'In The Shadow Of The Black G.O.A.T' (2021).

  • Dorrell Merritt
In The Shadow Of The Black G.O.A.T is a trilogy of poems, composed in response to the music videos for selected songs taken from collaborative albums between hip-hop pioneer-producer, DJ Muggs, and some of the most forward thinking wordsmiths hailing from all four corners of the USA.

The contributions of the Cypress Hill staple, Muggs— his catalogue, style, dedication and commitment to craft is unquestionable, revolutionary and avant-garde in the most literal meaning of the phrase, helping re-write, re-define and re-examine what hip-hop can be within the current, and seemingly unending renaissance currently underway. With rappers such as Al Divino, Meyhem Lauren, Eto, Crimeapple, Flee Lord, Rome Streetz, Hologram, Mach Hommy, Roc Marciano and more all having teamed up in order to make albums and EP's with the producer, forward-thinking and addictively talent-laden, Muggs has established himself, much like his moniker (The Black Goat), as a G.O.A.T-like presence influence within the genre, always working, challenging and ultimately, creating.

Relying on both abstraction and automatic writing, In The Shadow Of The Black G.O.A.T serves as both an ode and testament to the limitless power of hip-hop in general; an observation of its awesome power, as it continues to engage, ensnare and ultimately, evolve.

Full collection: https://dorrellmerritt.co.uk/In-the-shadow-of-the-black-g-o-a-t-2021

All images and screenshots © Soul Assassins and DJ Muggs.
Volkswagen white. Composed in response to 'Just Because' by Crimeapple & DJ Muggs, taken from 'Medallo' (2019). melancholic as a steel angel over a sea of unending black, litter, offal by stray kittens; a flash of silver and gold over tv screens, cracked dreams. melancholic as a bowed beauty binding crowds and pescados, lights low, amber and hostile, spanglish over blurry night-rides, chatter over hissing flesh and hides.
Far Rockaway. Composed in response to 'Eating never stressing' by Flee Lord & DJ Muggs, from 'Rammellzee' (2021). Streets full to brim of spectres grey hosts with heaviest of sceptres by brick, by iron and by steel; heavy river, fever, shelves stacked, hungry, thirsty, empty, ghosts amongst ghosts baying like songs in the wind, or empty swings, swung by dirges harmonious, melodious and then some, always cocked, loaded ready to go, just trying to get from A to B— clinking of subway trains, jittery pulses of lonely faceless machines wandering, wondering all the while; monotone eyes in walls like psychedelic nightmares.