SPARTAN RAGE is one of the most promising voices in Indian hip-hop right now, with a variety of great tracks under his belt already. Cycling between English and Punjabi between verse, his knack for flowing has a pretty good resume with records like “Dilemma of a Don” and “Never Hate Your Enemies” (which he revealed “for madmen only.” is the sequel to) showcasing his variety and pen game.
This new album was teased with the single “pray tonight.”, which showed us the side of SPARTAN who spits over soulful, expressive instrumentals, and that’s exactly what he brought to this record. Let’s get into it.
The intro “finally!” sees him floating in over a smooth, drumless beat carried by a flute going absolutely crazy in the background. He calls himself a modern day Ashtavakara, referencing the author of the Ashtavakra Gita, which puts a strong focus on individual focus, teasing the themes this record is about. Special mention to the cadences he hits with the flow. He tells the listener about his new lifestyle, how he’s put down his weapons and let go of anger, asking them to shun their ego and join him. Pay attention to the clip it ends with:
“You’re happy with fifty percent?
You’re on top and you don’t have enough
You’re happy because you’re successful, for now
But what is happiness? It’s the moment before you need more happiness”
“pray tonight.” makes an appearance as the second track and the lead single from the album. The instrumental pulls you in as soon as you hit play, huge shoutout to Vammat who produced the entire album, amazing work. SPARTAN absolutely spazzes on this, starting off with a laid-back flow which morphs into rapid lines mocking ego. He also explores his dark past and themes of turning over a new leaf. Some of my favourite writing from him here, he takes shots at streaming services, saying he’d rather release his music on cassettes because streaming money never comes, he also shouts out legendary producers J Dilla, Q-Tip, and Madlib. He ends the track with the line “Suna Osho gotta pray at night”.
Track 3 “sudden inspo.” is my personal favourite. The beat is so Sade-esque, and SPARTAN catches a nice flow over it, addressing similar themes. The whole DLC and VST bit is so clever, amazing writing. “4am in ludhiana” is the most thematically interesting track, as SPARTAN flows over the titular “it’s 4’o’clock” sample chop, talking about his days in the studio locked up making music, saying music is his god (this gives pray tonight. a different meaning as well).
He mentions he’s a modern day Osho, but without Sheela Ma (lol), his bits of wit and humour in the otherwise very reflective verses on the record are great. He shouts out Benny the Butcher with a reference to his iconic “The Plugs I Met” tapes. If you can’t tell by now, he doesn’t shy away from shouting out his sonic idols, and the amazing blend of sounds he produces is proof of their influence. It ends with a clip from the season 1 finale of Mad Men. The attention to detail is intricate, but this is just the start, we’re only 4 songs in.
“mercedes.” comes in as a braggadocious manifestation over a groovy 80s soulful synth instrumental. It starts off with lines about rolling in a Mercedes SLS, charging 2 lakhs for a feature, living life in the fast lane and with a lot of fortune. The intro line “god whispered in my ear” sets it all up. As we go on, SPARTAN admits that he drives a KIA and not a Mercedes, following it up with a declaration that he’s gonna get one this year. Pardon his French as he tells us that he’s an artist, not a rapper. Larry June, who’s known for relaxed, easy-going, and money-first hip-hop also gets a shoutout here, illustrating SPARTAN’s state of mind. He says he isn’t a gangster. A Scarface mention makes an appearance on these verses as well.
“hyundai.” sees SPARTAN referencing the i20 Hyundai, telling us about his life through different ages he has seen, while also laying out his plans for the future with these lines:
“13 saal da ghumaanda si mai wheel eh
19 saal da thukaa na teri deal te
25 saal da khuda naal meri meeting
31 saal da milaanga kande jheel de”
I really like this whole concept, it reminds me of the track “FEAR.” by Kendrick where all verses contain perspectives of him as a 7-year-old, a 17-year-old, a 27-year-old. “before&after” is a beautiful beat with repeating vocal chops forming the body of the instrumental, it sounds like SPARTAN preaching with a choir behind him, amazing. He starts off with the fact that everyone calls him “Don”, a reference to Mad Men’s protagonist, Don Draper. He walks us through his daily routine: making a track, hitting the gym, listening to Osho, getting the bag. He then asks the listener to think about how many corpses lie beneath the ground we stand on, and how many more there will be even after us. He embraces the concept of living life without fearing death, hoping that his music reaches the people and speaks to them, does something good for them. A beautiful keep-your-chin-up track that ends with this audio clip:
“Meditative people, loving people
Can create higher things
Better things
And whatever they create
Is never in the service of death and destruction”
“god hands.” instantly flips the vibe with a military-esque chant backing up the percussion. SPARTAN matches this energy and brings a gruff and heavy delivery to his verses, talking about how anything he writes becomes the truth, hence the name of the song.
There is a definite change in the theme of the album here, and the next track “note of a madman.” reinforces that, being well, a note of a madman, who calls himself the Batman of his city, going around slanging dope, murdering people.
“sweet chin music.” is a reference to the name of wrestler Shawn Michaels’ superkick finisher, setting the undertones for a track with a groovy and funky beat over which SPARTAN spits a visual riot, calling his rivals Looney Tunes and himself a Weezy-style (Lil Wayne) with an Uzi, also marking parallels with Eazy-E of NWA, the group credited with pioneering the sound of gangsta rap. He also shouts out his label Ruthless Poet Gang a.k.a R.P.G.
“come, winter.” closes out the album with the almost haunting vocal chops of the R&B-ish instrumental over which SPARTAN both raps and sings over. It opens with a clip about Osho and the nature of his controversial sexual practices which he claimed were prerequisites for salvation. The whole song seems like a one-sided conversation between a man and a woman, with the man asking her to come no matter what, to take the train, bus, whatever it takes. The second verse goes into detail, with him comparing them to famous celebrity couples like A$AP Rocky & Rihanna, and Trina & Lil Wayne.
Here’s my take on this album. The whole record is split into two, one part is a madman, the other is not, and that’s the whole point. SPARTAN spits soulful soliloquies about how we as people contain multitudes in ourselves, and these are multitudes are far and span all the way from what one that would be appropriate for a “madman”, and ones that wouldn’t. He presents true independence of the self as the way to go forward.
The title of the album also brings to mind “Steppenwolf”, a 1927 novel by Hermann Hesse, which was later adapted into a film. It is about Henry Haller, who one day walks into a Magic Theatre with a sign that says: “for madmen only.” Inside this magic theatre, he discovers his true self and realizes that his personality is made up of so many many different pieces, some of which he might not like, but that’s just what life is, and he has to come to terms with that.
This would explain the album cover as well, which shows Osho listening to (presumably) this album, appearing to be in a calm and relaxed position, almost as if in deep thought or meditation, while women stand next to him, one of whom is holding a sword. The white represents the peaceful and “pure” parts, while the red represents the “mad” parts. Also worth noting is the “Osho Archive. for madmen only.” post on Ruthless Poet Gang’s Instagram, which shows a variety of images of Osho, him in handcuffs, his fleet of luxury cars, while also showing us other sides of him, one picture is a younger Osho who looks like just another regular guy, one shows him donned in his extravagant outfit and watch, praying.
That’s the point SPARTAN makes with this. Osho, someone who he references and quotes so much, had madman tendencies that stretched to such long extremes, and layers to his own self, just like anyone else. The title of the record sums up the message of it, while also acting as a barrier for anyone before they press play on it.
This is going up there on my AOTY list for this year. The instrumentals are on fire, and the whole atmosphere makes it sound like SPARTAN is singing the blues to you, rather than spitting gritty verses on them. The flow and writing is top-tier, filled with substance, meaning, wit, and a good chunk of references. SPARTAN RAGE just took Mafioso rap to a whole new level, and I’m very excited to see what he does next.
