By Isaac Cox, Nov. 5, 2024
Rodarius Green, also known as Rod Wave, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter who is receiving generational love and support as he hits No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop billboards thanks to his new album “Last Lap” released Oct. 11.
Rod Wave was always involved with music as a teenager, finding it to be a hobby he enjoyed, but his career officially started in 2015 as he dropped his first album called “Hunger Games” and expanded after that. “PTSD” was released in 2019, and it was a huge breakout point for his young career. “Heart on Ice” is the song that helped him gain more music streams and followers, and I was one of them.
Ever since I have been following his music, one thing that kept me listening to him was his transparency in his songs, especially the realism of how he deals with personal loss. Rod Wave shares his life throughout his music to where it is very relatable to me, especially the heartaches and heartbreaks.
On “Last Lap,” Rod Wave opens with a song called “Turtle Race.” In this song, Rod Wave puts his life’s pain into the lyrics as the bass in the song continues throughout. He tends to express his emotions when he is missing people who have died or ended up in jail. One touching verse in the song is when he says: “Sometimes my life gets super wild, and I be wishin’ I was with you. But the turtle race continues.”
Rod Wave explains how he deeply misses one of his longtime friends and wants to be with him but recognizes that life goes on and must continue living it. In the album’s title track, Rod Wave reiterates his first song and continues to express his emotions about the people he is missing.
Following the beautiful piano intro, an artist (unknown) showcases their vocal abilities by singing the lyrics, “They say prayer was a master key. If I pray, then God would answer me. He really did, He showed me His care. Oh, His care, yeah.”
Hearing that in the very beginning was awesome as it leads into the song. Right after that intro, Rod Wave raps a verse that exemplifies the song: “And it’s hard, I know, they want me to move on. But I ain’t ready to let go.”
“Fall Fast in Love,” one of my favorite songs on the album, talks about how rushing relationships is simply not worth it. Rod Wave mentions flirting concepts in the song, but always hearkens back to the most important lyric, “Fallin fast in love, it’s never been a safe thing.”
Rod Wave uses many melodic beats throughout the album. The signals listeners may get from each track can give off rock beats like guitars and electrics, R&B beats with pianos and soft sounds, and lastly hip-hop beats with bass hitting and providing the great feeling of listening to rap.
Some may say Rod Wave makes depressing music or sad music, but that is not the case. On “Last Lap” Rod Wave drops a few songs where he expresses his tone and melodic beats with joyfulness, simply enjoying his time. He drops a song called “F*** Fame” featuring s Lil Yachty and Lil Baby. In this song, the beat is very delightful and doesn’t portray sadness, and it’s something I can definitely play and listen to wherever I am.
Rod Wave expresses whatever is on his mind in each album and his emotions, which depend on his mood or the topic that result in either sad or happy flows of songs. Simply put, Rod Wave has been through a lot in his life, and he shares the good, bad and ugly in each song.
If anyone has been through some serious stuff in life such as a tough relationship, losing loved ones or just likes real and transparent music, then Rod Wave is the artist to listen to and vibe with.
Rod Wave started his annual tour right after the album was released. He wrapped up his touring events in California this past week and is performing in different cities across Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Kentucky throughout the week. If there are any fans wanting to head down to a concert, Rod Wave is touring all over the world until December 2024.
Feature image courtesy of Rod Wave