Ghiath Matar is dead, roses are not armour
In my neighbourhood, it was become a poet or a farmer
The opening lines muttered by milo (born Rory Ferreira) on this third full-length recording (2017) are a solid indicator of what is to come. While the latter is an oversimplified statement of why he “must do” this craft, the former is one that may fly overhead without a dense social knowledge or Google search. who told you to think??!!?!?!?!, just as previous albums under the milo moniker, is one chock-full of references to pop culture, philosophy, black culture, literature, and whatever else is currently occupying Rory’s curiosity. Unlike the previous LPs, milo is in total control here as he utilizes deep references to present a personal philosophy fueled by self discovery.
WTYTT finds Rory at his most intentional and introspective—along with a lot less interest in being cool.
milo’s flow has always been his own; even his debut mixtape at age 19 carries his particular brand of hip-hop (or is it spoken word?), even if he was just beginning to identify his message. Here though, with message in full force, he has further honed his sound by collaborating with producers who drop beats as expressive as the words spoken over them. Most notably, milo brings back Kenny Segal, the famed L.A.-based producer who helmed his previous album, So the Flies Don't Come. On WTYTT, an even stronger chemistry is on display, providing an unpredictability not unlike two jazz musicians totally in tune with one another yet free to express something only they could bring.
While the lyrical content is quite dense, this album is a treat with repeated listens. Prior works in the milo catalog oftentimes seemed a means of showing off his deep knowledge and wittiness, but WTYTT finds Rory at his most intentional and introspective—along with a lot less interest in being cool. Ultimately this album will go down as the magnum opus in the milo catalog, as Rory decided to retire the name following the release of 2018’s Budding Ornithologists Are Weary of Tired Analogies, now opting for the stage name R.A.P. Ferreira. But it was here he laid out his grand vision and lessons learned to aid any future listeners on a similar journey of self discovery and freedom.
