The lively, lowkey EP follows rons’ June 2022 debut ‘Is The Juice Worth The Squeeze.’
Allowing others to view the windows of your soul evidently opens doors that stay shut in the shadows. To unlock them, you must take a leap, or rather a plunge into the great unknown. Patient like the water beneath him, rons’ new project, Green Waters (June 16), may sound like celebration of his future, but acts more like a funeral for his past.
Penning a new chapter, staring at his reflection through the water at his feet, the 4-track EP’s jazzy, live instrumentation (spearheaded by CPR) allows listeners to enter a headspace reminiscent of hearing rain drops on a river — slowly and then all at once. “Changes Nowadays,” the project’s opening cut, begins with a question: “Did you wear a swim shirt when you grew up?” Frivolous as the intro line may be, it breaks the ice for rons’ reflective bars, smooth flows and gentle cadence — hinted by an oft-malleable mix of Mac Miller’s presence — to take centerstage. “Nowadays I’m trying to be more present than productive,” he suavely raps, inciting a heavenly dose of awareness that few his age possess.
“A Letter from CK” is personified prose of rons’ emotions in this next era of his life, willing to bring forth fruitful experiences for the rest of it. “The People’s Elbow,” majorly backed by live pianos and saxophone solos, highlights rolling jazz drums that allow room for rons to grab what he’s been chasing all his life. Passion is one thing, but hunger is a different animal. “You see the finish, 4 and inches, but you rather quit / fantasize in passages / tantalizing my tactics, kid,” he tears off, sounding not only confident in his ability, but stern in his journey — knowing the road he must take is less traveled.
“‘Green Waters’ is for the people in my life who have been there for the progression. The people who believed in me before they had any reason to. It’s a nod to where I grew up, and the people in my life who get it. Who understand the dream and the passion behind all this. Going into this, I felt like if I could make a body of work that resonated with my circle, I succeeded. I definitely hope it resonates with new listeners and people who might not know me, personally too. But I made this project for people to unwind. Sit back and reflect on their life and their passions. I wanted to spark internal monologue within listeners and have them ask themselves the questions they’ve been avoiding or shying away from.”
rons on Green Waters
Angelic vocals on the track’s back end cascade into “Glass Ceilings,” perhaps the most personal and intimate track on the EP — and rons’ career thus far. The Illinois-born rapper, who’s lived in Phoenix, Arizona the past few years, sees through a lens unfiltered or unscathed by the reality that surrounds him. He invites his demons in for a conversation, letting truth hit him in waves no matter how hard they decimate him. “When they tell you that they love you, they don’t have to mean it / rather be the one that cuts you than the one that’s bleeding,” he raps. “Surrounded by surface level, searching for deeper meaning.” “Glass Ceilings” are meant to be broken, and rons is aiming higher. It’s an anecdote of promises depicting an artist on the verge of a breakthrough, which sees rons piecing himself together amid shards of shattered glass.
Green Waters is the epitome of wearing your heart on your sleeve. If music like this doesn’t move you, nothing will.
Listen to ‘Green Waters’ below!
