Kevin Bronson on June 10th, 2020

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Perhaps no music release could possibly embody the cause célèbre of racial injustice better than Drakeo the Ruler’s new album “Thank You for Using GTL” — the L.A. rapper, born Darrell Caldwell, recorded it over the phone from Men’s Central Jail.

Pitchfork today anointed it Best New Music (obviously the site graded on a sliding scale because it pales compared to 2017’s “Cold Devil”). But the new release is definitely Most Amazing Music. It was made over the course of two weeks with the assistance of Drakeo’s friend and producer JOOGSZN. (GTL is the telecommunications company that provides often-pricey inmate calling services, which you may or may not know, depending on your familiarity with the correctional system.)

“I plugged my phone into my computer when Drakeo called, and we recorded all the tracks over a period of 36 hours,” JOOGSZN says. “His aunt put money on the phone so we could do this album. Some lyrics were off the top, some were written. We planned to create a tape before he went to jail and I held onto some of the beats intended for that time. I would preview the beats over the phone, Drakeo would pick which ones match for each song. My set-up was super simple. I propped my laptop up on a cereal box, hooked up a Beats Pill directed at the phone so Drakeo could hear the beat as he rapped and I had the phone line recording directly into my landline so I could get the cleanest audio possible.”

The results are a static-filled 19 tracks featuring the deadpan slang-slinging and quip-tossing that has made him one of the West Coast’s hottest rap commodities.

That Drakeo is behind bars (and, ironically, slapped with a gag order) is the result of a most bizarre and byzantine legal proceeding involving the 2016 shooting death of Davion Gregory at a party in Carson. After a long 2019 trial rife with racial overtones, the rapper was acquitted of murder and conspiracy charges, but the jury was hung (with a 10-2 vote favoring him) on two other charges that claim he is the leader of a gang responsible for the murder. Prosecutors posit that the “gang” is his rap crew, the Stinc Team — and have used Drakeo’s lyrics, videos and Instagram images as evidence to support their case.

“GTL” will do little to quell the long-running war on song lyrics, especially those in rap songs. There are apparently those who think that Bob Marley really shot the deputy. Either way, Drakeo’s case, which is being relentlessly pursued by the prosecution, bears watching.

More background:

— Long piece written by Jeff Weiss during the trial.
— An interview with The Guardian, citing the case’s civil rights implications.
— Weiss’ jailhouse interview after the first trial.

“My message to fans is that I’ll be out soon,” Drakeo says. “I’m not guilty and I’ll keep putting music out till I’m out. I’m going to always be myself regardless of the situation I’m in. I’m just going to get better and better. I got so many imitators — they’re cool and all that, but they’re not me. I hear people trying to lower the bar of what’s cool or acceptable in rap music. Just because I’m in jail, I’m not gonna lower the bar. I don’t do what everybody else does.”

Drakeo’s retrial is being delayed by complications due to the pandemic.

||| Stream: “Thank You for Using GTL”