Ego is a sticky thing. Brian Wilson famously took acid and wrote a song about letting go of his own, only to be persuaded by Mike Love to tone down the psychedelia. (“I Know There’s an Answer” still goes.)
The Rochester rapper Robert Hirko, who uses his last name to release music, has now made two projects probing into his own ego, among other aspects of his identity. Last year’s “Ultra Hypnotic” was a brief journey; Hirko’s latest, “Ultra Instinct,” released in May, finds him riding the world’s metaphorical waves as they continue to rush around him.
The music suggests otherwise. Occasionally anxious but always reaching for whimsy, “Ultra Instinct” isn’t afraid to turn the volume down on the beat, allowing blooming keyboard sonics and glimmering soul samples to take the spotlight for a song or two.
Hirko’s tracks like “Hydra” and “Satisfied” rattle with a booming low end without sounding overly nostalgic. Yet there’s no mistaking how “Ultra Instinct” is firmly entrenched in a rhythm-heavy East Coast hip-hop tradition.
At the same time, flashes of contemporary influence appear like lightning strikes: “Ultra” bangs with the same bounce as Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby” while “Pride & Joy” moves with a gentle R&B sway.
Though he’s based in the Flower City now, Hirko originally hails from York, Pennsylvania — not exactly known as a rap haven, though it is the home of 1990s alternative rock radio heavyweight band Live. There’s commonality: postindustrial 19th-century northeastern cities that don’t see nearly enough sun. The kinds of places where ego remains complicated and thus worth examining.
In an age where the most famous rapper in the world is an isolated millionaire sending icy dispatches from his mansion, Hirko sounds refreshingly eager to unpack his own past and look toward his future.
