – it’s part insightful, part celebratory and at times pleasantly ridiculous.
