RDCarucci releases debut EP "Brooklyn Vignettes"
Image courtesy of RDCarucci
When you’re angry, tired, and stuck at home with your family and thoughts during quarantine, what do you do? For sophomore visual and media arts student Roger Carucci, he resorted to his music, recording a five-track debut EP titled Brooklyn Vignettes under his artist name, RDCarucci.
“It’s like, shit, I have music now on Spotify,” Carucci said in an interview. “That’s not supposed to be happening.”
While many artists have stated how they have been uninspired over these past few months, RDCarucci falls into the small category of artists who continue to creating.
Although he studies film, Carucci has always had a love for making music. He briefly played the piano in middle school —no, that’s not him playing on the EP— and he discovered his passion for rapping during his senior year of high school. It wasn’t until he joined Emerson’s Hip Hop Society in 2019, however, that Carucci decided to make his own music. Since then, Carucci has struggled between trying to find a place in either music or film. It was the pain and angst of quarantine, however, that helped him decide.
“I realized I care a lot more about music and decided I want to do music,” Carucci said. “My friend released an album in May. Watching him do the album made me want to do an EP. He can do it, I can do it.”
And Carucci did it, releasing “Brooklyn Vignettes” on Friday, Nov. 6. While the EP is inspired by Brooklyn, New York, where Carucci was born and raised, influences such as Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, and Tyler, the Creator were the guiding forces behind Carucci’s heartfelt lyrics and powerful beats.
The first song and Carucci’s only previous single release, “Incompetence Era,” drives into the frustration of being sent home from school in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the pain of our government failing us. Carucci wrote half of the first verse back in April, right when everything was falling apart. With people dying and the president lying, Carucci was able to reflect his emotions in the song.
“The rest of the song comes from the very fucked up political system we’re in because of the incompetence of our government,” Carucci said.
This anger follows through into “American Individualism,” pointing out that Americans tend to think and act based on their intentions rather than public good. It is a call out and reminder that no one is innocent in a corrupt country.
The record doesn’t stay angry, however. As quarantine wore on, Carucci started to feel fatigue and uninspired, and it was through this fatigue and the decision between music and film that “Cycles” was born. This track is a bit more personal and existential, asking what the point of life is and what Carucci is doing with his life. With beats produced by his friend and producer Zack Hockenberry, Carucci opened up and lost his anger.
“Ever since my mom passed, I’ve had many moments where I had to live on my own—.sometimes literally and sometimes mentally,” Carucci said in the opening lines of his song, “Cycles.”
Slipping into a cool beat and melodic trance, Carucci guides listeners through the pain and experience of his life. Compared to the loud, immediate opening of “Incompetence Era,” “Cycles” is smooth. The song switches from lo-fi melodies and the soft, spoken words of Carucci to an upbeat tempo halfway through, and his anger briefly returns before Carucci falls into existential questions about family and grief.
The EP switches vibes with the two final tracks, bringing us more into Carucci’s heart and mind. “Inner Sally” opens with a nice piano hook and reflects on how Carucci seeks to find a piece of his mother within him.
“It's about me using my story and my mom to inspire myself and pull me out of the runt [from ‘Cycles’],” Carucci said.
The record ends with “Summertime Flirting,” a “happy note” compared to the rest of the EP. A groovy reflection about a friendship that grew into something more, this song uses soft beats and irresistible melodies to move along to while highlighting that e there is always a happy note to end on despite grief and anger. Carucci said he’s been writing a lot and trying to get into producing. Although a career in film is no longer his long term plan, he plans on finishing his degree at Emerson with a focus such as audio which allows him to have a career while also working on his music.
“Music isn’t going to make me money unless I’m Kendrick, and that’s not gonna happen,” Carucci said.
Based on this first release, though, I definitely think you have a good shot.