“8.5, Best New Music…Recorded in jail over a crackly phone line, Drakeo’s mesmerizing album is a remarkable feat: a stark rebuke of the justice system and an unparalleled achievement for a rapper and his producer.” – Pitchfork
“The most urgent rap album of 2020? Drakeo the Ruler just phoned it in from jail.” – Washington Post
“It’s the long, hot summer of 2020 and the hardest album out is by an incarcerated rapper who recorded the whole thing over a prison phone. Meanwhile, protestors flood the streets by the millions with cries to abolish prisons and police as the crooked criminal justice system proves Black lives matter less and less in America. Call it irony. Call it tragedy. For Drakeo the Ruler, it’s flat-out reality.” – NPR Music
“Character building is an important part of rap that doesn’t get talked about enough. Rappers are storytellers and their stories have characters — the strength of their writing and their songs depends on how well they craft these characters. In Drakeo The Ruler’s songs, he’s the only character that really matters: the Maison Margiela-wearing protaganist, mud-walking into Neiman Marcus and flu-flamming through the streets of Los Angeles.” – The FADER
“In the brief span since regaining his freedom, the 24-year-old christened Darrell Caldwell has already recorded and released a 16-song mixtape, Cold Devil, with more than 7.5-million SoundCloud listens, headlined a sold-out show at the Observatory in Orange County and been hailed as the most original West Coast stylist in decades — that is if one can unravel his absurdly singular slanguage, cadences and cosmology.” – L.A. Times
“An ascendent star in his native Los Angeles, whose 2017 album Cold Devil is one of the decade’s most striking rap records” – Vulture
“Drakeo’s music is an exercise in restraint and matter-of-factness. Employing an icy monotone, Drakeo embeds his lyrics with seldom-seen subtext while delivering death threats with an alarming nonchalance and an off-kilter flow.” – XXL
Drakeo The Ruler conjures a vivid world of intrigue and vice with his slang-heavy bars. Today, the unjustly incarcerated L.A. rhymer shares the official animated video for “GTA VI,” slyly commenting on the relationship between rap and reality. Animated and directed by Alessandro William of AX System, who expertly apes the computer graphics of the titular video game series, the video offers a vision of Los Angeles dominated by brutal police officers and larger-than-life criminals. Throughout the clip, a CGI version of Drakeo racks up a sky high wanted level, showing off his collection of foreigns, testifying at his trial, and opening fire at an army of police officers.
“GTA VI” is a highlight track from Thank You For Using GTL, Drakeo’s rapturously acclaimed new album. Recorded over the phone from Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles, where Drakeo is currently awaiting trial, Thank You For Using GTL earned a “Best New Music” designation from Pitchfork, inspired The Washington Post to call it “the most urgent rap album of 2020,” and made NPR Music‘s list of its 25 Favorite Albums of 2020 (So Far).
Though the rapper was acquitted of charges last summer after a long and grueling trial, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office took advantage of a hung jury to declare a re-trial, effectively imprisoning Drakeo for crimes for which he was already cleared. Thumbing his nose at the racist system with an attempt to prove the differences between rap and reality (how could Drakeo do what he’s saying in his rhymes if he’s in jail?), Drakeo enlisted the assistance of JoogSzn, who recorded and produced all the tracks over 36 hours, over a period of two weeks. The Washington Post recently spotlighted Drakeo and his case, particularly the prosecution’s reliance on music videos and lyrics as evidence in the absence of corroborating facts, in an episode of Post Reports, their daily news podcast.
His first full project of new material since 2017’s Cold Devil, Thank You For Using GTL re-establishes The Ruler as one of rap music’s most innovative stylists. With his signature behind-the-beat and soft-spoken snarl, Drakeo slings his slang, laments the loss of his favorite department stores, and takes aim at snitches and fakes. Packed with frequent interjections from exploitive prison communications company Global Tel Link, the album features the effortlessly fly single “Backflip Or Sumn,“ which Pitchfork named a Best New Track. Featuring appearances from ALLBLACK, Rio Da Young OG, Lil 9, and a verse from the project’s producer/engineer JoogSzn (interviewed in a recent article for Pitchfork), Thank You For Using GTL is available to stream everywhere.
Watch the official animated video for “GTA VI”: https://youtu.be/UAHtUIIJdGQ
Production company: GOODWORK
Directed by Alessandro William of AX System
Read about Drakeo’s continuing legal struggle in The Guardian, Genius, The FADER, Dazed Digital, and Tablet Mag.
Check out Drakeo’s recent interviews with The Washington Post and Complex.
Buy/Stream Thank You For Using GTL: https://empire.ffm.to/thankyouforusinggtl
If you want to send Drakeo a message, use the below address:
Darrell Caldwell
5198096
Terminal Annex
PO Box 86164
Los Angeles, CA 90086-0164
Donate to The Marshall Project, an organization dedicated to exposing and fighting malfeasance in the criminal justice system: https://www.themarshallproject.org/donate
Donate to George Gascon, candidate for L.A. District Attorney and primary opponent of current D.A. Jackie Lacey.
Drakeo The Ruler & JOOGSZN – Thank You For Using GTL tracklist:
Please contact Michelle or Erin for more info.
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“GTA VI”: https://youtu.be/UAHtUIIJdGQ
Thank You For Using GTL: https://empire.ffm.to/thankyouforusinggtl
“Backflip Or Sumn”: https://empire.ffm.to/backfliporsumn / https://youtu.be/toAkIGcNKZk
“Betchua” (Freestyle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BdmxGyS4ds
Free Drakeo: https://open.spotify.com/album/5uY0270CjyUtlCOvWJlvvO?si=OsskAOsaQj6R5RCYHXYoag
“Ion Rap Beef” (Remix) ft. Earl Sweatshirt & 03 Greedo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WGeofLZAS4
“Out The Slums” (Remix) ft. Danny Brown & 03 Greedo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZyWah6bA5I
“Flu Flamming” (Remix) ft. Lil Yachty & OhGeesy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ClUUVkfZEg