ROCKY BUSINESS

A Rebel’s Roar

wearerockybusiness.com

“Feeling like Biggie when he laid ‘Juicy,’” rapper Strictly Business announces on his duo’s debut EP, making a comparison that’s not quite right. SB, as he’s known, is a motormouth MC from the Notorious B.I.G.’s old Brooklyn ’hood, but that’s where the similarities end. On “Juicy,” Biggie sipped champagne and celebrated his rise from gutter to penthouse. Contrast that with “Find Away,” on which a down-and-out SB slams vodka shots, searching for sweet oblivion amid DJ Johnny on the Rocks’ left-field punk-ska accompaniment. On “Glide,” SB repeats, “Out of my head, out of my mind,” showing the kind of vulnerability and insecurity most rappers hide. It’s not “Juicy,” but it’s still pretty sweet.