I've mentioned my love of rap groups before, and Doomtree are maybe my favorite of the new wave: they're a big group, made up of artists worth paying attention to solo who come together every couple years and sync up perfectly when working as a whole. "Gray Duck" is a celebration of the strangeness of this arrangement, and of its power, and if it's perhaps not as ideal an encapsulation of the group's appeal as "Bangarang" was, well, they already did "Bangarang." "Gray Duck" finds Doomtree pushing into new territory sonically, a bit more in line with current trends while maintaining the flexible, adventurous approach they've previously exhibited. More importantly, the beat gives room for each member here to shine, to demonstrate exactly what they bring to the table: Dessa is MVP with "Brand new brakes, I never touch 'em," though P.O.S.'s "She too stoned, Nintendo" is the most hilariously leftfield reference I've heard in a long time. And then the whole crew comes together on the hook - though not until halfway through the track! - and it's glorious, exultant, singular. So maybe "Gray Duck" is an encapsulation of Doomtree's appeal after all.
Rap can be a genre that translates inconsistently live. For every Danny Brown, enthusiastic enough to inspire moshing, there's a Lupe Fiasco, immobile and lifeless. Killer Mike might have huffed and puffed dramatically but GZA performed to a very prominent backing track that did little to disguise how many of his bars were lost to time. This is a roundabout way of saying that Doomtree are the best live rap act I've seen, primarily because they're often a bit flat on album. "Gray Duck" is expertly executed and Dessa is, indeed, the track's star. This is the tightest verse she's delivered and she knows it; her voice is chrome androgyny. I'd be remiss if I didn't note how unexpected Sims verse is -- I love Joakim Noah and David Lynch and never thought I'd hear them referenced a couple lines apart.
Rap radio is all I'll listen to while driving and the heavy rotation is full of mercurial performances -- Makonnen's "Tuesday" or Migos's "Fight Night," songs that embrace the off kilter. I've heard "Gray Duck" once, I flipped the radio on during Dessa's verse and by Sims I knew I was listening Doomtree. No one else sounds this polished (and no one else is representing the Bulls-Twin Peaks fan nexus) and that works against Doomtree when their peers are are at their liveliest. In concert, it's a totally different story. Watching this collective rotate on and off the stage, nail their lines, and maintain their chemistry is a sort of theater. Their art is elevated when you can see how much it takes to pull a song like "Gray Duck" off.
