Four years ago, Subtitle publicly quit rap via a Myspace blog, an act that got him some of the best publicity of his career. If only it were a stunt. The LA rapper meant every word of his retirement announcement. His reasons were a stolen passport, a canceled tour and a disinterest in spending two more months in financial instability after already putting in four months of struggle. He got a new passport, promptly used it to leave LA and said F this noise to a music career entirely.
Imagine our surprise when Nocando asked us to debut a new Subtitle song off his free EP out soon on his Hellfyre Club imprint. Sure, the first reaction was “hmm, sorta rings a bell”, but after the memory was jogged the curiosity stirred. Subtitle was ahead of his time five years ago. Hip hop lacked a progressive interest and the LA beat scene had't solidified its Low End Theory night as the sole reason to party on a Wednesday. On “I Can't Be Disturbed” Subtitle is keeping us at arm's length for his return to rap. He storms into the track as though he's just woken from a nightmare only to find he's been sleeping for years. In the time Subtitle spent away from music, he might as well of been cryogenically frozen so that we could catch up to him. Now that he's awake again, he observes a “land all spaced out”, which hints at his hiatus being a sabbatical from music entirely. He marvels at a whole different world, one in which he played a small role, which is why we detect optimism in Subtitle. Welcome, back.
Subtitle, “I Can't Be Disturbed”
Subtitle's Black Jack Parsons EP is available soon on Hellfyre Club. The EP is a precursor to the My So Crev Life full length.
