Rod Wave Essentials

Rod Wave is nothing if not self-aware. The St. Petersburg, Florida singer and MC can be counted on to keep it realer than most, even when acknowledging the unyielding melancholia his artistry has been pigeonholed for. “I got skills in other things, but rich off rapping pain,” he admits in the title track from his third album, SoulFly. Success for Wave was imminent from the release of 2019’s “Heart on Ice,” a bass-heavy rumination on love as a liability, the song that kicked in the door for an onslaught of melodic woebegone raps that made him a millionaire a few times over. Titles like “PTSD,” “Weight on My Shoulders,” and the especially unambiguous “F**k The World” provide plenty insights into the MC’s worldview, but success breeds new vantage points, like the one a humble Florida boy could have discovered as the lessee of a private jet. Songs like “Rags2Riches,” “Passport Junkie,” and the particularly apt “Already Won” (we did say he was self-aware) reveal an artist who utilized the pain of his youth to ensure peace in adulthood.