Over the last couple of years, I’ve grown a real appreciation for the rap group Injury Reserve. Although I am, admittedly, ridiculously late to the party, their music has emerged as some of the most forward-thinking hip hop to come out of the last decade and is a must-listen for anyone interested in jazz and experimental rap.
Injury Reserve is a three-piece rap group consisting of Nathaniel Ritchie and Jordan Groggs as vocalists, and Parker Corey on production. They formed in 2012 and dissolved in 2021 after the release of their album “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” During the recording of the album, Jordan Groggs passed away, and to respect Injury Reserve as the three of them, they stopped releasing music under the name.
Their first mixtape, “Live from the Dentist’s Office,” served as a jumping off point for their experimentation in 2015. Most of the production on “Live from the Dentist’s Office” is straightforward jazz rap with horn and piano samples. It is unremarkable but enjoyable hip hop. The main thing that sticks out about the mixtape is the vibrant personalities of the men behind the mic.
Their 2016 mixtape “Floss,” however, is where the ideas and sounds of their first mixtape were fully realized. For the majority of its runtime, “Floss” is loud and in-your-face without being overly self-serious in the way that a lot of hardcore hip hop can be. Floss is a 42-minute victory lap with each member of the group flexing their musical abilities and versatility on song after song. From blown out, distorted synths and dense percussion on “Eeny Meeny Miney Moe” to the atmospheric and emotionally vulnerable “Keep on Slippin,” “Floss” is one of the best mixtapes of all time and is the best place to start for anyone interested in the larger Injury Reserve catalog.
After a largely forgettable EP in 2017, they took a few years off before returning with their debut self-titled album. On this album they leaned fully into the more experimental moments of “Floss” and “Live from the Dentist’s Office,” making for a less consistent but just as enjoyable listening experience.
With samples from an avant-garde post rock album and a song constructed using almost entirely sounds from a Tesla, Injury Reserve self-titled adopts a more abrasive sound palate while still staying catchy as hell. Songs like “Three Man Weave” and “Jailbreak the Tesla” are some of their most fun songs in recent memory, with an infectious energy and tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that has made me laugh out loud more than once.
The final release under the Injury Reserve name is “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” which is one of the most boundary-pushing, innovative albums I’ve ever listened to. There have only been two albums that have left me genuinely confused about my own thoughts and feelings on the music after my first listen, and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” was the first to do so.
“By the Time I Get to Phoenix” is barely hip hop and can very easily be dismissed as just a bunch of noises cobbled together, however if you really give it a chance and allow it to challenge you, you’ll be met with a specific atmosphere that sounds like nothing else.
The album was being put together in 2020, meaning it was made at the height of the pandemic and during the tensest election cycle in recent memory. 2020 was the most politically tumultuous time that I’ve lived through, and the album really reflects that.
In a few words, it sounds like the end of the world, but a specific, distinctly man-made end of the world. The world Injury Reserve created on this album is one that has been uniquely ravaged by technology and one that has allowed humanity to be scattered by the wind.
Injury Reserve was a once-in-a-generation artist, and I highly encourage anyone and everyone to listen to at least one of their projects.