S.K.A.T.E.

With soulful beats and casual technique, sharp character studies and rude jokes, the Alabama rapper’s new album demonstrates his vision of neotraditionalist Southern rap.

As counterintuitive as it feels to say about a guy who coats his vocals in a slurry of Auto-Tune, Rylo Rodriguez is a traditionalist at heart. That’s not to say he harkens back to a mythical era when Outkast, UGK, and 8Ball & MJG ruled the land; instead, his

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reference points assert that we need to update our conception of what a throwback is these days. On the 32-year-old Alabama rapper’s third album, S.K.A.T.E., he rides lush instrumentals in his half-rapping, half-singing style with vocals processed nearly to the point of unintelligibility—a gesture which, in the age of rappers who draw credible accusations of AI-ifying their vocals, scans as a human touch—yet his clever pen and eye for detail shine through. As a rapper, Rodriguez—real name Ryan Adams, which, dear God—wears his influences on his sleeve. There’s the soulful singing-ass-rapping of Atlanta’s YFN Lucci, the gurgly impulsions to turn the fuck up so expertly offered by Future, and the oversharing introspection of Kevin Gates. He’s versatile enough that he can afford to react to a beat rather than imposing his will upon it, remaining casual about his technical ability even as...

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