Detroit horrorcore veteran The R.O.C. finally back with his 4th LP. Getting his start as a member of the House of Krazees with Jamie Madrox & Monoxide, he later hooked up with Skrapz to put out 1 last full-length under the HOK name before starting a duo of their own called HaLFBrEEd when the Insane Clown Posse signed Twiztid to Psychopathic Records. Although they would only release 1 official full-length under the HaLFBrEEd name titled Kontamination, it would go on to become a horrorcore classic. Welcome to the Darkside came out under Psychopathic’s now defunct Hatchet House sub-label & dropped Digital Voodoo under Majik Ninja Entertainment almost a decade later. Last we heard from him was Monsters Ain’t Real in late 2019 & returns with No Direction.
After the “Space” intro, the self-produced “It Ain’t My Business” explosively marks his return advising that your lips will follow suit if one swallows their tongue whereas “My Fantasy” asks if he’s the only one this woman prefers & her reoccurring when he runs. “Best Decision” featuring Jamie Madrox finds the 2 linking up so they can voice what they consider to be the greatest choices they’ve never made over a groovy beat leading into “Around We Go” talking about getting up outta here right now.
Monoxide appears on “Superpower” so they can energetically discuss how being themselves is their extraordinary ability just before “I’m In Love With You” tries to put the right together to express his affection towards this person knowing exactly the way he feels. “Broadcast System” goes for a futuristic boom bap vibe talking about this being nowhere close to the end of his story prior to “2084” by Zodiac MPrint consciously issues the reminder that Big Brother’s watching us all.
“Finish Strong” nears the conclusion of No Direction hopping over a grim instrumental so he can talk about ending things on as great of a note as possible while “Bridges” leads towards a gospel influenced sound & taking a spiritual approach to his songwriting. The closing track “New You” finishes things up charismatically bringing nothing but good vibes to the table celebrating improved versions of themselves on top of a funky boom bap beat.
This guy is amongst the most underappreciated artists in all of Detroit & one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met, so I had to pull up to the listening party last Friday afternoon at the Astronomicon 9 pre-party prior to meeting the current MLW World Heavyweight Champion Killer Kross & would put No Direction right behind Digital Voodoo as The R.O.C.’s 2nd best album since Welcome to the Darkside & Monsters Ain’t Real were both extended plays. All 3 of his Samhein Witch Killaz brethren body their verses & it’s amazing to hear how far he’s come Rollin’ with Strength.
Score: 8/10