To appreciate Roc Marciano, Oh No and Alchemist’s (Gangrene) collaborative EP, GreneBerg is to appreciate filthy Hip Hop at its finest. The Decon Records release stands in direct contrast to Rap’s overproduced, cry-me-a-river swill merchants, slapping a gritty mean mug across the mainstream’s shiny facade in twenty-two sleek minutes. Few hooks. Feverish horns. Heart-thumping bass lines. It’s enough to applaud earnestly in the presence of grimy lawlessness.
“My discography’s Godly / Biters copy / While I pull one out the crime rhyme glossary,” raps Roc Marciano on the self-produced “Momma Told Me,” this EP’s blustering, horn-heavy introduction. Roc’s flow is anything but linear, making it nearly impossible to digest on shallow listen. But Roc revels in a-typical lyrical exercise, trading flaccid rhymes for abstract expressions of a felonious lifestyle. The Alchemist produced, “Hoard 90” is the perfect example:
“Words from my lips is permanent bliss / Superbness / You can’t learn this with an intern shift / Experience / Nothin’ to be taken serious / Display the 38 mysterious / The jewelry is luxurious / Period / The position niggas is in / I pity it / Bout to take over this whole shit / Hoes ride dick like pogo stick / Laughing as I / Advertise fabulous rhymes / All that vernacular is fly / Caught your album in just one try.”
Alchemist confesses he “doesn’t give a fuck about the current direction of rap” on “Sewer Gravy” 
while Oh No admits “I’d rather get my dick sucked at a strip club.” The track’s nostalgic sample and sinister cackles is another winner. “New Shit’s” guitar riffs and crashing snare adds an air of effervescence and “Papercuts” is masterfully layered. “Jet Luggage” sounds uninspired in comparison to the rest. It’s absolutely snooze-enducing, completely skippable, and the lone true filler on a seven song EP.
“Jet Luggage” aside, Roc Marciano, Oh No and Alchemist are an appreciated Rap grime syndicate, thumping their nose at an industry flooded with formulaic Hip Hop. They don’t need hooks. They don’t need pseudo R&B crooners. They don’t need to pander to an industry of cool. GreneBerg stands triumphantly on a plateau away from the plastic. “You got a Haggen Daz heart / This is modern art,” raps Roc Marciano on “Hoard 90.” Artful indeed.
i thought jet luggage was pretty dope
Whole thing is dope
I think 3.5, but dope indeed. If you don’t have it, Marcberg is a MUST-BUY.
i really hope this sees a physical release.
This EP is effin CRAZY! Definitely need to hear a whole album!
The photo is smaller, but I can still see those massive dick sucking lips you’ve got there!
I look forward to this release because Marcberg is by far my favorite album released in the past year. Oh No and Alchemist are a couple of savvy beat makers.
I think Roc Marci could do a song with beiber and the shit would be hot
Fire. Classic hardcore NYC rap, and the production is nuts. 5 stars
5 easy… it’s Marcberg ya herb
this is decent. Alchemist, you fuckhead, you’re startin to slack with your production in general, cut it out.
btw, i heard you’re workin with Rick Ross? fuckin clown.
This review was goin’ great until dude lambasted Jet Luggage. It’s a dope track and Premo rocks it on Live from Headqcourterz. Even though there are several producers on this project, it still sounds like a cohesive whole and I don’t believe Luggage is incongruous, as the editor implied. I concur with everything else written about this splendid LP though. It’s real hip-hop to be appreciated by true B-Boyz, so may struggle to find an audience outside of clandestine, subterranean circles, but any listener who doesn’t mind rap that eschews modern trends like RnB choruses should cop this ish. Decent, credible hip-hop like this shouldn’t be reserved for elite, recondite audiences, it needs to be heard by everyone.
You sound like a British woman, hahaha!
i agree a british woman is pretty close lol its splendid lololol
Jet Luggage wack? Filler?
In the words of the late great street poet who fought battles for urban America while getting all of the promiscuous women…
BITCH!!! IS YOU FO REAL???!!! – Dolomite
Jet Luggage is one of the highlights of this album. And the entire joint is a highlight, ending perfectly with “Jaws” (nh).
Jackass.
Ha Ha… “FLOATABLES”… it’s gets a 5 just based on that alone
I liked Jet Luggage… FuCk da “Company Man”… can eat a company diCk…
Shit needs to be said…:
1. OH NO is the best beatsmith period…(shout to Black Milk though…Random)
2. ALC is slipping… Chem Warfare, Gut Water, & Currency’s joint all showcased pedestrian beats. Pick up the BPMs Al, mu’fuka!!
3. Marcberg got product, dun. Call Mobb Deep up & sell them their old-style back!!
4. Ya’ll can suck my dick if ya don’t agree…
The Prick has spoken!
Oh No isnt even the best beatsmith in his family man. LONG LIVE QUASIMOTO. GET WEEDEDED
Madlib is better with a time machine… Quas’ was in like, what ’99? ‘Lib still got it though, when he lays off the skits [eg. OJ Simpson – shit’s only good for 1 listen], lays off the rumbling basslines and gets his head out his ass long enough to just make straight bangers. Just like his bruh.
SO ‘cv’ can go gargle semen!!
yo reviewer, jet luggage was the dopest shits on there. clean yo fuckin ears out. soon as I heard beat, I knew I had to get this mafucka. on da real jet luggage equals classic.
Really? Really? Really?
This is one of the best projects out and it is only an EP.
I’m rollin uh uh I’m rollin, solid EP 4/5. I disagree big time about Jet Luggage being a filler. I work out to that Jaws track.
Said the same thing…already got “Gutter Water” and this’ll make a fine addition to those heat rocks!
Great review, this album is amazing.
cosign..Jet Luggage is sickening!
niice
Best rap album of 2011 So Far. No Conversation.
TOTALLY AGREE New Shit beat one of the dopest Ive heard in a long time