One of the better feelings I get from the work I do is when good music comes out of nowhere and knocks me on my ass. I was on Twitter when Blame One retweeted someone else’s list of their five favorite rappers from San Diego. Of course, the list had your usual suspects: Blame One, Mitchy Slick, Johaz (of Deep Rooted), and Big June. But then there was one name I’d never heard of at all–Piff Herrera. A quick Google search and a Bandcamp download later and I’m sitting at my laptop completely stunned. Piff PCH, aka Piff California Herrera, is ill.
Let’s put it this way: you know how Blu has kinda fallen off recently, not in terms of skill but in terms of not putting out much music since Below the Heavens and kinda retreating into the shadows? And you know how none of that mattered once Fashawn came out and took over the reigns? Well, let’s say if Fashawn ever decided to retreat into shadows, Piff PCH could take his place.
Piff is an emcee from Southeast SD with a dense stream-of-consciousness lyrical style like Nas or Rakim, flowing in and out of rhyme schemes with ease, mixing words of upliftment with like Leviathans, Satan, blunts, guns, and revolution. It’s the type of blend of high poetry, street slang, and verbal gymnastics that backpacking rap nerds like me just drool over. Everything from his rhyme schemes to wordplay to diction to story-telling ability is just so technically on-point, you know that he’s been studying the craft for years.
Vintage Verses: Paradigm Shift is a collaboration between Piff and Chicago producer, D-Ski, who handles all the production and even hops on the mic a couple of times (to good effect, too). The production is a solid combination of chopped samples and smacking drums that lends itself really well to Piff’s lyrical style. There’s often this hint of mysticism or eclecticism in the beats that mirrors Piff’s metaphysical imagery. But it’s supported by a stable boom-bap foundation just like Piff’s lyrics are grounded in street knowledge. Overall, the beats knock and stay varied enough for Piff to stretch out his talents.
Vintage Verses: Paradigm Shift is a very good mixtape-album from a very skilled lyricist. Hopefully, Piff can follow through with more dope music in the near future.
