R.A.P Ferreira — Purple Moonlight Pages — Album Review
Rap | Jazz-Rap | Art Rap | Spoken Word
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
Rory Allen Phillip Ferreira has had a lot of musical aliases. He has made music under the names of Milo, Scallops Hotel, Black Orpheus, and also been part of the collaborative project Nostrum Grocers.
I was first introduced to the insanely creative and productive mind of Mr Ferreira through his 2018 Scallops Hotel mixtape, Sovereign Nose of (Y)our Arrogant Face, and also enjoyed the Nostrum Grocers project later that same year.
However, in the following year of 2019, we would get yet another manifestation of Rory’s creativity, and that, of course, was R.A.P Ferreira. This was obviously an alias that felt far closer to the real Rory, and we were treated to the amazing stand-alone track “Respectdue”. I loved this track for its raw, and underground-style jazz production, as well as Rory’s sheer lyrical prowess. Little did I know that this was only a small taste of things to come.
Fast-forward to the first proper Friday of March 2020, and Rory’s new title of R.A.P Ferreira has their first studio album, named Purple Moonlight Pages. This album had been teased from the beginning of 2020, with two teaser tracks titled “DOLDRUMS” and “LEAVING HELL”.
It was fair to say that this album was an anticipated one from my end, given my knowledge of Rory’s other music, and the new stylistic direction that this album seemed to be taking.
And while the jazz-inspired instrumentals (which I can only assume are from the Jefferson Park Boys) do remain upon the release of Purple Moonlight Pages in its entirety, I suppose it is perhaps not as abundant as I hoped.
The mid-section of this album especially has quite a few tracks that could easily be confused with something from Scallops Hotel, with some minimal and almost abstract productions, but none too uniquely jazzy.
Oddly enough, this album is a rare case of really being at its best in its later half, which begins with both of the aforementioned teasers, and is followed through with some reflective and immersive tunes.
Whats left to cover about this album is a mixture of pro’s and cons. Starting with more of the good things, I enjoyed how some of the tracks are linked through shared lyrics (an example of this being the phrase “no starving artists” being used a multitude of times). This kind of makes the whole album sound like a 52 minute long spoken word piece.
And while we’re on the subject of spoken word, Rory Ferreira’s masterful lyrical flows really speak of how talented of a wordsmith he truly is. However, this seemed like something that I was expecting from this album regardless.
But returning to the idea of having a jazz-inspired aesthetic throughout, I really do wish there was more of it, and the fact that this album is slightly lacking in it does legitimately detract from the album, to the point where it feels more like a compilation than the product of an actual album cycle.
But mixed feelings aside, I feel that Purple Moonlight Pages does stand out from his alternate projects just about, mostly thanks to a more genuine and insightful aspect that was etched into the project. And ignoring all of the need to be unique, it is still a very solid and enjoyable listen.
Favourite Tracks: NONCIPHER | LEAVING HELL | GOLDEN SARDINE
Least Favourite Track: CYCLES
Ruby Yacht
