“Bigger Than Reality” is omniscient narration of its creator Robolu’s life. Hailing from the populous metropolitan Atlanta; a bustling breeding ground for artist; standing out from the overcrowded musical landscape can be a hell of a task but Rob sets himself apart by being as hands on in his work as possible. Standing in front of the mic, behind the boards, and knob turning assuring his vision projects through your speakers with its intended vibe still intact. Robolou appears to be living his passion and “Bigger Than Reality” presents the highs and lows of everyday life when you’re chasing your dreams.
Before anyone gets it fucked up and think shit is all glitz and glamour Rob opens up his reality with “Pressure cautionary tale of niggas plotting and coping with women exiting his life abruptly. Converging on paranoia Robolu describes his mental state as “3rd person tryna see myself I still aint let me in.” before reviewing an attempted robbery with him on the opposing in “I know how it feel to be robbed I did have the strap you niggas aint gangsta, I know the hoe set the shit off ima sucker for pussy…”. The lyrics reside some where between humor and burgeoning anger, yet Robolu never relinquishes his arrogance. Maybe the “Pressure” overwhelmed Rob who follows up the previous track with “Asylum” before “Switchituh!” which changes the mood of the project and provides a carefree feeling right when we thought shit was about to be depressive spree.
Rob effortlessly carries the aforementioned tone over the next few tracks “Moon walk”ing his way towards “36-Os” which is a celebratory paen of the spoils associated with living your dream. “Fucking it up and getting it back” never felt so eerie as he reminisces of staying strapped in his city. But after the hoes is fucked an Rob confesses he’s tired of being friendly its time “Settles Down”. This is where shit slows down to a crawl and Robolu’s manipulation of listeners’ emotional state via sound is most apparent. This nigga just had us turning up and abruptly brings us down to his desired state before reinjecting familiar sentiments on “Pressure Pt 2” and he’s right back to arguing with bitches masquerading as celibate to avoid offering pussy. That’s enough to make grown cry but Rob remains sure of himself and the things to come in a manner akin to Ye’s “Can’t tell me nothing” affirmation.
With such erratic behavior Robolu stops for rest on “Fallin Asleep” with production that sounds like the soundtrack for séance with the artist riding around Atlanta ducking the reaper and begging the question with whispered chants of “ what they want from a nigga”. This nigga might be out his mind making all this dope ass schizophrenic music and its his self-awareness that has him asking to be saved from himself on “Bigger Than Reaility’s ” closing track “40 days and nights”.
In between well-crafted anthems that can easily stand alone he snuck an ill ass concept album on us. The sequencing is excellent with each song lending credence to its successor and larger narrative. “Bigger Than Reality” is a movie production, one projected through music into your brain. Robolu has attempted to immortalize himself by engraving his perception of self into the listeners imagination in order fulfill the declaration apparent in the albums title. What we hear is an artist fully entrenched in his art, using everything available in his versatile arsenal to create He’s lost in the music much like biblical Moses and the only reason where diGGGing this nigga up is to offer a proper eulogy for the album because frankly Robolu killed that shit.
-Matthew Carroll
